Lexi's Had Enough

Chapter 31

Despite having had lunch out together earlier the same day, Isaac texted Lexi to ask if she would be up for dinner that night at Clara's- a hole-in-the-wall bistro that was just a 15-minute walk from her apartment. He prepared for her to suggest another day to have their date, given just how sudden the invitation was. So, when she replied that she was down to go right then and there, it left Isaac stunned in the best way. They promptly made arrangements to meet up there for a late-night dinner.

After settling in at Clara's and placing their orders, the couple began to chat about various topics. Isaac found himself smiling like an idiot as Lexi chatted away. He listened to her intently as she talked about how she'd finally finished writing her book during Spring Break. Seeing her talk with intense passion about something she was proud about left him grinning from ear to ear. It was a nice change from how stressed she had been just a few months ago.

"Is there something on my face?" Lexi abruptly asked. She had stopped to ask in the middle of discussing how she'd written the ending of her book.

Isaac snapped out of his trance-like state, blinking his dark brow eyes hard. "No, not at all. I just love hearing you talk about writing— really. You look and sound so happy when you talk about it, and that makes me happy too. Ugh, that sounded so friggin' corny."

Lexi relaxed and laughed as she ran one hand through her wavy chestnut blonde hair. "No, it sounded really sweet. I promise."

"Well, good. Oh, and I'm glad that you managed to finish writing your book. I know how stressed out you were about it."

"Me too. I couldn't imagine trying to write it now, what with the semester ending in a few weeks. I would've had to stop working on it completely to focus on finishing up the last of my papers. And then I'd have to focus on studying for final exams. I would've been so stressed out."

"Yeah, there's no way in hell you would've been able to focus on writing and school near the end of the semester."

"Especially 'cause there's still a lot for me to do. I have to self-edit my book, format it, look for an editor to do their job, look for a literary agent...that's not even all of it."

Isaac's eyes widened. "Wow. I had no idea that you need to do all that."

"Yeah, getting a book published is a pretty intense process," Lexi remarked with a nervous laugh. "Jesus, I'm so eager for the semester to be over, though. I wish finals could happen soon just so we can all be done with school this year."

"I agree," Isaac said. He suddenly went quiet and lowered his eyes down to the table.

Lexi immediately knew that something was up. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's just...I agree with what you're saying. At least, my head is," Isaac explained. "But I can't help but wish time would slow down a little bit. I hate the fact that the school year is ending 'cause it means you're going back to San Diego soon."

Lexi bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, that's true. I've been trying to avoid thinking about that too much."

Isaac looked up to see his girlfriend wearing a disappointed look on her face. Guilt began to eat away at his stomach as he realized just how upset the idea made her.

Shit, I shouldn't have said anything about it, he thought. Why did I have to go and ruin our night?

"It's okay, though," Lexi remarked with a soft grin. "Nights like tonight and even our lunch earlier today help me keep my mind off of that."

Jesus, it's like she kind of read my mind, Isaac thought. He cleared his throat to keep that to himself. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's okay, baby," Lexi said. She paused to place one hand on top of his. "You didn't say or do anything wrong."