Moments Later Novels & Stories

Mom slapped her hand away, causing it to turn red instantly. My sister froze. Mom also looked stunned. She looked at her hand, then at the egg, and suddenly ran into the kitchen, covering her face. Her shoulders shook violently, and she kept muttering the same phrase. I leaned in to listen. "It's for Brandon… It's for Brandon…" I sighed. Three months passed. My family had finally managed to put aside a bit of their remorse to resume living normal lives. But things started going wrong. First, it was Dad's job.

You are zoning out, I am telling you something but you don't seem to listen" "I am sorry, maybe I am just tired, it is just almost one hour left before the end of the shift" "Yeah and that is exactly what I am trying to say, I need to go back to the office and fix all my work and then I will pick you up here" "Sure! I will just wait for Millie and then get my back and wait for you here" "Okay, you sure you are okay?" "Of course! Super okay!" "Good! See you later!"

How are you doing now? "Fine" She nodded. Her phone buzzed. "Well I'll see you tomorrow nix" "so soon." "Yes bye" "But you didn't even stay with me that long..." "Next time" and she headed off.

I looked back at the second phone. At the gap. At the messages around it. Then— I noticed something else. Not in the words. In the timing. Before the gap. Messages came instantly. After the gap. There was a slight delay. Not much. But enough. Like something had changed. Or slowed. “Not a break…” I whispered. “A disruption.” My fingers moved quickly now, scrolling up and down. Comparing. Checking. Confirming. It was real. The system lost control for a moment.

"So? Divorce done?" Evan rubbed his nose and chuckled. "More or less…" After all, it was only the registration. There was still a thirty-day cooling-off period. Sylvie's smile widened. "Well then, Evan… can I chase after you openly now?" Evan nodded. "You can." It marked the moment he officially returned to being single—anyone was free to pursue him. Sylvie lit up with delight. "Get in!" The sports car roared to life and sped off into the distance.

Then I realized he was staring back also and moved quickly to dispose of the almost empty cup of smoothie. I knew he was watching as I rinsed it clean ,we fell silent momentarily. “Thank you .really”I said breaking the silence and also knowing that he was waiting for my reply. He was kind of giving me a whiplash. With three weeks gone ,he wouldn’t even look at the path that I threaded on and now he was enjoying my cup of smoothie late at night. He nodded,muttered a goodnight and was gone. I released a deep breath that I didn’t know I was holding .

I’ll talk to you soon :) I read the text and I delete, reinsert, and redelete the smiley face. I decide to just put an exclamation point instead. Not to personal and not to stiff of a response. Me: Sorry for leaving abruptly I hope you understand. I’ll talk to you soon! There, perfect. I hit send. “Okay we can leave now.” I say to him. A notification ring goes off on my phone within two seconds and it's a message from Adair. Wow that was fast...as if he was waiting for me to message him.

"Coem on" "Just give us a few seconds, we will be there" "Okay then, see you soon," Frances said before walking away. "We would talk about this later, so let us just go"

But at least I no longer looked like I had just escaped from a mall. “Okay.” Luxxe turned around. His eyes briefly met mine. He didn't stare. He simply nodded. “You made it.” “Barely.” “I can tell.” I narrowed my eyes. “Was that supposed to be an insult?” “No.” “Good.” I checked the time. “I’m late.” “You said that already.” “And I'm still late.” “Then we're both aware of the situation.” I sighed. I pressed the button again. Nothing happened. I pressed it again.

(Lydia) I shot a glance at my wrist watch. 2:50 pm. I was not late. I was actually ten minutes early, in fact. What in God’s name was happening here? Margaret looked up at me, a surprisingly pleased-with-herself smile etched across her face. Her eyes glinted at some secret joy. Mabel and Miles squealed and jumped in glee. They both ran towards and hugged me at the knees. And let out a laugh.