Run, Girl (If You Can)

Keeley accepted the glass of milk Aaron offered her with a quiet 'thank you' since she was still lost in thought. She wasn't sure what to think of this new development.

She was too upset to really listen the day she confronted him but hadn't he said something about not knowing how to love properly because of the way he grew up?

She didn't know much about his childhood beyond the fact that his parents were distant and he didn't spend a lot of time with other people outside of tutors. That would make a kid lonely. If he never learned how to process his emotions those feelings could end up expressed strangely.

Her hands wrapped around the glass of milk tightly as she watched him happily consume a cupcake. What exactly was going on inside his head?

Needing a distraction from her thoughts, Keeley asked, "How did your trip go?"

Aaron looked up in surprise, crumbs and frosting still on the corners of his lips. For a second there he looked like a normal human being rather than the icy ruler of a business empire.

"As well as it could have. I negotiated for a piece of land to build a branch in Monaco without too much difficulty. Construction starts over the summer."

She wasn't sure how to respond to that since she didn't know much about business so she only said "that's cool" before awkwardly dropping it.

He switched topics to keep the conversation going. "You're finishing up your research this summer, right?"

"Yeah. I've completed four trial batches but I need to have ten. I still have a ways to go."

Keeley remembered that her schedule would be quite different now—she would be in the lab from 9-5 like a regular employee. Half the time would be spent on her research and the other half would be her job helping Dr. Kim.

"Hey, before I forget, you don't need to send me food anymore. I'll be getting off early enough to make my own dinner."

"That will be a nice change for you," Aaron commented. "What are you going to do with all that free time?"

It was the exact question she had been asking herself. Based on what she had been up to in the past couple weeks, a whole lot of nothing.

Maybe she could go to the public library and pick out some books to read. She used to love reading mystery novels but hadn't had the time since starting her PhD program.

Keeley wasn't the fastest reader so it took about ten hours for her to read a 300 page book. She didn't have that much free time in an entire week. She preferred reading things over a couple of days so she didn't forget anything. Stretching it out over weeks took all the fun out of it.

"Not a clue. I would hang out with my friends but they're all busy now that I'm not. At least I'll have time to plan Jennica's bachelorette party now."

Aaron grimaced. "Don't remind me; I'm in charge of Cameron's and I've got nothing."

She nearly laughed out loud. As the best man it was one of his duties but she couldn't imagine him attending a bachelor party, let alone planning one.

"Well, what does he like?" she asked.

"Gambling but he does that for work so it wouldn't exactly be fun for him."

Keeley raised an eyebrow. So his World Series of Poker wins were on Aaron's orders… Was that why Jennica complained about him being gone on business all the time?

"You pay him to gamble for you?"

He shrugged. "I had to make money outside of my father somehow. Cameron is amazing—I found him in college when he consistently beat everyone in card tournaments being held in the dorms. He never lost once."

Huh. Aaron was only close to useful people; this definitely explained his friendship with someone so different from him personality-wise.

"Interesting. What sorts of things does he do to relax?"

"How am I supposed to know? It's not like we hang out when not at the office or on business trips."

Yet Cameron considered Aaron his best friend?! What kind of bizarre relationship did these two have?

"I have nothing for you," Keeley sighed. "Go talk to Aiden."

She knew he was back in the country because she had seen him coming home from work a few days earlier. He seemed very relaxed—Sweden must have treated him well. Or more specifically, his Swedish girlfriend.

He nodded in acknowledgement before unwrapping another cupcake. "These are delicious, by the way. Thank you."

She was relieved they turned out since it was her first time using this recipe. "You're welcome."

It felt weird that he was thanking her since the cupcakes were a gesture she was using to thank him. An endless cycle of 'thank yous.'

Keeley realized that this might be one of the last times she ever saw Aaron and felt even weirder. Jennica's wedding was only a month away and in that time she would only see him at the rehearsal and the wedding itself.

She was still planning to move to Pennsylvania or New Jersey after graduation. Neither of them would be able to move on if they saw each other all the time. It was best to remove herself from the equation entirely.

Aaron couldn't come running to her rescue all the time. It wasn't fair to use him like that even if it was the easy thing to do. She shouldn't take advantage of his guilty conscience.

"I should get going," she said before standing up. "Do you have another container you can put the rest of these in so I can take mine home?"

Something flashed through his usually empty eyes briefly before he nodded. "I'll go get it."

He came back a minute later with another plastic container and transferred the remaining cupcakes. "Let me drive you back."

"Really it's fi—"

"I insist. You came all the way out here; it's the least I can do."

Aaron left no room for argument so she complied. The ride back was awkward and heavy. He must have caught on that she didn't want him to use returning the container as an excuse to see her again.

What else was she supposed to do? They weren't meant to be together. Meeting up like this too frequently was only going to make it harder for him.

Keeley didn't believe that he truly loved her but he definitely had some sort of weird mixed up feelings that wouldn't go away if they kept seeing each other. He needed to let her go.