“There is one more thing I wanted to mention to you,” Aaron said, avoiding eye contact with her again, and staring at the floor in front of him.

“What’s that?” Cadence asked cautiously.

“Well, it has to do with Eliza,” he said folding his arms across his chest.

Cadence cocked her head to the side a bit. “Go on,” she requested.

“Eliza really likes you,” he began. “So does Jamie for that matter, and everyone who has met you. But, um, well, Eliza has some areas we are working on, and getting along with other female members of our team is one of those areas.”

Cadence was a little surprised. “Really? I think she’s been super nice and supportive.”

“Oh, yeah, I agree. Absolutely. So far, she has really gotten along with you extremely well. And I am hopeful that things will stay that way. But I wanted to let you know so that, in situations like today when you see her get a little defensive, you can come directly to me and ask me yourself instead of going through her. Do you know what I mean?”

Cadence was nodding. “You mean when I was asking her about my training?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“And she was adamant that you wouldn’t be doing it?”

“That would be a prime example.”

“Okay,” Cadence said slowly. “Sorry. I had no idea that would be something she wouldn’t want to answer for me.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay. And here’s the deal, Cadence, you may not know when you’re going to cause her to become a little hot-tempered. But once you recognize that it has happened, just slowly back away, and then let me know, and I’ll address it.”

She was nodding, but she really wasn’t sure she fully understood what he was requesting. Cadence had realized, however, that Eliza only started acting funny when she mentioned Aaron. “Maybe, in the future, I should just… not talk about you to her at all then?”

“That might be one solution,” he admitted.

She started to ask another question but then hesitated. It really wasn’t her business, and yet she really wanted to know. Finally, she decided to ask, and if he wanted to tell her he could, and if not, he could tell her it was inappropriate. “I’m sorry for prying, but did you guys used to date or something?”

His expression changed completely, and Cadence almost wished she hadn’t asked. He pressed his lips together, as if he were searching for an answer. Eventually, he began to slowly nod his head, and Cadence gave him a look that said, “That explains it.” He said nothing more, though it almost seemed to her that he wanted to clarify. He glanced at her and then back at the floor several times, his hands rubbing together where they were folded in front of him.

She had about twenty follow-up questions but decided not to ask them since he didn’t volunteer any more information. She knew she would be arriving at LIGHTS soon, and if there were other girls present, chances were she would find out anyway. Then another thought occurred to her. “Wait, are you still?”

“Oh, no,” Aaron said, almost too quickly. “I mean, I love Eliza, don’t get me wrong. Well, I mean, I don’t love her, but I… you know what I mean. The answer is no, we are no longer dating and have not been dating for quite some time.”

Cadence held back a giggle that threatened to escape her lips. Clearly, Aaron was no longer interested in Eliza, though Eliza was certainly interested in him. “Okay, then,” she said. An awkward silence settled upon them, and though Cadence was exhausted, and Aaron probably had more work to do than he could possibly ever finish, he didn’t really seem to want to go, and she didn’t really want him to leave.

Eventually, a yawn escaped Cadence, despite her attempts at stifling it, prompting him to say, “I guess I should let you go. I know you have an important event tomorrow.”

Cadence had honestly been trying not to think about the funeral. She had asked her mother to locate her favorite black dress and hang it in the front of her closet so that she could just grab it in the morning without thinking and throw it on. She resolved herself against crying again while Aaron was here, however, so she concentrated instead on thinking about something that made her happy. Luckily for her, she was able to fix her attention back on his face and see his smile. His expression was one of concern and understanding, but his face still fit into the category of “things that made her happy,” and she was able to force a small smile back in return.

He leaned in a little closer to her, cautiously. “Do you want me to call you tomorrow afternoon when it’s over?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, please,” she said without hesitation.

“Okay,” he said nodding. Just then, his demeanor abruptly changed, and she assumed an alert came across his IAC.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. Just something I need to take care of.” It was enough to break the spell they had fallen under. “Well, I better go,” he said standing.

“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” she replied, also standing and gesturing toward her bed.

“Right,” he said, understanding. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.” He took a step back toward the window.

“Okay,” she nodded, also taking a step backward, hoping some distance would make this less awkward. “Bye,” she added.

“Bye,” he said giving her one last glance. This time, however, when he climbed out the window, Cadence was able to track his every movement, unlike the time before when he had moved so quickly she couldn’t even see him at all. Now, she had another reason to smile.