Free A Little Bit of Truth (Little Bits) by A. E. Murphy Page B

them,” I’m going to take some pictures. Because the photographer in me can’t resist capturing something so beautiful forever.
    Once that’s done I reach for the tiny envelope containing a folded note. I open it and read:
     
    To Miss Marie,
    I’m sorry.
    Yours Truly
    Mr. Jacob
     
    “They’re from Jacob,” I say to Amelia and pull a pink flower from the arrangement. “He wants me to give you this.” Even though he never mentioned Amelia, because he didn’t know I’d have her, otherwise he probably would have sent her, her own flowers. 
    She grins like her entire year has been made, “I love it. It’s my favorite color you know?”
    “It is?” I feign shock like I do a lot with the kid. “I didn’t know that.”
    “I love Jacob,” she sighs like… well like a girl in love.
    I ruffle her hair with my hand, “What happened to Josh?”
    “Testing the waters,” she grumbles before picking up Turbo and zooming again.
     
    I use this moment of privacy to pick up my phone and call the idiot. The idiot being Jacob.
     
     

Jacob
     
    I pace back and forth in my hotel room, my phone clutched tightly in my hand. Maybe I went a little bit overboard, if it was the other way around and Marie ditched me, I wouldn’t be all that bothered. We aren’t going steady, we’re not exclusive. It was still a shitty thing that I did though, I should have texted her.
     
    “Hello?” I answer as soon as my phone rings.
    “Hey,” her soft voice touches my ear, I find myself smiling. “Did you kill my cat?”
    I frown, “You don’t have a cat.”
    “These flowers scream, I’m sorry I just killed your cat.”
    Chuckle. “They’re supposed to scream, I’m sorry I let you down last night.”
    “Oh, so my cat’s okay?” she makes a noise that sounds a lot like, phew.
    “You don’t have a cat.”
    She only laughs, “What happened?”
    “I umm… got a little sidetracked…”
    She laughs louder, “You mean you got laid.”
    Fuck.
    “I’m pissed.”
    Uh-oh.
    “I was really looking forward to Indian food,” she says with humor in her tone and I sigh with relief.
    “Are you mad at me?” I must sound like a whiney child.
    She sounds genuinely puzzled when she asks, “Why would I be mad?”
    Something inside of me snaps, like stretching an elastic band too far. It’s painful, I’m unsure as to why. She’s not mad, she’s not even bothered in the slightest, which is great. Yet part of me wants her to be, how messed up is that?
    “I don’t know,” I admit. “So… tonight then?”
    “Not tonight, I umm… I actually have Amelia for the day and tonight.”
    Okay. “I don’t mind, I can bring her some…”
    “Not tonight Jacob,” she cuts me off a little sharply, shocking the hell out of me. “Thanks for the flowers.”
    “No…” she hangs up before I can finish my sentence. “Problem.” I bite my lower lip. That was the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had. She didn’t sound pissed, but why’d she reject my offer to come to hers? I’m probably looking too much into it. Yeah, Marie would tell me if she was pissed off. She’s probably just tired.
    It’s not like I fucked somebody else. Maybe I should have told her that, but would it make a difference? She doesn’t care what I do any more than I care what she does. We owe each other no explanations, those were her terms not mine.
    Sure that Heidi was hot, but she wasn’t my type. The reason I got sidetracked was because of her, we had a few drinks, I genuinely thought I was gonna get laid. Then it hit midnight and she asked me the one question that I’ve been asked so many times, “My place or yours?”
    To which I apologized, paid the bill and left her sitting in whatever bar it was we were in. I’d had a shit day and I just needed to unwind. I didn’t want to look needy by showing up too early at Marie’s so I went to the bar with Heidi and lost track of time. She made me laugh but not once during our encounter did I feel