by Naomi Niles
“Oh I intend to.That looks really good on you!” she exclaimed, as I pulled the curtain to one side. “I actually think you might suit the cold!”
It was weird to see this side of myself, all wrapped up, but I had to admit that weirdly she was right. Maybe I could adjust to this after all.
“Now go and try on those jeans I picked out. The black ones.”
I rolled my eyes and went back inside, feeling a little more confident. Maybe if I could find some stuff I liked to wear in these shops, then everything else would fall into place too.
*****
Almost an hour later, my hands were filled with bags, and I felt a lot lighter. I might have spent a lot more money than I intended to, but that was actually really fun. I had boots, trousers, coats, basically nothing that I would need once I went back to college, yet that didn’t really matter. I wasn’t actually thinking about my ‘other life’ right then; I was simply enjoying my time here.
It was a pleasant, unexpected surprise.
“Shall we get lunch now?” Cynthia asked me. “I’m so hungry. What do you want?”
“Something quick and fatty,” I joked. “Now I have all the layers in the world to cover me up, so I don’t have to watch my weight anymore.”
Cynthia laughed loudly, knowing that I didn’t care about my weight at all, before pointing to a nearby burger joint. “How about Nobby’s?”
“Really?” I exclaimed. “Are you sure? Nobby’s? Are we actually going to eat in a place called Nobby’s?”
“Dad said it was amazing,” she insisted, holding up her hands in a surrendering gesture. “Plus, it’s like…right there.”
“Yeah,” I replied weakly. “That’s an argument that I can agree with. Let’s go in.”
As we headed inside, we found a friendly, family-run business, that was actually so much nicer than it initially appeared to be. I felt happy with our choice as we ordered our food and slid into a booth.
“Mom just text me,” Cynthia said distractedly, after returning from the bathroom. “She said to get takeout tonight because her and dad are going to be working late again.”
“Right,” I replied a little coldly. I didn’t want to vocalize it to Cynthia because she was on the same path in life, but that was another huge reason that becoming a doctor didn’t appeal to me. Yes, my weak stomach when it came to blood didn’t help, but the hours were a huge issue too. Me and Cynthia hardly saw them as we were growing up: we practically raised ourselves. They were so involved in the hospital that we always came second, no matter what. I still held on to resentment for that.
Of course, teaching hours can be crazy too, but nothing like that of a doctor. It might have been far off into the distance, but I didn’t want my own future family to have to go through the same thing. I wanted to be there for them, for my kids to know that I was always around, and teaching would allow me to do that.
“Oh my God.” Cynthia gripped tightly onto my arms, distracting me from my thoughts. “Look who it is?”
“Argh!” I cried out, yanking my limbs away from her. “Who?” I glanced around the room, not instantly seeing anyone that I recognized. “Who are you on about?”
“Marek, on the TV, the game I went to with dad. Oh God, he’s amazing,” she swooned, actually holding on to her heart in a dramatic fashion.
I glanced up at the screen, but couldn’t pick any of the guys out individually. They had masks on, and to be honest, I could barely remember the photographs that I’d seen either. “Which one is he?”
I turned back to Cynthia, but she was no longer watching the screen. Instead her eyes were fixed on someone else, so I followed her eye line to find myself looking at half of the face of a guy that I didn’t know at all.
“Who are you looking at now?” I hissed, bringing her attention back to me. “What is going on with you?”
“That’s Miles,” she told me. “The other teammate, remember? The one I said was perfect for you?”
I turned to look again, feeling the spark of recognition bursting inside of me. Of course, that scar, I should have guessed. I stared for a little too long, feeling that familiar flutter race around through my veins all over again. He really was a hot guy, but that still didn’t explain why my sister was getting herself so tied up in knots. She was acting insane, and I needed to sort that out.
“Go and give him your number,” she whispered, sounding a little crazy. “Go on, do it now. It’s the only chance you’ll get.”
“No way,” I insisted, shaking my head. “Howembarrassing.” I couldn’t imagine anything worse than going up to him and giving him my phone number – who did things like that?
“Please,” Cynthia begged. “Go on. I’ll do anything. I’ll do all your chores. I’ll…I’ll wash all your clothes for a week.” She was growing increasingly stressed and that was showing on her face. “I’ll cook and clean. I’ll even do it on Christmas day.”
“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask. “Why are you so desperate for me to do this?”
“Because,” she whined. “I just had a break up, and I need someone new to take my mind off Derek, and I need that person to be Marek and you could get me that connection.”
“So give him your number?” I insisted. I wanted to help my sister, but I needed a way out. I didn’t want to be involved at all if I could help it.
“No, it has to be you. I don’t want Miles to think that I like him! Please, I will love you forever.”
“You should do that anyway,” I grumbled, already feeling my resolve weaken. I do want to make my sister happy, and if this is what she needs then maybe I should just do it. “Okay, give me a napkin and I will try.”
“Be quick,” Cynthia insisted. “He’s leaving now.”
Fucking hell.
This was so embarrassing; I was going to have to find a way to get around this that didn’t make me look like an idiot.
An idea span through my mind as I pushed through the door, and with no other plans to go by, I went with it, still feeling totally foolish.
“Hey!” I called loudly. “Miles!”
Him and his friend span around to stare at me, and my face flared up. Shit, this was a mistake. Why didn’t I just pretend that I didn’t catch up with him? I could have so easily gotten away with it.
“Can I help you?” he asked warily, staring at me a little confused.
“Don’t you remember me?” I asked bullishly, throwing myself into my character. “We met at that party? You promised to give me ice skating lessons?” Fuck, he isn’t buying it. I needed to shut this down quickly, before he started to ask too many questions. “So I’m calling in that favor.”
I got closer to him, thrusting the napkin in his face. He looked down at it, too blown away by my craziness to argue.
“So, call me this week and we will set it up?”
With that, I span on my heels and stalked back inside, wondering what the hell I’d done. The ice skating lessons seemed like a good plan at the time because he was a hockey player, but now I was just hoping that my sister wouldn’t make me go through with it to get closer to Marek. Surely giving him my number would be enough?
“Did you do it?” Cynthia asked excitedly, sitting in front of the plates of food that arrived while I was gone, and I nodded numbly. I grabbed hold of the burger and stuffed it into my mouth, hoping that she wouldn’t ask me anymore questions. I wasn’t even hungry anymore; if anything, I felt sick, but I needed a distraction. “Oh my God, thank you so much,” she crooned. “I’ll do anything for you now.”
“He might not even call,” I insisted through a full mouth. “He might think that I’m a crazy person.”
“Oh, he will,” she smiled smugly. “I bet he’s in love with you already.”I rolled my eyes sarcastically, wondering how the hell I was going to drag myself out of this mess. It was good to have my sister happy, but it was still super embarrassing. “I bet he calls you tomorrow.”
Oh God.
That thought had me filled wi
th flapping butterflies. What was I actually going to do if he did call? It seemed almost too unreal to even consider. How would I keep up the act if he did? I almost fell apart with the few lines that I had to say outside; I wasn’t sure that I could hold together an entire conversation.
He won’t call, I tried to reassure myself. He probably thinks I’m some crazy obsessive fan. But I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at my phone, just in case.
“And then I’ll get to be with Marek,” Cynthia sighed. “And we will fall in love and everything will be perfect.”
“What are you going to do when you have to return to Boston?” I shot back at her, needing to shut this craziness down.
“Okay, so we won’t fall in love,” she laughed, stealing a chip from my plate. “But there will definitely be some lust.”
Lust: that was what I needed too.
Chapter 7
Miles – Monday – Christmas week – 4th week of December
Who the hell was that girl?
It plagued me all night long and into the following day too. I just couldn’t remember speaking to her ever before, which was weird because she seemed so confident that we knew one another, and not in a crazy, obsessive, stalker-type way. The problem was I hadn't exactly been out talking to girls for a very long time, so I assumed that I would remember someone so hot. But maybe, just maybe, I hadn't. I supposed I’d been to a lot of parties over the last year so she could have been at any of them. Maybe I agreed to the ice skating lessons with someone I was barely paying attention to, in the disengaged way I’d been acting recently.
As my thoughts returned to her sexiness, I felt a fluttering within my heart. She truly was gorgeous – all voluptuous and curvy with pale, blonde hair and sparkling eyes – a real West Coast look. Plus, there were those lips – wow, they were to die for. She was too beautiful for me not to remember. I absolutely had to call her to get to know her more. I needed to know where she was from, but I couldn’t deny that I was a little nervous too. I had only just accepted that it really was time to get over Hailey forever, and this seemed like it could be one step too far. Was I really ready to properly think about someone else in that way?
Then again, I did wish for a girl for Christmas. Maybe this was just my dream coming true.
I shook my head, needing to clear my thoughts for a moment before I grew too tangled up in knots, so I stepped out of bed and headed to the mini gym that I had in my apartment to work out. Doing something physical always made me feel amazing, and that was exactly what I needed. I had to just pump some iron and focus on that.
As I went through my usual workout routine, I found that however hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my mind off that woman. She was there no matter what I did. However many exercises I did, she kept creeping back in, distracting me.
Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
As my phone rang out, for a brief second I allowed myself to think that it might be her responding to my internal turmoil, but I quickly realized that she didn’t even have my phone number, so there was just no way.
I rolled my eyes and scolded myself as I saw my mom’s name plastered across the screen. Of course it was her – she called me most mornings!
“Hi mom,” I start, smiling as I spoke. “How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks, baby; how are you? I’ve missed you.” As she said this, I felt a little guilty. It had been a while since I’d last seen her, and I was usually pretty good at keeping on top of that.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” I started, feeling awful. “But I’ll be over for Christmas; you know that.”
“Of course,” I could tell that she was grinning by the tone of her voice. “I can’t wait for it. It’s going to be lovely.” I adored my mom so much; she had raised me single handedly for the last few years of my life, making me the man I was. We were each other’s only family, which meant that we stuck together through thick and thin, no matter what. I hadn't given her much trouble when I was a teen for that exact reason, and I got the impression that she really appreciated that. “Any girlfriends this year?” she joked. She knew about my nightmare with Hailey, and she was very keen for me to move on too. She wanted me to be happy, which I took kindly, but not when I didn’t have the response that she wanted.
“Nah,mom, you know me. Holding out for the right one and all that,” I replied evasively, but there was a moment where I thought about the girl once more. I grabbed onto the napkin with her number on, rubbing it between my fingers. Could she be the one?
She told me to call her. Maybe I should just do it. What was the worst that could happen?It would be a massive step for me, but one that I would have to tackle eventually so maybe it will be a case of sooner rather than later?
“Okay, son.Well you sound busy so I’ll let you get on,” mom brought me back into the present moment. “Plus, my shift starts in a minute. But I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Love you.”
“Love you too.Bye,mom.”
I held the phone in my hands for a few moments, trying to make the right decision for me, before shaking my head and dialing the number. There was no point in being scared anymore, not when I was so intrigued. If I allowed my fear to get in the way of this, I would always wonder who she was and what she could have been to me.
“Hello?”her silky voice answered, sounding a little tired.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you?” I glanced at my watch, seeing that it was 9 am, which could be considered early to some people. “Oops.”
“No, no,” I could tell that she was paying more attention now that she didn’t know who I was. “You didn’t wake me. Erm…who’s calling, please?”
“It’s Miles,” I replied wryly. “We met yesterday outside of Nobby’s, although you said that we already knew one another.”
Silence.
A resounding silence that had me even more suspicious. She was playing some sort of game and she felt afraid that she’d been found out. Well, if she wanted to play, then I did too. I would call her bluff and make her back down until she felt force to confess the truth to me.
“So, this ice skating lesson that you wanted…is that still something you’re interested in?” She would say no, I was sure of it, then I could find out what her true identity was.
There was a bit of whispering before she replied, which left me even more confused. “Yes, that sounds lovely.”
Really?
“Right, okay,” I drawled. “So, today?” Why wasn’t she backing down? How far could I push this?
“Yeah, sure, I can start this afternoon.” More whispering. “I can do any dates except from Christmas Eve and Day.” Okay, so she was with someone, a person who was telling her what to say, which left me even more confused. I had to know now; it was becoming essential.
“Sure, sure, that sounds good to me. So I’ll meet you at the pond at 2 pm then?”
“Okay,” she sounded glum, so I needed something else, something to take her right over the edge.
“But first, I need something from you.” A smirk spread across my face as a plan formed in my mind. “I need you to come over after the lesson and cook me a meal.”
“Really?” she replied warily, meaning that it was working.
“And secondly, you have to tell me where we met. I’ve been racking my brains all morning, trying to figure it out, and I can’t.” Okay, so I wanted to put her off, but not too much. She was hot and I wouldn’t mind getting to know her a little better. Since she was the first woman I’d felt that way about in a very long time, it made me even more intrigued.
She laughed loudly, which was a sound that felt like music to my ears. At least she wasn’t taking herself too seriously. The fact that she had lightened up and was in on the joke made me feel a lot more confident about actually doing this. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe we would end up having a really good time ice skating and something would actually progress.
“Okay,” she finally agreed, conceding to my terms. “That sounds
good. So, I’ll see you at the pond at two then?”
“See you then.”
As I hung up the phone, I felt a lot lighter. I felt a little like I was on cloud nine, which from past experience was a very dangerous sensation. The fact that I was smiling so much worried me, because it meant that I was on my way to getting my heart broken and I didn’t know if I could stand it again. My heart hadn't fully repaired from Hailey yet so I didn’t want to put it through anymore.
On a whim, needing some reassurance, I made another phone call to Sean. I needed the sort of advice that only he could give. I needed him to tell me if I was doing the wrong thing – then I could cancel it all and return to normal life.
“Hey,” he called down the phone. “What’s going on?”
“I just called her,” I tell him right away, delving right into the crux of my problem. “That chick I mean, the one from Nobby’s.”
“Did you work out who she is yet?” he asked, sounding excited for me. “Where do you know her from?”
“I didn’t get it out of her,” I admitted dejectedly. “I tried to call her bluff by asking her for a time and a place for the ice skating lessons, and she totally went for it.”
“Oh my God, dude, you have a date!” he crooned happily, laughing loudly. “She’s hot too. I think she might be your one.”
“You’ve just gone all soppy now that you’ve got a girlfriend,” I teased. “The Sean Hamilton I know and love would never say anything like that.” I couldn’t help but feel overly optimistic at his words. There was something about this girl and this potential date that had me more excited than I should have been, but I couldn’t seem to stop it. The fact that my friend hadn't totally shut the idea down meant that it had to be a good one…right?“I did invite her over for a meal afterwards; I told her that she had to cook for me as payment.Do you think I should have done that?”
“Yes!” he replied, ecstatic with my plan. “That’s an amazing idea. You so need to move on now, and this might be the girl to do that. Do you like her?”