Free The Fate of Nations Book II The Harvest by Laura Watson Page B

share too before finally settling down with his wife, Dana. “I know what you're saying Bob, and I am trying, really. I just want him to leave me alone. I don't even think we can be friends anymore and that sucks, because I really liked him as a person. I mean he is a really great guy.”
    Leslie looked distractedly out of the restaurant window at the space where Ralph's car had been parked earlier. Bob patted her hand as he rose from the table and said, “Come on let's get out of here, that paper ain't gonna write itself.” Leslie paid the bill at the cashier's station and Bob kicked in a generous tip.
    They walked the block back to the Journal Office building, enjoying the cool spring breeze that blew up from the waterfront, each lost in their own thoughts.
    Ralph sat in his car, the red Subaru that he had bought second hand when he was still in Grad School.
    He wanted to go over to that restaurant so much that he was having a hard time thinking straight. What is she doing in there with Bob Jamison? He fumed silently.
    Ralph knew that Bob was Leslie's boss at The Journal but the stubborn jealousy rising inside of him insisted that something was going on. Is that why she broke it off with me? he wondered, miserably. It took a full ten minutes for him to start the car, and pull away from the spectacle of the two of them at the window of Starters. His heart wrenched in his chest, a choking sob caught in his throat as he steered the Subaru into the noonday traffic back to his office.
    He couldn't believe the way she had acted! Ralph knew that she had seen him wave. Couldn't she even be civil to him? Was she just some heartless bitch that couldn't see that she had just ripped his heart out?
    Leslie had just sat there, chatting away and acting as if he had never existed, as if they had never existed.
    Ralph pulled the Subaru over to the side of the street, he felt shaky and raw. He wanted to punch that fucking Bob Jamison right in his big goofy fat mouth.
    That's what he should have done, that would have made him feel all kinds of better. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Relax, pal, he told himself, she isn't worth it, neither was Bob. They're not worth losing your practice over, not worth going to jail over. Relax.
    The image of Leslie's face lingered in his mind, her laughing, smiling. Her beautiful face tilted up, smiling at him, kissing him. A pain twisted Ralph's heart so hard that he grabbed at his chest. What was that fucking bitch doing to him?
    Not what was she doing, Ralph reminded himself, it's what she's done, past tense. Past...leave it there Ralph, his mind whispered softly.
    Ralph drove the few short miles down I-64 West to his small office. The further away he traveled from Leslie, the better he felt. By the time he reached his office, he was thinking clearly again. “Back to the grind,” he said aloud, softly, as he parked his car. He looked down at the small Trendie's bag he'd tossed onto the passenger side seat. He had completely forgotten about it after seeing Leslie.
    Inside of the bag was a small gift wrapped box that contained a blue sapphire pendant. He had ordered it over a month ago. The small oval pendant hung from a long, fine, gold chain. The stone was a crystal clear, and a melting, blue that had instantly caught his eye. He had wanted to surprise her with it, knowing that she had a pair of earrings exactly the same color. Ralph wanted her to have it even if they weren't going to be together.
    After what had just happened, however, he wasn't sure if he still did.
    As he walked to his office, the small gift bag with the pendant inside, clasped in his hand, he passed a trash can. Ralph hesitated there a moment. He looked at the sky, and thought about Leslie's cold reaction to him.
    He tossed the bag with it's contents into the trash can.
    That one final gesture made him feel better than he had felt since the breakup three weeks ago. He walked briskly to his office. Back to the grind.
    The