Fiona stood up from the table, all
mischievous energy now replaced by a
calm, collected poise. She walked over to
where Adam's girlfriend was standing, her
arms crossed, staring out at the ocean like
she was trying to burn a hole through the
horizon.
"Hey," Fiona's voice was soft, but the
underlying strength remained. "I know l
might've made things.. messy earlier."
The girlfriend didn't look at her, clearly still
fuming, but she didn't say anything. Fiona
continued.
'I didn't mean to cross boundaries with you
and I'm sorry for making you feel like it was
all a joke. It wasn't my place to make you
feel like that."
The girlfriend's eyes softened just a
fraction, but her arms stayed crossed. "You
don't get it, Fiona. You've been playing with
everything, everyone. It's not fair."
Fiona nodded, acknowledging the pain she'd
caused. "I know. I've played my cards badly
But I'm not here to start a war. I'm not here
to steal anything from you."
She gave Adam a quick glance, and his eyes
were full of silent gratitude. Fiona pulled a
small container from her bag and opened it,
pulling out a plump, ripe strawberry
'Here," she said, offering it to Adam's
girlfriend. "You're the one who's really in his
life. I just.. wanted to remind you that I'm
not trying to break that. So, Adam's gonna
feed you the strawberry, like he should've
been feeding you all along.
She placed the strawberry in Adam's hand,
watching as the girlfriend blinked in surprise. Adam, though hesitant, smiled
sheepishly and held the fruit up, a peace
offering of sorts.
Fiona took a step back, her smile cool, but
sincere. "And just so we're clear," she added,
her tone turning serious, "I won't play
around with either of you anymore. Not like
that. It's not who I want to be. So if that
means stepping back from the joke and
letting you two have your space, I'm good
with that."
The girlfriend stared at Fiona for a long
moment, processing the unexpected
apology. Slowly, she took the strawberry
from Adam's hand, her shoulders relaxing
"Well, this is weird.." she muttered. "But I
guess I can accept it.. for now."
Fiona nodded, smiling just a little. "Good.
Now, go ahead, enjoy the strawberry. You
deserve it.
And with that, Fiona turned and walked
away, leaving Adam and his girlfriend to find
their own balance in this strange moment of
tension.
As she left, she couldn't help but feel a little
lighter. It wasn't the perfect apology, but it
was enough for now.