by Sophia Smith
You Give Me Hope
Book 2
Sophia Smith
PUBLISHED BY:
Sophia Smith
Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved.
Copyright
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, events, brands and media are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real people, places, or events are purely coincidental.
Chapter 1
“Angela? What are you doing here?” Jenny asked.
“Hey Jenny, listen, have you tried to call Linda at all?” she asked.
Jenny opened the door, letting Angela into her home. Angela looked at Jenny with a look of pure worry on her face.
“I haven’t. What’s the matter?” she asked.
“I just…I can’t find Linda anywhere. I was going to call her to ask her if she wanted to go out together before she got married off to that guy, but she isn’t answering her phone at all. I’m…I’m a bit worried Jenny,” she said.
“Come on in. Let me talk to Vanessa and see if she knows anything,” she said.
Angela nodded in relief. She was good friends with Jenny, even though she was definitely a little different from her. Jenny seemed to have a good head on her shoulders as the director of marketing for a new firm. When they came inside, Vanessa was at her computer, talking on the phone.
“Yes sir, I’ll have those reports in the morning. Thank you for the extension,” she said of the man on the other line. When Vanessa clicked the phone off, she looked at Jenny, and then at the woman behind her.
“Angela? Haven’t seen you in a bit. Are you looking for Linda?”
“Yes. I am. Vanessa. Have you seen her at all?” Angela asked.
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not since she came over for dinner about two months ago. I know she’s busy with her work and all, but it’s strange, I haven’t heard a peep,” Vanessa said.
“Thank you. I just am worried. I know Linda hides her feelings quite a bit, but not being able to find her like this is ridiculous. I just…I just want to find her ugh,” she said.
“Relax , we’ll find her,” Jenny said reassuringly.
“How? I’ve tried calling her multiple times. I went to the house, and nothing. I tried emailing her, texting her, even leaving her voicemails, but nothing.”
“Oh Jesus,” Jenny said.
“Do you know if something could be wrong?” Angela asked.
“I don’t know anything. I know she’s been stressed out about work, and I know she has a few self-confidence issues, but it’s weird for her to even do this,” Jenny said.
Jenny knew her sister was a bit awkward and not super open with her feelings, so maybe there was something that happened that she wasn’t telling Angela about.
“I’m just worried sick. I’m sorry if I seem a little bit on edge,” Angela said.
“No girl, you’re totally fine. Trust me, if I was in your shoes, I’d do the same thing,” Jenny said.
“Do you think you can help me Jenny? You’re her sister, and I know you two are kind of close, but I would like for you to help me. Please, if you can,” Angela said.
“Of course. I’ll try calling and checking a few places. I think you should relax Angela. I know how Linda can be. She usually hides her feelings. She’s terrible with that shit. Plus I heard she was trying to talk to some guy last time I spoke with her. Or was she seeing some guy? I don’t know, but that might be her reason for her absence,” Jenny pointed out.
“I doubt it. She never did this with me before, so I don’t know what her deal is,” Angela said.
She was worried about her though.
“Tell you what, why don’t we check a few places together? I figured she might possibly be at one of the few locations,” Jenny said.
“Thank you. I just hope she isn’t that upset,” Angela said.
Her curvy body moved to one of the chairs, sitting down with her head in her hands. The truth was, she was worried about Linda because she knew how sensitive she was. She knew how Linda could be at times. Linda was always down in the dumps about her weight, and the last time Angela spoke to her, she was gushing about a guy that she liked, some dude named Thomas. When she talked with Angela about him, Angela kept the façade of being the supportive friend up, but deep down she was a little bit jealous.
Maybe it was because she had her own feelings that she felt were unrequited from Linda, but when she heard Linda talk about him, gushing like he was the best thing ever, the only thing that Angela could do was to just blindly agree, and not do much else.
Still, the silence was very weird, even by her standards. Linda was usually the type who was very open with her feelings, and it was a bit worrisome to Angela. She didn’t want to get too into the affairs Linda was going through, but she also knew that whatever Linda was going through was severe enough that she shut herself off from the world, and from the efforts that Angela put forward.
She wanted to find out what was going on, and she felt a little bit scared about what to do. She definitely was worried about what Linda might be doing. She had some issues with self-esteem in the past, and it definitely affected her ability to do anything most days. Linda was the type of person to shut herself out, but not like this. Usually she gave Angela a simple text saying she needed space, or needed to work a little bit.
But today, no this was different from the usual. Angela wanted to find her.
The first place the three of them went to was Linda’s apartment. When they get there they knocked, but no response.
“Hey Linda, it’s Jenny. Can you open up? I’m here if you need to talk,” Jenny said.
There was still no response. Vanessa was texting Linda with Jenny’s phone, asking if she was okay.
“Any response yet?” Jenny asked.
“Nothing. It’s been sent, but not even read. I’m a little bit worried,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I got from her messages too,” Angela said.
She texted her about ten times but each one just had the “Read” notification to it, and not answered. Now, she wasn’t even responding to messages, which worried Angela to no end.
“Shit, she isn’t answering. Maybe we should check a few other places. Where dos she usually go when she’s like this?” Vanessa asked.
“Usually to the local pizza place. Or she goes to get ice cream. Or just goes to the office, but I’ve tried all those places, and nothing. Ugh, I’m so worried,” Angela said.
She had her head in her hands, and she tried her best to keep the tears from falling. But then, Angela felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Jenny. She was her sister, and while they weren’t super close, Jenny did care in her own way.
“We’ll find her. I promise,” Jenny said.
“Thank you. Both of you. I’ve been a bit worried about things, but I’m trying my best. I really am,” Angela said.
“I know. You are. And the fact that you do care says a lot. I’m sure she’ll realize how foolish she’s being once she realizes that you care a lot,” Jenny said.
“I know she has her reasons for doing this, but still,” Angela said.
She had a feeling it had to do with the guy that she was trying to talk to. Angela remembered how she was always pretty head over heels for him, and it definitely was something that sparked a little bit of jealousy in her, but at the same time, she also knew that this was something that she would definitely need to talk to Linda about.
Angela had that crush, but she knew pushing it wouldn’t be vali
d. She was scared to, mostly because deep down, she knew that if things got awkward between them, admitting her feelings would only make things worse.
Still, she wished that things would be easier. Over the next few days, Jenny, Vanessa and she went to each of these locations, all three of them looking for Linda. But, she was nowhere to be found. Angela was this close to giving up, to just waiting for Linda to come back and talk to her, when on the fifth day, her phone started to ring.
It was during work hours, but Angela managed to excuse herself, heading out of the office to take the call. It was from a mysterious number one that she didn’t know.
“Hello?”
“Angela?” a familiar voice said.
“Linda?”
“Hey. Yeah, it’s me. I need to…talk to you somewhere. I’m sorry for being so distant recently, but I’m just, surprised about everything. A lot of things happened, but I’d rather we talked about this somewhere a bit more private. If that’s okay with you,” she said.
Angela tried to keep her composure, but she was definitely happy that she heard from her friend once again. She was worried sick.
“I was so worried about you Linda. You weren’t responding to my messages,” she said.
“I know, a lot of things happened, something big kind of happened and I just…needed space. Can we meet at Sally’s this evening? I know it’s filled with foods we shouldn’t be eating, but I do need to tell you everything,” she said.
Linda was serious. Angela was trying to lose a tiny bit of weight, but it was hard for her to do. but, she’d rather talk to Linda about this personally than to hold back and ignore her feelings.
“Yeah, I can meet you then. I’ll see you,” she said.
“See you. And uh, keep this a secret from Jenny. I know she probably tried to help and all, but I’m a little bit embarrassed about this,” she said.
“You have my word,” Angela said.
When the phone clicked off, Angela sighed. She wished Linda was a little bit better with her feelings but expecting that out of her was a bit much. Still, she hoped Linda had a good explanation for the weight behavior, but probably not considering that this was something she did more often than she cared to admit.
But, Angela couldn’t be mad at her. She was just happy that Linda was safe and sound.
Chapter 2
Angela made her way over to where the diner was, stepping inside. She saw Linda nestled in the corner, and she quickly made her way over there. When she sat down, she saw Linda looking about, trying to avoid eye contact with her.
“Everything okay?” Angela asked.
“No. Sorry for…for being so quiet Angela. I’m going to be honest with you, I’m a little bit of a mess right now,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Angela asked.
“The truth is I…I have a lot in my head right now, and something kind of happened. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner but…I’m a little bit embarrassed with how I acted,” she admitted.
“I figured something happened,” Angela said.
She didn’t know how to make it not sound like she was disappointed, even though she was. Linda then sighed, looking at Angela with wide eyes.
“I’m really sorry I’m…I’m going through a lot,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Angela asked.
“Well, remember Thomas? The guy that I told you about? The one that I met through a work function, but we don’t work together?” Linda asked.
Angela nodded.
“Yeah, the guy that I said would probably be best avoided because he’s a colleague and it might be awkward for both of you,” she pointed out.
“Yeah well, I’m a dumbass for not listening to you Angela. I decided to talk to him after the company function last week, and well…he said he’d call me. I was so excited, I thought that we would hit it off. He called me, and offered to go out on a date but…he then stood me up,” she said.
“Wait, seriously?” Angela said, shock present in her eyes.
“Yeah, I’m pretty upset with this. I’m sorry for being so quiet about it but…I was a bit embarrassed to admit this was happening,” she said.
“So you ignored me for a few days because he stood you up?” Angela said.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, but you know how I get with guys. I’m not really good with them, and I’m always worried that they’ll hate me. Plus, you know how much self-confidence I have,” she said to Angela.
“That’s true. You’re always super nervous around guys, and I understand why,” Angela replied.
“Yeah, and to be honest, I was…I was pretty torn up about this. I still am. He rejected me for a pretty crappy reason to,” she said.
“What was it?” Angela asked, a bit worried about this.
“My weight. He told me I was too fat and ugly for him. I just…I’m sorry Angela, I gotta go!” she said.
Angela moved her hand to stop Linda, but it was too late. Her pudgy body ran out the door. A couple of people watched as Linda slammed the door on her way out. Linda was gone, and Angela would have to clean up the fallout from this.
“Motherfucker,” she said to herself.
She didn’t know what to do about any of this, or about what to do with everything that was happening. She felt like she was a bit out of control with this, where she wanted to tell Linda that she needed to calm down.
Angela paid the bill and ran out, looking around for Linda. But, there was no sign of her.
“Where is she?” she said.
She looked around, but all traces of Linda were gone. She tried calling Linda at both of the numbers again, but they all went straight to voicemail.
“Where the hell could she be?” Angela said.
She wished Linda wouldn’t do this, but she didn’t really know how to help her most of the time. Maybe it was due to the fact that she was super self-conscious about everything, but Angela just wished that Linda would tell her in all honesty what was going on.
Finally, later that night, she got a call from Linda.
“There you are. Have you calmed down?” Angela said.
“No. I have not,” Linda said.
“Come on Linda, you need to talk about this rationally, and we need to do it together,” she said.
“I know Angela but…I’m just fat and ugly. Nobody wants me. No man would ever want an ugly shit like me. I mean, I loved that guy. I thought we had something, but I guess not,” she said.
“I know Linda. I know that you’re hurting, but please, we’ll talk about this together. I don’t want you to do anything stupid,” she said.
“I won’t Angela, but I’m just…I’m just not sure what to do with myself right now.” she said.
“Linda, I want to come see you. Let’s finish talking together. In a more private location. Please,” she said.
Angela waited for her to speak. She wanted Linda to tell her everything. It really bothered her that Linda was doing this, that she wouldn’t even tell her what was going on. finally, after a little bit, Linda spoke.
“You promise not to tell everyone where I’m at?” she said.
“ I can’t promise that Linda. Jenny is worried. She’s been calling me nonstop the last few days. I get it, this shit sucks, but come on,” Angela said.
“No, you don’t understand! I’m not sure what to do with myself,” she said.
“I know Linda. Rejection and heartbreak is rough, but we need to go through this together, no matter what,” she said.
“That’s what you say,” Linda muttered.
“Come on, just tell me. Please,” she said.
There was a pause, and Linda was trying to figure out if she would tell Angela or not. Angela just wanted to know if she was okay or not, or if she needed something else. Finally, after a few minutes, she finally heard Linda speak.
“Fine, I’ll text you where I’m at. I went over to my office, but I’ll be back at home sometime soon. I guess we can meet there,” she said.
“Alright.
And you promise not to do anything crazy?” she said.
There was another long pause, and Angela could tell that Linda was trying very hard to keep herself together, and she wondered just how long Linda would continue to hold back, to reject her feelings, and to continue on like this. Finally, Linda spoke.
“Yes, I promise not to do anything crazy,” she said.
Angela sighed.
“Good. You need to realize that you’re not alone in this. I’m here…with you, you know,” she said.
“I know Angela. And I thank you for that. I’m sorry I’m being such a brat about all of this,” she said.
“I understand your feelings Linda. I really do. rejection sucks. But please, just let me help you a little bit,” she said.
“Alright. I guess you can,” she replied.
“There we go. See, that wasn’t so hard,” Angela teased.
“Yeah, I know,” Linda replied.
Angela then hung up, and a moment later, she texted Angela the address. Angela read it, and she pocketed it, but not before calling Jenny up.
“So I found her. Turns out she was rejected by another guy, so that’s why she hasn’t spoken much to me,” she said.
“Ahh, I figured that’s what happened. You know, she needs to realize that she’s got a good enough support network that she doesn’t need a guy. I understand the sentiment, but I sometimes just wish she was honest with herself,” Jenny said.
Angela nodded.
“You’re telling me. I sometimes wish she would just see what she had, and realize that she isn’t alone,” she admitted.
The truth was, Angela was a little bit upset that Linda didn’t acknowledge the feelings that she had. She wished that Linda would realize that she cared about her.
Then again, telling Linda the truth could ruin everything, from their friendship to well…everything else. But, even though Angela knew to keep herself together, sometimes she wished she could just break down and tell Linda everything, to let her know her feelings.
Angela didn’t know when these feelings for Linda first began. Maybe it was about a year ago when they first started talking. Maybe it was when she realized that Linda was a beautiful person, but completely deluded to the idea that she needed a man to be happy. It was a bit disappointing to see, but it’s not like Angela could do much right now. In truth, she had to just stay supportive.