Episode 546: My Sweet Love

Paul was here. Weird. Beyond weird. She’d invited him. It sounded as ominous to her as if she’d invited in a vampire.

She shook her head. He wasn’t that bad. He hadn’t turned out to be quite as good as she’d initially thought either, all those innocently thrilling encounters on the quad where he’d offered to carry her book bag, take the load off her shoulders. Only to force her to shoulder everything, alone, save for that little while in the hospital, when his hand, of all the hands, had been exactly the one she’d needed.

She shook her head again and headed for the refrigerator to retrieve milk for the coffee. Her eye snagged on the calendar. She’d only flipped it to February a day or three ago, when a student she tutored to make ends meet had pointed out it wasn’t January anymore.

Lucy tried to pay as little attention to dates as possible these days as they might lead to thoughts of milestones.

Today was Valentine’s Day. And Paul was here. She didn’t love him anymore. Didn’t really know if she ever had. But more than any red roses or paper hearts she might bump into through the course of the day, none would remind her as much of the love of her life as Paul did.

She should have left him to freeze to death on the sidewalk.

She closed her eyes a moment. He wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t that good either. Not for her. She didn’t want to see him. She’d take him his coffee and then go check her email or something until the taxi driver honked. She didn’t need to look at him. They didn’t need to talk.

"Is this hers?" Paul asked the minute she entered the room and caused the coffee to go sloshing over the edge of the cup.

Episode 547: You're Only Human