Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 126564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“You’ve said a lot of things I don’t think you meant,” I said softly. “You said you were a failure, and that was bullshit. That you were stupid—you are the smartest person I know. You said no one wants you.”
“That one’s still true.” She spread her arms in the air, smiling winningly.
“Someone does want you.”
An exasperated laugh rose from the bottom of her belly. “Right.” And then. “Who?”
“Me.”
I stared at her expectantly. The entire parlor was doing the same. She looked at me blankly, waiting for more. I took a deep breath.
“Look, I stayed away, but it’s been miserable for me. I missed you so much.” The words clogged my throat. “Actually, I think I missed you even before I knew you ever existed. But now that we’ve met, it’s become impossible to move on. I tried to go back to my old life. To be The Robot again. I can’t. I’m not a robot. I haven’t been that robot for a long time now. Because of you. You have to believe me, I didn’t stay away because it was easy. I did it because I thought I was doing right by you.”
“So what brings you here?” she taunted, but her eyes were shining, her shoulders slumped. “You decided you no longer care about doing what’s right by me?”
“No,” I groaned. Everything was freezing in my body, and I suspected I was spiking a fever. “I realized it was all bullshit. That we both needed to see each other, at least one more time, to see if we could make it work.”
“We can’t make it work,” Hallie said with conviction. “You put yourself before me. I could have been killed. And by the way, you’re blue.”
Ignoring the last part, I said, “I knew nothing would happen to you.”
“How?”
“Because I was fucking crazy about you!” I threw my arms in the air, frustrated. “I didn’t leave you out of my sight for one second. The only time you were not right next to me was the time they took you, and even then, as soon as I realized something was amiss, I ripped this fucking city to shreds in order to find you.”
She opened her mouth, about to say something, then clapped it shut.
“I think you should go,” she said finally.
“Hallie—”
“You said we needed to see each other one more time to find out if it could work. You got your answer. It can’t. I want you to leave.” Tears made her eyes shine. “Respect my wishes and leave.”
I wanted to die a million times over.
But I couldn’t say no to her.
I turned around and began making my way outside. I didn’t have a plan or another destination in mind. At some point, I was going to strangle my best friend’s wife for misleading me, but other than that, no goal.
I walked out to the rain. My feet and clothes were heavy. The street was empty, save for a few cars sailing by and an out-of-service traffic light that signaled the beginning of a brewing storm.
About to round a corner, I heaved myself forward. Behind me I heard the echo of a voice. I needed to get to the hospital. Something wasn’t right.
“Wait! Stop!”
Hallie’s voice rang in my ears. It sounded like it was coming from the inside of my body. Shit. I was hallucinating. I needed to hail a taxi and hurl myself into the ER.
I stopped walking, calling a taxi on my phone. The app was down. Figures.
Something tackled into me from behind. I lurched forward, almost falling straight into traffic. A desperate hand tugged me back to safety, pulling me with it back to the curb.
“I called you! Didn’t you hear me?”
I blinked to get the person who spoke to me into focus. It was Hallie. Definitely Hallie. Her face animated and annoyed. Beautiful. And I’d lost her.
“I didn’t hear,” I said quietly.
Rain was pouring down on both of us with no shelter in sight. I was sure I looked pathetic. But for some reason, it didn’t bother me so much.
“Did you really mean what you said?” she panted, out of breath. “About wanting me?”
“All I want is you,” I admitted. “Trust me, I tried to substitute you with alcohol, training, work—”
“Women?” She cut into my words.
I shook my head. “I can’t even smell another woman without wanting her to be you.”
She laughed, and through her laugh, I saw some tears, too. “My little robot.”
“What do you want?” I asked. “Tell me. Because it seems like you’ve turned your entire life around in seven months. You have your own place, you work, you took control of your life. I trust this Hallie to make a good decision about her life. And I’m not sure if that leaves me in or out of it.”
“You’re in.” She grabbed the hem of my shirt, jerking me close.