Hi everyone, thanks for the reviews. Yes, Jessica probably should have confronted Seth instead of pretending to be asleep but, I wanted to make this story a bit longer.
Seth relented to the fact that Jessica may never talk to him again or, at least, for a very long while. He didn't do much other than go to work at the hospital and then see his patients at his home office.
By the end of the week, he relented and had to do some food shopping. He was surviving on cup of soup and crackers, but he didn't have much of an appetite anyway. He loved food and loved to experiment with new recipes, so he looked up a few and decided to indulge himself.
He was looking closely at his shopping list and not paying much attention when his cart crashed into Jessica's.
"For all that's decent…" he began to say before he noticed who he was cursing out.
"Oh…Jessica. I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
"That's alright Seth, how have you been?"
"Oh, busy at the hospital. I'm doing some late shopping. Gonna try out some new recipes."
The conversation seemed stilted. Jessica just shook her head in understanding.
"Well, if you need a dessert, I have the blueberry pie in the freezer. I can drop it off."
"That's nice of you to offer but my kitchen is a bit of a mess, I'm afraid to say. Not fit for man nor beast."
"Oh, I see." Jessica was disappointed and Seth immediately caught on.
"I could come by and pick it up…if it's no trouble?" Desperation was in his voice as it went up an octave.
"Don't hesitate, Jessica," she said to herself. "Stop judging this man for one mistake. His friendship has meant so much to you these past few years and you're going to throw it all away?" The seconds to respond seemed like hours.
"No, no. No trouble at all. How about coming by at 7?"
A weight had been lifted off Seth's shoulders…temporarily and he smiled.
"I'll be there with bells on," and with that they each continued to do their shopping separately.