Tiger Lily: Part Three by Amélie S. Duncan

me,” he said brusquely.
    My heart jumped into my throat, blocking the “Yes I am” from coming out of my mouth as I reeled from his casual acknowledgement of the depth of my feelings for him.
    “I meant, you said you loved me,” he recovered, as he sought to end the silence now on the line.
    “Yes. I understood what you meant,” I said and cleared my throat. “I should probably let you go so you can get on with work and come back soon.”
    “Yes. My next meeting started already. I’ll see you soon,” Jonas said.
    Neither of us hung up.
    He sighed. “I called because I miss you.”
    I ran my tongue over my lips. “I miss you too, Jonas,” I responded warmly, before taking the phone from my ear and hitting ‘end’.
    I stared down at the screen for a few seconds before placing it on the bedside table. My shoulders hung as I walked over to the bathroom and into the glass walk-in shower, turning the nozzle and bracing myself for the shock of cold water on my skin before it settled to a warm temperature. Anything to block the lump in the center of my chest as I tried and failed not to reflect on my conversation with Jonas and our relationship.
    He had my words of love and devotion to call on to quash any moment of doubt. Would I ever have the same from him?
    Dampening the new sponge on the long shelf along the wall, I pumped what turned out to be a lavender body wash from the row of built-in dispensers, quickly washing over my body and draining the worries I had in the fragrant scent and the beauty of my new surroundings.
    We were new, and Jonas needed time. A small smile lifted the corner of my mouth as I adjusted the warm spray to massage. I have time.
    I turned off the water and took one of the sheet towels from the built-in glass cabinets and dried off, then cinched it in place as I went over to wash my face and teeth. Returning to the bedroom, I froze and felt my cheeks warm as I met Lin changing the bed linen.
    “I could have helped change the sheets,” I stuttered.
    She paused and turned her head toward me and grinned. “Don’t be embarrassed. I love what I do. I’ve been with the Cranes a long time,” she winked.
    I blinked as the hint of what she must have encountered occurred to me and, with it, a wave of jealousy over the women who had shared his bed.
    “You have some clothes in the closet,” Lin said with a nod toward the walk-in closet. “I’ll be leaving soon, but your lunch is in the warmer. Okay?”
    “You didn’t have to…thank you,” I said with a lift to my voice. I padded over to the closet to find my clothes and quickly took out underwear, a tank top, socks, and sweatpants. I looked down at myself and laughed, imagining what Jonas would think if he saw me now. I touched my face. He was constantly on my mind now.
    I collected my new phone and work bag from the room and, with another wave to Lin, I left.
    I set up my laptop in the kitchen, planning to work while I ate, though my stomach wasn’t giving any triggers to let me know it was empty. It was something I had ignored for a long time and now would have to retrain as I tried to get better.
    Opening the fancy warmer, I found a shepherd’s pie that had my mouth watering once I smelled the gravy. Good.
    Internally, I patted myself on the back and carried the plate over to my laptop at the breakfast table. From the first bite, I was in love.
    I skimmed over my personal email, then tried to log on to the company website and dropped my fork. My email is blocked?
    I quickly took out my phone and called Gregor. On the third ring, I got him.
    “Sorry, Lily. Can’t talk now. I can call you later, unless this is an emergency?” he asked.
    “Sort of. I can’t get into my work email,” I said.
    “You’re on leave. Your messages have been rerouted to Mark,” he said.
    “I have some things Mark won’t know what to do with in my inbox. I’d like to at least clear them,” I replied.
    Gregor paused a beat, then replied. “Fine.