by Hazel Kelly
“I hope so.”
“He will be.”
“If we’re still together.”
“What do you mean if? You guys are great together. You’re like- you’re like the ‘you guys’ I always knew you could be.”
“Yeah.”
“So why would you even say that?”
“I don’t know. I think I still feel depressed from our vodka night the other day.”
She nodded. “Yeah, it’ll take a few days to get that out of your system.”
“And I don’t want to get my hopes up. I feel like if I get my hopes up, my defenses will go down and two seconds later my heart will get dragged through the mud.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“But it could.”
“You shouldn’t think like that though. It can’t be healthy.”
“I’m just trying to be realistic,” I said. “The truth of the matter is the guy’s got a short attention span when it comes to women, and while I’m delighted to be in his good graces at the minute, it would be foolish to think his feelings will last forever.”
“And what about your feelings?”
“What about them?”
“Do you feel like they’re going to change?”
“Of course not. But I’ve always cared about him in a totally unhealthy, all in sort of way.”
“So why would you think he’d feel any different?”
“I guess-”
“Maybe check that toast.”
“Oh yeah.” I turned towards the toaster and pressed the button to eject her slice. “Good call.”
Fiona slid off the counter and walked over to me. “Anyway,” she said, sticking the knife in the jar. “You were saying…”
“What was the question?”
“Why would you think his feelings would change if you don’t think yours will?”
“Cause he hasn’t always felt this way like I have so I can imagine him not feeling this way again, whereas I don’t know any other way to feel. If that makes sense.”
“It makes sense,” she said, leaving the knife in the jar and biting into her toast. “It’s stupid, but it makes sense.”
“You really think it’s stupid?”
She nodded while she chewed. “I do.”
I wondered if she was right. Maybe I was totally overthinking the whole thing.
“How can you eat this without milk?” she asked, setting her slice down on the counter and walking to the fridge.
“I think you might be right.”
“About Aiden or the milk?”
“Both.”
“Want a glass?”
“Please,” I said.
Fiona grabbed two glasses out of the cabinet and set them on the counter.
“I guess I just need a sign,” I said.
“A sign?” she asked, pouring two glasses of milk. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Just something that proves he’s as serious about me as I am about him.”
“And then you could relax and enjoy yourself?”
I nodded.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” she said. “But I know what the Rolling Stones would say.”
Chapter 14: Aiden
I may have overdone it on the aftershave, but I just wanted everything to be perfect. Including the way I smelled. And I don’t think I’d ever spent so long trying to figure out what to wear but it was an important day.
Eventually, I decided to go with my dark gray button down shirt. It was casual enough that I didn’t look like I was trying too hard, but it looked professional, which is what I was going for.
Frankly, I think I was trying to overcompensate for the fact that the office space I’d bought was still a bit of a mess, but I figured if I at least looked the part of a business owner, maybe the vision would be easier to sell.
Not that I had to sell it.
Lucy would’ve been happy for me if I brought her to an abandoned van and said I was taking my business on the road. Well, hopefully not too happy because we wouldn’t get to see much of each other in that case, but that wasn’t the point.
The point was that I was so excited that absolutely nothing could bring me down. And even though I wished the place would’ve been more finished before I showed it to her, I figured she would welcome the distraction all things considered.
I just hoped she liked it. Not only because I was going to be spending so much time there in the future, but because her approval was an integral part of the vision.
After all, without her, my future success would only ever be bittersweet. I wanted someone to share my dreams with, and I wanted that someone to be her more than I’d wanted anything in a long time.
I wasn’t planning on saying all that to her. It wasn’t necessary, and while she knew I was crazy about her at this point, I hadn’t completely blown my cover. I wanted to play it cool so she would be inspired by my confidence.
But inside I was freaking my shit out because there was a lot riding on today.
I slid my car into a wide space along the curb and made my way to the door, pressing the buzzer as soon as I reached it.
“Hello?”
“I’m here.”
“You could’ve honked,” she said.
“You ready?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right down.”
Half a minute later, she opened the door to her apartment building. “Hi.” She was my height standing in the raised entryway as she leaned forward to give me a peck on the lips.
“You look nice,” I said, drinking her in.
She was in a short black dress and a thin, light yellow cardigan.
“Thanks,” she said.
“You’re liking the yellow, huh?”
She shrugged. “Leaving my comfort zone has been working for me lately.”
I smiled. “Funny you should mention that. I have a list in the car of other ways you could leave it.”
“No you don’t,” she said, stepping onto the sidewalk in her signature black boots.
“But I could,” I said. “It wouldn’t take thirty seconds.”
“The yellow jacket is enough excitement for me right now.”
“Well, things are about to get a lot more exciting.”
“I know,” she said, walking around the front of the car. “I’m dying to see your new place.”
I sat in the car, looking shamelessly at her legs while she tucked them in the passenger side.
She caught me and her lips curled up into a half smile. “You smell nice.”
“It’s too much, isn’t it?”
“Not if you were trying to do the whole week’s worth in one go.”
I turned on the ignition. “I was a little excitable this morning.”
She pulled her sunglasses out of her purse and slipped them on. “Well, I hope you’ll try and carry that through the day.”
“That can be arranged,” I said, pulling out into traffic.
Lucy put on her seatbelt and then turned the radio up just a little until Simon & Garfunkel’s voices trickled through my speakers. “I love this song,” she said, leaning back.
“What’s it called?”
She let her head roll towards me from its place on her headrest and smiled. “America.”
“Any luck on the job front?” I asked.
“Not really,” she said. “A few cold leads, but mostly a lot of dead ends.”
“Dead ends?”
“Ya know- the we’re good now but we’ll keep your resume on file kind of thing.”
“Oh right.”
“Not very inspiring.”
“I’m sure something good is in the pipeline.”
“I hope so,” she said. “Because if I murder Fiona, it will be even harder to get hired.”
“Is she driving you up the walls?” I asked, changing lanes.
“I’m sure I’m doing the same to her.” She smoothed her dress down over her thighs. “I mean, we were never supposed to spend this much time
together.”
“Yeah.”
“I love her to death, of course, but I’m afraid I might actually love her to death if we don’t start spending some time apart.”
“Is it just cause she’s manic?”
“No, she’s no crazier than I am. I think she’s only grating on me cause we’re in each other’s pockets.”
“It’s only been a week.”
“I know.” Lucy sat straighter in her seat. “And I already feel positively murderous.”
“You can always stay at my place.”
“Thanks, Aiden. I might start taking you up on that more, at least for a while.”
“That’s fine. I’d much rather you take out your frustration on me.”
“I bet,” she said. “The only thing is that I think my presence helps Fiona stay focused.”
“Why do you say that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I get the feeling a lot more vodka and soap operas would be happening if I weren’t home looking for a job, too.”
“That must be frustrating.”
“It’s not the worst. There are good things about it.”
“Oh?” I sunk my foot on the break and came to a gentle stop at the light.
“Yeah. Like she knows how to have a good time and keep things light so I don’t get all moody and despondent.”
I laughed. “Despondent?! You?! Despondent?!”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m not all sunshine and cotton candy all the time.”
I unlocked the car doors so they made a loud crunching sound. “Get out. Get out right now.”
“I’m being serious.”
“I know you are, Luce. I’m just teasing you. Of course you get down. Everybody does.”
“I suppose.”
“But I’m still convinced that you’re made entirely of sunshine and gummy bears.”
She shook her head.
“I’ve tasted you enough times to know.”
“That’s what I taste like, is it?”
“That and one more thing.”
“What?”
“Ya know when you get chocolate chip pancakes at Smith’s Brothers and you always ask for an extra bowl of that white stuff?”
“Powdered sugar?”
“Yeah, that. You taste like that.”
“Well, I guess Fiona’s not the only person I’m annoyed with then.”
“What? What did I say?”
“You’re obviously smoking some kind of wacky crack and you haven’t even offered me a puff.”
I laughed.
“Is it a puff of crack?” she asked. “Is that right? Or is it a drag? A huff?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh yes you do. You’ve blown your cover with your ridiculous claim that I taste like powdered sugar. Now I know you’ve got something good, and I demand that you tell me what it is.”
I smiled.
“Come on. Spill it.”
“You really want to know what’s got me so high?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I do.”
“It’s this girl I’m seeing lately.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Me neither,” I said.
“She sounds too good to be true.”
“She is,” I said. “She is.”
Chapter 15: Lucy
I was glad I had my sunglasses on so Aiden couldn’t see how much he lifted me up.
I guess it was fair. After all, there were no lengths I wouldn’t go to cheer him up if he were feeling down. Still, he was the one that was too good to be true, and I was incredibly grateful for his company and support.
“So tell me about this place,” I said. “How did you choose it over the other location? Didn’t you say you had it narrowed down to two?”
“Yeah,” he said, checking his mirrors. “The other one was also in a great spot, but I didn’t feel like it offered quite as much room to grow.”
“I see.”
“And when you see this place, I’m hoping you’re as blown away by its potential as I am.”
“Me too,” I said.
“I kind of wanted to wait until it was a little more put together before I showed you, but I just couldn’t wait anymore.”
“That’s okay.”
“So you’ll have to use your imagination.”
“I actually prefer that,” I said. “It’ll be more fun that way, ya know? To see it as a blank slate and watch it change as you put your own finishing touches on it.”
Aiden smiled at me for a second and turned his eyes back to the road. “Cool.”
“Are we almost there?”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s just around this corner.”
I clapped my fingers lightly in front of me. “Ahhh! I’m so excited.”
“You’re the first person I’ve shown it, too,” he said, turning into the office plaza.
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. I’m honored.”
“You should be,” he said. “History is being made here today.”
I laughed and unbuckled my seat belt as he pulled into a parking space.
“Time for the big reveal,” he said, opening his car door.
I stepped out into the sunlight and looked around. “So which is it?”
“That one there,” he said, pointing across the lot.
“The one with the sold sign in the window?”
“That’s the one.”
“I’m already impressed.”
“Well try and pace yourself,” he said, falling into step beside me. “Cause it’s only going to get better.”
It warmed my heart to see how proud he was to show me his new place, and I was genuinely happy for him. As I watched him turn the key in the door, any jealousy I had faded away and was replaced by an overwhelming sense of pride, like his victory was my own.
I pushed my sunglasses on top of my head.
He opened the door. “After you.”
“Thanks,” I said, walking inside. “Wow.”
He stopped next to me with his chest puffed out like he’d built the office space up from the ground himself.
“I love how it smells in here,” I said.
“That would be the fresh paint.”
“And the carpet looks new.”
“It is.”
“I like the color.”
“I didn’t pick it, but I was told it would be easy to maintain cause of the little specks.”
“So paint the picture for me,” I said. “Walk me through the vision.”
Aiden rubbed his hands together and exhaled. “I’m so glad you asked.”
I smiled.
He took a few steps straight ahead. “I was thinking there would be a reception desk here.”
“Oohh. Your very own receptionist. How exciting?”
“I know.”
I shook my finger at him. “I hope there won’t be any funny business.”
“No funny business,” he said. “Though it would be a bonus if she was attractive since most of my clients will probably be men, at least in the beginning.”
“Could we compromise on attractive and married?”
He smiled. “Sure.”
“Good,” I said. “Please continue.”
“So I was thinking I’d separate out two spaces here.”
“Uh-huh.”
“One would be for my office, and one would be a room for the sports masseuse.”
“A masseuse?”
“Yeah.”
“An attractive masseuse?”
“It’ll probably be a dude if this is going where I think it is.”
“Oh, okay. Just curious.”
He closed his eyes for a second like he was seeing the whole thing being erected in his head.
I raised my eyebrows.
“Okay, so in this section,” he said, walking to the far side of the room, “I’m going to have some equipment.”
“What kind of equipment?”
&
nbsp; “Stuff for physical therapy; weights, elastic bands, maybe a nice Pilates reformer.”
I nodded.
“I’ll probably put a big mirror on the wall right here.”
I tilted my head and tried to picture it. “So your clients can check out the receptionist while they do their exercises?”
“No,” he said. “So they can make sure they’re using proper form and because it’ll make the space look bigger and reflect the natural light coming in.”
“That’s what I meant.”
“I know,” he said.
“And what about the rest of the space?”
“I think I’ll probably put a small bathroom in at that back corner,” he said, pointing. “And I might squeeze in one more office so I can take on another physio to share the workload. That will free up my time so I can focus on growing the business and doing some essential marketing stuff.”
“I see.”
“And part of the remaining space will be designated for storage. I just haven’t decided exactly what layout would work best.” He put his chin in his fingers and scowled at the back of the office space like he might be able to intimidate the answer into existence.
“Is that just a closet?” I asked, pointing at the door on the far wall.
“No.”
“So where does that door go then?”
“I’ll show you that in a second,” he said, crossing the room and returning to my side. “But first, tell me what you think so far.”
“I think it’s amazing,” I said. “I love the location and the fact that everything is so clean and new. I can’t wait to see how it looks when all the parts of your vision come together.”
He slipped his hands around my waist. “You mean you can’t wait to meet the receptionist.”
I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. “That too.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said. “I was hoping you would think I’d made a good choice.”
I laid my hands on his chest and looked up at him, relaxing into his arms where they were resting around my lower back. “Of course you made a good choice,” I said. “You have impeccable taste.”
He pulled my hips against his and kissed my hairline. “So do you, Lucy.”
“So what’s behind the door?” I asked. “A water heater or something?”
“God I hope not,” he said. “That would be a pretty anticlimactic end to the grand tour.”