Lahat ng Kabanata ng The love I'd promised myself to find : Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Adrian didn't hear from Rhona all day on sunday.He'd sent five texts in the afternoon. Not desperate ones, just checking in on her and how her family's doing. *How's your brother?* *Everything okay?* *Let me know if you need anything.* The usual things you say when someone's dealing with a crisis.By evening, he stopped texting because he got no reply.Ken found him in their apartment, sitting on the couch staring at his phone like he'd been waiting for something."Dude, you look like you're about to die from staring at that phone," Ken said, dropping his bag by the door. "What's going on with you?""Nothing. I'm fine.""You're clearly not fine. Did something happen to the girl?"Adrian didn't answer, which was answer enough."Oh man," Ken said, sitting down next to him. "What happened?""Her brother got in a car accident. She had to go to the hospital, and now she's not answering my texts at all.""Maybe she's just dealing with her family stuff and can't think about anything else ri

Two weeks into whatever this was with Adrian, Rhona still didn't know what to call it.They weren't dating, at least, Adrian had never actually asked her to be his girlfriend but they were also definitely doing boyfriend-and-girlfriend stuff. He would pick her up from the library at midnight because she'd stayed too late studying. He'd buy her coffee before class because he knew she'd skipped breakfast. He'd kissed her deeply in the hallway between Contracts and Criminal Law like it was the most natural thing in the world.But he'd never said "I want to be with you" or "Will you be my girlfriend?" or any of those things that actually meant something but they were just living in their delulu.So technically, they were in a situationship but they were acting like people in a relationship which was confusing as hell."You're overthinking something," Priya said, watching Rhona from her bed while Rhona changed outfits for the third time."I'm not overthinking anything.""You absolutely are

Rhona stared at her phone for two hours before she actually responded to her mom.Adrian sat next to her on the bed without saying anything, just being present. That was what he did now , he showed up and didn't try to fix things. He just existed beside her while she figured stuff out.*Does he know where I am?* Rhona texted her mom.Her mom responded almost immediately:* He has your number. He said he got it from your uncle. He's staying at a hotel near Jamaica Station. He wants to take you to lunch tomorrow.*Rhona set the phone down without responding."What are you thinking?" Adrian asked."I'm thinking that fifteen years is a long time to just show up and expect someone to have lunch with you.""It is.""I'm thinking that he probably wants something. Money or maybe he wants to tell me about his other family and how great they are and how he wishes I was part of that.""Maybe.""I'm thinking that I don't owe him anything," Rhona said, her voice getting harder. "He doesn't get to j

Rhona told Adrian about her father on their first official date at the nearest lounge close to Rhona's dorm.Which was weird to call it a "first date" when they'd already been hanging out for weeks, but Adrian insisted on doing things properly now that they were actually together. He showed up at her dorm with flowers again — different flowers this time around, purple ones instead of red — and took her to dinner at a place that was actually nice and relaxing not just casual.They were halfway through their meal when she brought it up."My dad called me," she said.Adrian set down his fork. "Okay, How did that go?""It was fine. He's… urmmm…. he's thinking about moving back to New York. Like, permanently for work and surprisingly he asked for my permission."Adrian took a sip of his cocktail. "How do you feel about that?""Honestly? I have no idea seriously. Part of me thinks it's good that he's trying. Part of me is afraid at his sudden change and that he's going to show up and ruin e

The hospital smelled the same as it had when her brother was here three months ago. Antiseptic and fear and something else that Rhona could never quite identify but would always associate with bad news.Her mom was already there, looking like she'd aged ten years since that morning. Her younger siblings were sitting in the waiting room, her sister trying to look brave and her brother looking terrified. When they saw Rhona, they both stood up like she had answers.She didn't have answers."He's in surgery," her mom said, pulling her into a hug that was too tight. "They said it was a major blockage. If he hadn't gotten here when he did, he would have died."Rhona held her mom while she cried, and Adrian stood a few feet away, giving them space but staying close enough that she knew he was there."Can we see him?" Rhona asked."Not yet. They said after surgery, if everything goes okay, but we have to wait."So they waited.Hours of waiting. Rhona's dad had only been back in her life for