Avoiding Commitment Read Online Free Page A

hyperventilated. How
would she react when she saw him in person? She really didn’t know,
but she didn’t think she could turn down the opportunity to see him
either. “Ok, I’ll do it.”
    “I knew you had it in you,” Chyna said
sliding on a pair of brown strappy sandals and exiting the closet.
“Now go make that phone call while I fix my hair and makeup.”
    Lexi gulped as Chyna walked into her
bathroom, likely not to surface for a while. She had agreed to do
it; now she just had to calm herself down enough to make the call.
Her palms felt slick with sweat as she sat down at the mahogany
writing desk and pulled her phone out of her black handbag. She
hesitantly flipped it open and scrolled through the address book.
Lexi was thankful, at least, that she had added his number to her
phone this morning instead of erasing it.
    She worked up the courage to press the
button, then immediately hung up. Her hands were shaking so
furiously, she nearly dropped the phone. Taking a few breaths to
try to calm down, she punched the send button again. Listening as
the phone rang twice nearly unnerved her, but then the line clicked
over.
    “Lex,” Jack said surprised. “I didn’t expect
to hear from you.”
    “You implied,” she began her voice cracking
slightly with the effort of staying calm, “that I could call
you.”
    “Sure. I said you could call me. I just never
thought you actually would.”
    “Yeah, I’m full of surprises,” she said
trying to play off her apprehension.
    “Always were,” he said quietly.
    Lexi sighed before venturing forward. “My
internship ends in two weeks. I will probably be coming to Atlanta
to see my parents after that. So, I guess, what I’m trying to say
is…that I’ll do it. I’ll come see you,” she paused before allowing
the last part of her sentence to roll off her tongue, “and meet
your girlfriend.”
     
     
     

CHAPTER 2
     
    SEPTEMBER SIX YEARS EARLIER
     
     
    When Lexi first arrived at her freshman dorm,
her resident assistant called a hall meeting for all the freshman
students. At the meeting her resident assistant distributed a
directory listing local restaurants, clubs, bars, and an array of
study nooks for the incoming freshman. Nearly every girl tossed the
packet into the garbage as soon as they left the meeting, but Lexi
held onto it hoping it would come to good use in locating a perfect
locale to study. She investigated a handful of these locations, but
found them not to her tastes.
    When she finally stumbled upon one particular
coffee shop near the end of the list, she instantly fell in love.
The coffee shop itself was nothing spectacular. To be honest, it
was on the small side, especially for a college town. But the rich
aroma of freshly ground coffee beans that enveloped her senses when
she set foot in the dimly lit shop sold her. It was perfect! Twenty
unmatched tables were tightly pressed together with barely enough
room to squeeze between. Green filtered lamps of various shapes and
sizes rested atop each table casting a pleasant emerald glow upon
the customers. Counter space was nearly impossible to acquire.
    As the winter months gradually approached, a
roaring fire crackled in a corner fireplace. Cushioned green lounge
chairs and dilapidated couches were scattered haphazardly against
the walls and surrounding the fireplace. On any given day, the
tables were occupied by students and professors alike discussing
anything from nuclear physics to Aristotelian philosophy to
Freudian psychology.
    After Lexi spent a few late nights in this
cozy nook, she laid claim to one of the tables facing the counter.
She had chosen that particular table specifically for the instances
when he was working. At first, she hadn’t even really
noticed him. But the more time she spent there, the more often she
crossed paths with him. And she couldn’t stop coming by hoping to
catch a glimpse of him. Her friends, who preferred to study at the
university learning center, kept trying