Love and Its Insane Twists of Pain

She nodded and got up to follow him, putting Angel back in the cage with the loud and obnoxious Sami. "I see, thank you," she nodded, thankful her cats would be fine. "You two little monsters are gonna give me a heart attack one day," she scolded her cats with a chuckle.

"So you didn't happen to see my name at the entrance? On the door? I mean, you could've avoided this mess.." he muttered, unable to contain his anger and feeling of betrayal from years ago. "Agh, forget it. Andrea will tend to you and you can pay up at the desk." Connor added, leaving the room quickly. He just didn't want to see her, ever. It hurt too badly.

She looked up at him, appalled. "Excuse me, but I was debating coming here," she snapped at him. "You happened to be cheaper than the others and closer to my house. And I know you like animals so I knew you'd take good care of them. Pardon me for making such an outrageous decision," she said, obviously pissed off.

Connor turned to look at her and scoffed. "Yeah, after considering that you chewed and spat me out years ago. Were you thinking I forgot and would be the puppy I used to be? Forgiving and crap? Ugh..just, go." he said, leaving the room and going to his office, closing the door and holding his head. He grunted, feeling like pounding the wall in.

She frowned, put a handful of money on the counter, telling his niece to keep the change as she left without another word. Her husband was still at work, of course, when she got home. She let the kittens out of their carrier and fed them their soft food and some milk before she went to relax on the couch. hugging one of the throw pillows and pulling her feet up, she let the tears fall silently down her cheeks.

She thought she was done crying for the best friend she'd ever had. What was she supposed to do when he told her that he loved her? She'd been afraid and run away, and he obviously hadn't healed from that. She broke his heart and she'd never forgive herself. He obviously wouldn't, either. Today had been a mistake. One she wouldn't make again, for the sake of her sanity if nothing else.

Of course by lunch time, Annabelle's husband called, just to check up on her. Even if he worked late and barely ever even interacted with the woman due to his stress and such, he still cared. He didn't expect to hear his wife as sad as she was. "Hey, something happen at the vet's? The cats aren't ok?" he asked, blinking.

"No, no, they're fine," she said. "I just..." she sighed. "The owner of the vet I went to was my best friend in high school. The one I told you about. He's still sore towards me."

He sighed, shaking his head. "Well, that's his problem. Thing is that the cats are ok. At least he didn't do anything rash..so, yeah. Anyways, I gotta get back to work. You know when I'll be home." he grunted, giving her a quick kiss through the phone and hanging up. But by then, another call came from the office, Connor's.

"Love you," she told him before he hung up. She noticed she had a missed call and flipped through the caller ID. The vet's office?

Of course, a message was left on the phone. Connor had gotten a beating (verbally) by his little niece, actually angry that he was acting so childish. So, she forced him to call and apologize, maybe even to meet up and talk. Just to do something for her, instead of acting so..stupid. Connor sighed as he glared at his niece after hanging up when leaving the message. "She would never agree to a lunch. Come on, I basically bit her head off. So I lost both a customer and an old flame, whoo go vets." he rolled his eyes, ignoring his niece's huff. "Well, you shouldn't have been such a butt!" Andrea said, shaking her head and sticking her tongue out.

Annabelle blinked, hearing the message. She listened to it three times before she hung up the phone, debating whether to call him or not. She sighed and dialed the vet's number, hoping she got a hold of his niece instead of him.

To her misfortune, it was Connor who had answered, he had to let his niece go home early because of homework and a project. "Hey...look, before you say anything I wanted to apologize. I..don't know what came over me. It's been years and I should've..gotten over it. It was just..hard then, ya know? Either way, I'd like to start fresh." he said, gulping and rubbing his face in distress.

She waited a minute before she said anything, a million thoughts running through her mind. "Alright. We'll start fresh, lay everything on the table and get it sorted out," she nodded.

"I know you don't think it'll go well but..maybe it might. How about tomorrow? I'm not too busy tomorrow during noon so..yes?" Connor asked, sighing as he felt his heart race. Would she give him a chance?

"Sure," she said. "But at least try not to be an ass," she said, half teasing him.

Connor grunted, frowning a bit but nodding. "Right.Try not to be too much of a smart ass." he warned, smiling a little as if their playful natures were normal again. As if they could get along, again."So, what time? Twelve sharp?" he asked, opening his notepad.

"Whatever time's easiest for you," she nodded. "Where at?"

((O_O..I didn't even think of where the location where this would take place would be....holy crap xD))

"How about at the local Starbucks? That's socially acceptable, right?" Connor chuckled, crossing his legs on the table as he leaned in his chair. "Twelve o' clock it is. Tomorrow." he said, gulping and realizing what a mistake this would be.

"Right. I'll see you there," she said. "Bye," she said and hung up. Good god, this would turn out to be a disaster. But at least they were trying.

With the next day coming fast, Connor had brought a change of clothes and had decided to go casual. Why dress up for her? It wasn't a reunion obviously, just a simple talk and some lunch. He told Andrea that there was money on the computer desk in his office for her to order what she wanted to eat for lunch as he then put up a closed sign. It was a slow day. So, making sure his clothes were..presentable, he made his way to his car (cheap looking but well kept and it ran, so he didn't care) and took off to the Starbucks.

[His outfit xP- http://www.indianglam.com/gallery/albums/male%20stars-cbnov2007/normal_shahid-kapoor.jpg ]

Annabelle wore jeans and a t-shirt with flats on, her purse slung on her shoulder as she walked into starbucks. Her hair was down and longer than it was in high school, whereas the previous day it had been up in a lazy bun.

Connor soon walked in, seeing her and spotting her almost immediately. He sighed, breathing deeply and going to the table where she sat. He then sat across from her and smiled. "You uh..look nice." he commented, clearing his throat.

"Thanks," she said, motioning for him to sit. "You don't look half-bad yourself."

Connor shook his head, sitting down and smiling. "Hey, those aren't comments that should be coming from a married woman to a single guy." he joked, winking and feeling a bit better. They can be friends, but more than that..might even be disastrous, but he couldn't help those feelings that were rushing back in his chest, in his heart. "So..wow, married. How long?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Three years," she said. "How about your veterinary clinic? How long have you had it open," she asked, sure it made him very proud and very pleased to have his own clinic.