Chapter 13

I sank down into my bed. God, it was good to be home. Filming had wrapped and I was due for some much needed time off. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 3 in the afternoon, but I was exhausted. I guess that’s what two months of 16 hour days did to you.

Brianna had invited me to the Ducks game that night, but I’d declined. I’d claimed I was just too tired and wanted to spend the next 24 hours sleeping. She didn’t seem to notice that I’d lied. Once again I was trying to avoid seeing Corey, only this time it wasn’t because I was mad at him.

We hadn’t spoken since his phone call. I wasn’t even sure he remembered it. He’d obviously been drinking before he called me, but I didn’t know how drunk he was. Even so, I wasn’t a fan of the drunken confession that Ileana, or anyone else for that matter, would never measure up to me. That’s not something I wanted to hear from an ex I had unfinished business with.

The more I thought about Corey the more I thought about the break up. It was bad enough that I’d been questioning what I’d done since I’d run into Corey again. Now I was questioning my feelings for him. It had been so easy to claim that I felt nothing for him when we were fighting, but slowly my tough façade had started to chip away. The longer I was around him, the more feelings started to come back.

I wasn’t sure if those feelings were actually coming back, or if I was just remembering them. Almost everything Corey did reminded me of something that had happened in our relationship. My brain had been constantly flooded with memories of us lately. It made it pretty hard to figure out if I was reminiscing or feeling.

I fell asleep without intending to, and woke up three hours later. I felt my stomach grumbling and looked through my cupboards to see if I had anything to eat. They were pretty bare and I made a mental note to get some groceries tomorrow. I looked through some take out menus trying to figure out what I was in the mood for.

Eventually I decided on Thai and got changed. I threw my hair up into a pony tail and got into my car, driving to a hole in the wall Thai restaurant that just happened to have the best Pad Thai and Chicken Satay I’d ever had. They gave me my usual seat in the back and I chatted with the owner about current events while they made my usual without even having to ask what I wanted.

I told him for about the millionth time how great the food was as I took my first bite. He thanked me before leaving me alone to my meal. I looked up at the TV in front of me for the first time and saw the Ducks game on. I didn’t take my eyes off of it as I ate. They were playing Dallas, and were winning. Every time I saw Corey on the screen I felt confused all over again. I tore my eyes away from the screen to pay the bill and take home 2/3 of the enormous portion.

I didn’t turn on the TV or touch my computer when I got home. I knew that I’d check the Ducks score and especially how Corey had played. I didn’t want to give in to what I thought might be inevitable. As I’d driven home I’d slowly started to think that it wasn’t reminiscing, but feelings afterall. I let out a yell as I collapsed down onto the bed for the second time that day.

I woke up to the ringing of my phone. I looked at the clock as I picked it up and saw that it was almost 1 in the afternoon. Apparently I really had been exhausted. I looked at the call ID and gasped. I couldn’t handle this right now. I had nothing to say to him.

“Hey, Corey,” I said into the phone after I hit talk. I smacked myself on the forehead hoping that next time my brain would control my actions.

“Are you okay? You don’t sound good.”

“You woke me up,” I explained. He laughed.

“At one?” he asked. I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me.

“I’m catching up. What do you want?” I questioned. He cleared his throat before responding.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch or something. I know it’s short notice, so I understand if you can’t.” I knew he called on short notice so he’d have an out in case I said no.

“I thought Ileana told you that you couldn’t see or speak to me anymore.”

“She’s out of town,” he told me. This was not a good idea. There was no way I was going.

“Where?” I asked. Dammit, my brain sucked today. He gave me directions and I got out of bed and got dressed. I threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, flats, and a hat before making my way to my car and driving to the restaurant.










Corey wondered what the hell he’d just done. He’d promised Ileana he’d avoid Amelia at all costs and the day after she left town he was meeting Meels for lunch. He hadn’t planned on making the phone call. He’d picked up his phone as he headed out of the rink after practice and before he knew what he was doing he’d scrolled to Amelia’s name and hit call.

He’d fully intended on doing what Ileana had asked and staying away from Amelia, especially after that embarrassing drunk phone call he’d made a few weeks ago. He’d been on the road and had gone to a bar with a few of the guys in Nashville. After having a couple of drinks too many they’d started getting on his case about Amelia. He hadn’t thought of her that night until then.

When he got back to the hotel room he was still thinking about her. He couldn’t exactly remember what he was thinking, but he knew it had to do with missing her. He’d come to the conclusion after seeing Amelia in Vancouver that he wasn’t even close to being over her. Every time he saw her in person, on TV, or in a magazine he just wanted to throw his arms around her and hold her.

With liquid courage he had dialed her number, not really sure what he was going to say. It made sense to talk to her about whether she’d told Jordan or not, so that’s what he went with. Even in his drunken state he knew it was the only acceptable reason for him to call her. Of course that led to him telling her about his conversation with Ileana, only he hadn’t intended on telling her everything else. She’d hung up on him and he’d felt like an idiot.

This was how he was going to try to save face. He needed to apologize to her for being an idiot and then he intended on making it clear that they couldn’t be around each other anymore. He didn’t think she’d have a problem with that anymore anyway. He pulled up and saw her car was already there. He found her seated at a table in the back of the restaurant and sat down across from her.

“So what’s this about?” she asked without greeting him.

“I just thought we should talk. Things have gotten kind of complicated,” he said to her. She nodded.

“That’s the understatement of the century,” she mused.

The waitress walked over and they put in their drink orders. He was surprised when he heard her order a glass of wine. Amelia had never really been a drinker, especially this early in the day. They stayed quiet as they looked over the menu and then placed their orders when the drinks were brought over.

“So where should we start?” Corey asked looking over at Amelia as she swallowed what was easily three mouthfuls of wine at once.

“I don’t know. Where do you think?” she returned. He thought for a moment.

“I’m really sorry about that phone call. I’m sure you could tell I was drunk.” He held a hand up to stop her from saying anything when he saw her open her mouth to speak. “It’s not an excuse, I know that. Even so, I’m sorry.”

“So, you’re not denying what you said,” she commented.

“I could if that’s what you want to hear,” he tried to joke. It fell flat. She finished off her glass of wine and asked for a refill. It came with their food.

“I don’t know what to do about this, Cor. I don’t know how I feel about all of this,” she confessed. He knew exactly what she was going through.

“Do you still have feelings for me?” he asked. Her eyes shot up from her plate to meet his eyes.

“Corey, I’ll always have feelings for you, but that’s all in the past. I’m with Jordan now. I’m happy,” she told him. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was lying.

“And I’m happy with Ileana.” If she was going to lie to him, he was going to lie to her.

“Then there’s really nothing more to talk about.”

He nodded his head, but wholeheartedly disagreed. There was still one major thing that they needed to talk about. It was hanging over their heads and he knew that it was the one thing causing all of the confusion and the problems. They needed to talk about it, but he knew it had to happen when she wanted it to.

They finished their lunches in complete silence. The waitress brought the bill and he took it before Amelia could. He threw money on the table and they both stood up. He looked on at Amelia sadly as she walked away from him to her car. He was surprised when she turned back to look at him.

“Good luck with Ileana,” she said just loud enough for him to hear. She turned back around and he watched her get into the car and drive away. So, this had been goodbye.