Cat

I'm talking to Olivia, but I am going quietly out of my mind. Alex said he'd call when he got home. I know I shouldn't bother him with my own insecurities, but even though we got back together, I feel I stand on shaky ground. Alex leaving me has left me doubtful and I hate it.

I know Olivia is trying hard not to get involved. I know she's mad at him and the last thing I want to do is give her more fuel to use against him, which is why I'm not mentioning this or meeting Tina, Alex's new Personal Assistant. Tina doesn't look much older than us. I wonder how old she really is?

No. I can't believe I'm getting jealous over someone I spent less than 5 minutes with. Alex will not leave me. I take a deep breath, but he still hasn't called. Why hasn't he called? I already checked with William, but he hasn't heard from him either. He promised he would call when he got home. I know he's got to be home by now.

If I'm going to call him, I should probably use what's left of my lunch period to talk to him. No, he's dealing with a lot. I should wait, but waiting is torture and I can feel my anxiety rising. Do I really want to chance another hospital visit over this? Definitely not. Deep breath, smile...

"Tomorrow sounds great. I, uh, I forgot my notes, so I'll have to get them before class starts. Sorry to jump out but..."

"It's okay. I'll see you back at the house tonight."

Thank, God! She's letting me go.

"Okay. See you then."

I get to the hallway and dial Alex's number. It rang once and he doesn't even give me a chance to say hello before I hear...

"Cat! I'm so sorry. I meant to call you. It's been crazy..."

My heart calms upon hearing his voice.

"You had me worried about you. William too." I can't believe I'm trying to make him feel guilty. What's wrong with me?

"I'm so sorry. It's been... today... I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I forgot..."

He doesn't sound right. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean," he asked.

"I can hear it in your voice. Something's happened. What is it?"

I hear an exhausted sigh. "Everything is so screwed up, Cat. I don't even know where to begin to fix it all."

I can't stand this. "That's it! I'm coming. Screw waiting for this weekend. I hate being here while you're dealing with all this stuff on your own."

Then I hear a woman's voice ask, "Did you want something to drink?" Was that his mom?

"Who was that?"

"Tina," he tells me and the bitter feeling of jealousy resurfaces. I try to push it down.

"Are you at your Dad's office? Did I catch you at a bad time? Because I can go if you want?"

When did I get this insecure?

"No, I'm home."

It just came flying out of my mouth. "Home? Then what's Tina doing there?"

Alex paused a second before answering me. "Tina is going to stay with my mom when I go to see the lawyer. My mom... she's... she's not well and I can't really leave her on her own."

I feel like such an ass. Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut? He sounds hurt. "Your mom is sick? How sick?"

"The kind of sick you don't get better from."

"Oh..." His answer makes my heart plummet. "Alex, you really shouldn't be going through this alone. It's too much."

"I'm going to the lawyer's today. My Dad's body will be released to the funeral home but I need to find out if he had someplace in mind. That requires me to meet with the lawyer about the will. Once I have all that in place a lot more decisions can be made."

"Look, I'll see if I can't get a leave of absence. Even if it's just for a few days. I'll come up and..."

Shit! I forgot... "Damn it, I can't. I have the ultrasound appointment tomorrow. I'll come after it's over."

Alex sounds in a panic. "The ultrasound... Cat, I'll get to you. We'll go together. I know how important this is to you. You don't have to worry. I'll figure something out."

Liam. I asked Liam to go with me when I thought Alex and I were over. I can't tell him this now with everything else he's going through.

"Don't worry about it, Alex. Honestly, I'll be fine. I promise to call you when it's over. We'll meet up and I'll tell you every detail. I just don't want you to have to worry about me on top of everything else you're dealing with."

"Are you crazy? This is huge, Cat. I have every hope that Peanut will be just fine but just in case I... I don't want you having to deal with that on your own. I don't want to have to worry about you driving home upset for any reason."

Oh, how do I convince him it's better this way?

"Don't worry. I'll find someone to go with. Okay?"

"Promise me you won't go alone?"

"I promise," I agreed relieved.

"Okay."

I had run out of time. "I gotta go, class is going to start soon, but I'll call you when I get back home. Okay?"

"Yeah."He sounds so sad. 

"I love you."

I can hear the smile in his voice when he says, "I love you, too."

I hung up and raced to class, I made it in right before the professor started. I sneaked a text to William letting him know Alex is okay. I wanted to be with Alex so badly, my heart aches for him.

The class took forever to end. I packed up and Liam was waiting outside for me. "Hey, I was wondering what time do you want to meet up tomorrow."

I was stunned he remembered without me having to call to remind him. "I'll text you all the information later, okay?"

I rushed towards the exit but he easily kept pace with me. "What's your hurry? I thought maybe I could treat you to dinner, you know, to apologize for breaking your phone?"

This halted my steps. "Oh, I uh... That's really nice of you, Liam but I'm not going to be around for dinner."

"Got a sorority thing going on? Maybe I can drop by and we can...?

"Liam, I'm going to see Alex."

"Alex? I thought you two broke up."

"We're back together."

"Really?"

Liam's facial expression immediately changed. His emotions are guarded. In a way, I'm proud of him as I would have expected him to lash out at me but he instead held himself in check.

"I'll just wait for your text then. I am still going with you?"

I really didn't know what to say to that question other than, "Of course you are."

He nodded his head solemnly. "Take care of yourself, Cat."

Liam leaned over and kissed my cheek, leaving me speechless. Maybe he's finally growing up. I shook off my thoughts and got back to my mission. I spent the rest of my time arranging some time off from school. I had to reschedule my tutoring session. If everything worked out as I hoped, I should be at Alex's by dinner time.

One last thing, I called Olivia but it goes straight to voice mail. It's not like her not to pick up her phone and this was the second time today. I forgot she said she had an appointment at 3:00 today but it's been over an hour since then. I left a message and checked on her location.

"The Grind," I wonder who she could be meeting there. She did look pretty tired at lunch, maybe she stopped in for a pick me up. I smiled to myself, when will that girl learn it's not going to help.

Finally, having everything arranged I called Alex but I end up leaving a message on his phone too. I can't wait to see him. I know I can help. He's been there for me so many times, I wanted to return the favor. For once I wanted to be the strong one.