The Promise of Tomorrow Read Online Free PDF Page A

as I saw him wrap his arms around her, I knew that this was no figment of my imagination.
    “Nick.” Missy called out his name, and he slowly broke away from the girl and turned to look in our direction. His eyes looked at me in shock, and he jumped up and walked towards me. I stood there frozen, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to feel.
    “Lucy, what are you doing here?” He ran his fingers through his hair in his nervous way, and there was a slight edge to his voice. I stared at his face as if I were seeing it for the first time. It was oh so familiar, but oh so distant. And he called me Lucy, not Snitch. My heart broke in that moment. The man in front of me was no longer the love of my life. He was a stranger.
    “I wanted to come and see you.” The words sounded vacant to my ears, and I avoided his gaze.
    “You said you would call me when you finished studying.” His voice was accusatory, and his eyes were angry. “You never called.”
    “I was waiting for you to call me and apologize.”
    “I had nothing to apologize for.” His voice was grim. “You were a bitch, and all I wanted to do was see you.”
    “Who’s that white-trash slut?” I pointed at the girl in the booth; she looked at me with a haughty stare as she jumped up and walked over to Nick.
    “She’s not a slut.” Nick sighed, and I watched the girl put her arm through his. “Ever since you went to Harvard, you’ve been a complete snob. I thought you were better than that, but you’ve become a complete elitist bitch.”
    “What did you say to me?” I looked at him in shock. He had never called me a bitch before.
    “All you care about is partying.” His eyes narrowed. “Are you fucking someone else? Is that why you don’t have time for me?”
    “How dare you?” I slapped his face, and we glared at each other. “I just saw you making out with that trailer trash. Explain that before you question me.”
    “I thought you had moved on.” His eyes looked into mine searchingly, and I felt my insides freeze.
    “You’re dating her?” My words came out slowly, more of a statement than a question. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and my eyes were heavy with unshed tears.
    “You kept blowing me off. You haven’t called or emailed me in ages.” His voice was low, and he reached for me with a slight frown. I slapped his hand away, and I felt tears brimming in my eyes as he looked at me with an unsure expression.
    “You’re dating her?” I said again, my voice cracking as I looked at them standing there, and I realized that everything was a lot worse than I thought. “You told me you wanted to live with me, that you wanted to marry me. I thought you were saving so we could move in together in Boston.”
    “You told me you didn’t want to.” He pulled away from the slut, and his voice was hoarse. “I thought you were trying to break up with me. I thought you were done with me. That maybe your parents had gotten their way and you didn’t want to be with me anymore. I was going out of my mind.” He ran his hands through his hair, and I studied his fingers. The fingers that had brought me to orgasm so many times, the fingers that had wiped away my tears, the fingers that had kept mine warm. I wanted to scream and shout at him; I wanted to hit him. I wanted to make him hurt as much I was hurting, but I didn’t know what to do or say.
    “Did you sleep with her?” The question squeaked out of my mind. I couldn’t bear it if he had slept with her; that would be the final straw. Nick stared into my eyes with a pleading look, and my breath caught. I knew the answer without him having to say a word.
    “If you count him bending me over the back of his car an hour ago, then yeah, you could say we’ve slept together.” The girl laughed, the sound sending a dagger through my heart. She looked at me in pity and leaned over to kiss Nick. “Deal with your ex. She is as bitchy as you said. I’ll be in the