Her Little White Lie (BWWM Romance) by Cj Howard

were at least twenty texts and unanswered calls from Mikey. I still had my cell switched off since leaving work.
     
    I put it on and dialed M for Mikey. Another of our corny jokes that no one else would find funny but us. He answered straight away.
     
    “Grace. Gracie. I been calling your cell, your apartment I even wanted to call you at work but I didn't want to get you in trouble. You've been avoiding me. I don't get it.”
     
    “It's all right, Mikey. I've come to my senses now. I want my best friend back. That's what matters. Life is short and I don't want to push you away.”
     
    “You could never do that. Where are you? At home? I'm coming over.”
     
    “No, I'm at County General.”
     
    “What! Are you sick? What happened?”
     
    “It's not me, it's Mr. Iglesias. He had a heart attack and I'm waiting to see if they'll let him out or not.”
    “I'm on my way.”
     
    That was so typical of Mikey. He always came through for me in a crisis. I didn't even need to ask.
    In no time, as I sat and waited in the corridors outside ER, I saw Mikey walking along the white, shiny floor. He was in tatty jeans and a thick, dark jacket. He had on a gray, woolen hat, pulled low onto his head and he had a half smile.
     
    He sat next to me and put a paper bag on my lap.
    “I bought you a sandwich. I knew you wouldn't have eaten and you need to keep up your strength. What have they said?”
     
    “Well, he's sleeping now. It was only a mild heart attack but they just want to wait a little longer. Thank you for coming.”
     
    “Of course.” He opened the paper bag and pulled out the sandwich which was wrapped in greaseproof paper. He undid the paper and held up a half sandwich for me to bite. I leaned over and took a large mouthful.
     
    “Thank you.”
    “Welcome, Gracie.”
    “So we're okay? I mean you don't have to worry about me jumping on you.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah, we're just friends. I see that now. Anything else would ruin what we have and most of all I want to have my best friend back again.”
    “Being your friend again, that's what you want, huh, Grace?” Mikey stared hard at me. I nodded.
    “Well, that makes me happy, too, Grace.”
    I was so glad to be sitting with Mikey. In a weird and upsetting way, Mr. Iglesias had given me another gift, I had Mikey back.
     

9
    The next day Mr. Iglesias was out of the hospital. He came back to the Great Western International by cab and was resting in his suite. It was just four days to Christmas and now that I knew the truth about him, I wondered about asking him over for Christmas day so that he wouldn't be lonely. Maybe I could find out about how they spent the holidays in Argentina.
     
    But I was happy that Mikey and I were speaking again. We'd been talking on the phone and texting each other as normal but, somehow, since making out with Mikey, things just didn't feel the same to me, no matter how normal I tried to act.
     
    I told myself and I told Mikey I'd rather have him as a friend than to not have him in my life at all, but in my heart I knew that wasn't strictly true. If I was completely honest, there was really only one way I wanted Mikey in my life but he had already let me know that the feeling wasn't mutual.
    So I tried to distract myself from all the day dreaming I was doing with Mikey as the subject matter in every single day dream. I spent the next couple of days trying to find distractions.
     
    There were Christmas trees on sale very near to my apartment. I bundled up in warm clothes and dragged myself out of the apartment to look at them. This was an absolute first for me. Before I knew what I was doing, I bought the smallest tree I could find and carried it home. I had a ridiculous smile on my face as I staggered home with it. I stood it up in various positions around my apartment until I decided the best place for it was in between my little sofa and the window. It was in its own pot and once I'd got it to stand up straight. I stood