Chapter Four
Her lips curled up in a smile, after hearing his words. She thought it would be easier to get through to him, but she didn't mind the challenge. She knew he had a reason to be bothered by her call, he was probably not expecting to hear from her ever again.
"So what now?" she asked.
"I don't know."
"I think we need to talk."
She knew they'd have a better chance if they talked on the phone, otherwise they'd end up, where they usually ended up when being together. But they couldn't talk about those serious questions on the phone, they needed to do that in person.
"I agree."
"Where are you?"
She just realized that she didn't even know if he was still in the state, or he'd long left to Costa Rica, as he'd planned.
"In Florida."
"Florida?"
She was surprised to hear that answer, and it made her a bit sad at the same time. He was not in Costa Rica, but he was indeed far away. She wanted to be with him that night, and her plans were just shattered.
"Yes."
"What are you doing there? Working on a case again?"
"No, I'm staying with my sister and her family."
"You have a sister?"
Their conversation suddenly got to a personal level that they'd never touched before. She knew nothing about his family background, just like she didn't tell him anything about hers.
"I have two sisters, one of them is living in Florida."
"And when are you coming back?"
"I'm not sure."
"What about the weekend?"
It was Wednesday, and she had many appointments as well as a court date in the next two days, but she was ready to take her weekend off to try and fix this with him.
"I didn't plan to go back this weekend."
"But are you free this weekend?"
"I could arrange that, but you are not planning on coming here, are you?"
He sounded as if he was afraid of her saying yes, she started to wonder what his reason could be.
"No, but you make the idea sound so bad, why?"
"Well, my sister…"
"You've told your sister about me?"
This shouldn't have surprised her, but it still did. She hasn't talked about him with anyone. Of course that was her, she couldn't expect him to do the same, they were different.
"I…needed some advice."
"And what did she suggest?"
She was starting to not like where this line of questioning was leading.
"You want to talk about this now? It's getting late."
"Yes, I want to know how your sister sees me. Am I the cold-hearted bitch?"
She wanted to shock him with her words, it kind of made her angry that their private life was on the table in his sister's house, while she was so keen on keeping it from everyone around her.
"Diane…"
"Wait, this was not the first time you visited her lately, right? That case in Florida, when you came back but never called. Was it because of her?"
She couldn't believe she was able to put the pieces together, she officially wasn't under the influence of the alcohol any more. She knew something must have happened, she knew it couldn't have been her fault, since they parted in peace, with the promise of him calling her after he gets back. She wasn't sure if she should hate Kurt for listening to his sister or hate his sister – whom she didn't even know and at that moment wasn't so keen on getting to know either – for whatever she may or may not have said that changed things for them.
"She just cares for me, she made me see things from a different perspective."
He didn't even deny the fact.
"I bet she loved it when you told her you proposed to me."
She knew she sounded sarcastic, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to be angry with someone, blame someone for the evenings she spent waiting for his call. She acted so stupid, so unlike herself, and all this for a man, who let himself being influenced by his own sister.
"She said I was a fool."
"At least she and I agree on that," she couldn't help but chuckle and it kind of blew the beginning of her anger away.
She decided to try and forget about his sister and concentrate on her original plan. She can still meet his sister later, and show her she was mistaken, but first she needed to prove her wrong.
"Diane…"
"Memphis."
She quickly named the first city between Chicago and Florida that came to her mind. She'd never been there, not that she ever wanted to, but it sounded like a good solution
"Memphis?"
"It's half way from here and from there. I'd love to meet you in Memphis this weekend. What do you say?"
She decided not to take no for an answer.
"All right."
She started to smile again. She was going to see him soon, and it just felt so right.
"Thank you, and good night."
"Good night," he replied, and she almost hung up, when she heard his voice.
"Diane?"
"Yes?"
"Are you still in your office?"
"How do you know?"
"It was just a guess."
"A good one," she chuckled.
"Go home."