by B Ivy Woods
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad we could make this happen.”
“I can send you the money for the U-Haul truck.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Rae leaned forward an inch. “What do you mean, don’t worry about it?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Flint, this—”
“I’m trying to take one thing off your plate. If you want to argue about it later, that’s fine, but we should spend more time figuring out how we’ll pull this move off.”
Rae nodded and Flint removed his hands from her back. She missed the sensation of his hands holding her up. “So when are your friends getting here?” She hoped the conversation would stick to being about her move instead of focusing on what she’d just done.
“I’m not sure how long it would take the group to get the U-Haul truck, but the other four guys should be over in about thirty minutes. We can load the cars we have, and more than likely by the time they are packed up, the group of four should be here. We can load up the two cars they’re bringing too.”
Rae was having a hard time keeping up with what was going on because everything seemed to be happening so fast. For that, she was happy he was taking charge, but she felt some way about him stepping in and running the show. This was her move, and Rae had organized things. But the things she’d put together had fallen through, so she should just be happy that she could still move today. The internal debate she was having in her head raged on and the thoughts didn’t stop until Eve spoke up.
“How were you able to get your friends to come on short notice?”
Flint turned to her and smiled before saying, “They owe me a favor. Plus, I mentioned that there might be pizza and alcohol when we finish. You’d be surprised how free food and alcohol can entice people even in their late twenties or thirties.” Flint turned to Rae and said, “Don’t worry, I can pay for the extra food and alcohol.”
Rae didn’t reply. She nodded and made a mental note to pull Flint aside and talk to him about all of this. “If everyone is okay, let’s pack up these cars.”
The women and Flint got to work moving boxes from the apartment down to the cars. As Flint had predicted, by the time they finished, two-thirds of the reinforcements that Flint had called had arrived with two more cars. Rae profusely thanked the guys, and they began loading up the cars. When they finished, the U-Haul truck had arrived. And out popped a familiar face.
“Kane?!” Rae shouted as she ran up to him and hugged him. She knew that Flint and he had been best friends when they were dating, but didn’t realize they had stayed in touch after Flint’s stationing in Denver. They had hung out a few times while she and Flint were together, but she hadn’t seen him since. She turned back to look at Eve, whom she knew had had a small thing with Kane a few years ago, to see her reaction. Eve stared at Kane with her mouth agape. It was one of the rare times that Rae had seen Eve speechless, and Rae was enjoying it.
“Eve. Do you remember Kane?”
Eve shook her head as if Rae had knocked her out of a daydream. “I remember Kane. How are you?”
“Good. How about you?”
“Great.”
The two just looked at one another as Liv walked up and got everyone’s attention. “So…do we think we can get the rest of Rae’s things into the U-Haul?”
Flint stepped forward. “Let me double-check.”
“I’ll go up with you.” Rae figured this was the perfect time to talk to him about how she felt about him taking control of her move.
The two walked up the stairs and entered the apartment. As Flint started walking around, Rae gently grabbed his arm and said, “Hey, I appreciate what you did today, but I would also appreciate it if you would run things by me before you act. Especially when it’s something that I am working on and directly affects me.”
Flint didn’t respond right away, and she could tell that she had taken him by surprise.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I just wanted to make sure that you could move today.”
“I’ll also pay for the alcohol and food for everyone for later.”
“No, I got it. I shouldn’t have announced that without asking you first.”
Rae thought about her response for a second and then said, “How about we split it then? I’m saving money by the movers not showing up.”
“You have yourself a deal.” Flint stuck his hand out, and Rae stared at it before placing her hand in his. It was the second time that day she zeroed in on the sensation that touching his hand brought her. The warmth she felt from his hand sent shivers up her spine. She smiled at their hands before softly removing hers from his grasp. When she looked up, she saw that his eyes hadn’t moved from hers.
“We should probably get going and take inventory to see if we can make this move in one trip.”
Flint nodded and they looked in every room to evaluate what items they had left. They determined that they could probably fit everything in one go. If there were one or two items left behind, Rae could make the trip back by herself with her car if necessary.
With that, Flint and Rae went back downstairs to their friends to tell them the plan to finish moving Rae’s things out of the apartment.
The group moved as fast as they could to move Rae’s things into her new apartment in Arlington. The sun was setting, proceeding to cast a warm glow over her new apartment. It would have been a romantic evening if Rae had had someone with which to share the view. That was when her gaze shifted to Flint before she looked away.
The group was sitting among the boxes and furniture as they enjoyed the pizza and beer that Flint and Rae ordered.
Rae couldn’t believe the number of people in her apartment. Her eyes darted around the room until they reached Flint. He was talking to one of his guy friends and Kane. Rae allowed her mind to wander as she thought more about Flint being back in her life. Why did he pull all the stops he did today to help her move? Why did he want to help her move to in the first place? Should she get drinks with him?
As she struggled to find the answers to these burning questions, her gaze moved from Flint until it landed on Eve, who was looking back at her. Rae sighed when she realized Eve had caught her staring at Flint. She raised an eyebrow at Rae but said nothing. Rae took the opportunity to walk over to Eve.
“You didn’t just catch me staring at Flint,” Rae whispered.
“Oh, I’m sure I didn’t, but I’ll change the subject just in case anyone can hear us talking. This place is beautiful, Rae. It somewhat reminds me of the apartment you rented with…what’s her name? Back when we started going to The Green Hat.”
“Sarah.”
Eve snapped her fingers. “That’s right. Have you talked to her at all since you all moved out?”
“Not really. Maybe a text here or there, but that’s it. Last I heard Sarah moved back home, but I’m not sure why. Let me go see if anyone else needs anything. I’ll be right back.”
The group stayed for a little while longer before one of Flint’s friends checked the time and announced he had to leave. That led the rest of the group to leave the apartment. Rae stood near the front door and thanked her guests as they were leaving her home.
“So I’ll see you around?”
Rae turned and noticed that the person wasn’t talking to her. It was Kane, and he had his eyes trained on Eve. She noticed they had spoken some during their time together, but it had been nothing to write home about. Until now.
“Uh, sure,” Eve said, and he gave a small wave as he left the apartment. When Eve turned around, Rae was standing there, welcoming her with an eyebrow raise of her own. Eve shook her head as she moved past Rae, which led Rae to smile to herself. She would talk to Eve about that later.
A few moments later, Rae realized that it was just she and Flint still in her apartment. He was busy cleaning up the trash that remained after the gathering as Rae was closing the front door. When she turned around to head to the kitchen, she came face
-to-face with Flint, his blue eyes still sparkling even though he looked tired from the long day.
“Hey.”
Flint smiled and said, “I wanted to say that me helping you today was not a quid pro quo for you to go out to drinks with me.”
“Did you just say quid pro quo?”
Flint cleared his throat before replying, “I didn’t even realize I was going to say it until it came out.”
Rae fought against the urge to giggle but lost. “Don’t worry. I don’t think of it like that. I’ll let you know if Saturday still works when we get closer to the day. Once again, thanks for helping spearhead the move. It more than likely wouldn’t have happened without you. And then you’re cleaning up. That’s so nice of you.”
“Don’t mention it. I’ll take that since it isn’t a no to meeting up again. I’ll see you around, Rae.” He stared into her eyes for a couple of seconds more before leaving her apartment after giving her a small wave.
Rae locked the door behind him and walked over to her couch to sit down. She took a deep breath as she looked around at all the work she still had to do before her apartment would become her home. She stretched to shake off some of the tiredness she was feeling and started working on unpacking her things.
Her vision for her apartment was to be traditional. Rae found that a lot of things she had in her old apartment weren’t what she wanted, and she could donate them to charity. But one thing she knew she wanted to keep was the photos she had packed at the very top of a box labeled “Living Room.”
Using a box cutter to cut the tape, Rae opened the box and pulled out the photo frames that were hanging in her old living room. As she was setting them up, she noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of another frame. She took it apart and removed the photo of her in Rome and found an old photo of her and Flint back when he was in the Air Force. Rae traced the happy couple in the photo and reminisced about when they took this picture when she visited him in Colorado. She put the photo in her back pocket and placed the photo of her back in the frame, in its proper place.
The picture forced her to remember the text message she had received earlier that day. Looked like whoever was stalking her the first time she dated Flint was back and raring to go.
Rae didn’t notice the car that was idling outside of her house. It had been there for hours but was undetected by the people going in and out of her apartment. The person was taking extensive notes about what they had seen but knew they could have taken better notes if they had better visual access available to them like it was at her old apartment. She didn’t see the same person sending a message to another person about what they just saw. She didn’t see the person leave either once they had the evidence they came to gather.
9
Rae smiled as she entered her apartment. She had been working hard over the past few days to make her apartment homier and had big plans to pick up a few items that she needed to achieve that goal. The pale blue and cream furniture and décor items that she purchased would fit right in at home with the aesthetic she wanted. This redesign effort was going great.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sat down on her couch. There was a text notification on her screen.
Flint: Are you still available for drinks for tomorrow evening? I’m also free Sunday late afternoon?
Rae: Tomorrow evening sounds great. There’s a bar a few blocks away from my apartment.
Flint: Sounds good. Just send me the name, and I’ll see you then.
Rae closed her eyes as she processed what she had just done. What can of worms was she opening by meeting up with Flint?
The next morning, she cursed herself for having been up for several hours before she needed to be. Finding that she couldn’t fall back to sleep, Rae struggled to get out of bed and clear her mind. She stared at her closet before realizing there was no way in the world she could do this without either getting more sleep or having a cup of coffee. She chose the former, walked over to close her blackout curtains that she had left open last night, and hopped back into bed and fell back to sleep.
“What should I wear to this ‘outing’?” Rae asked herself as she looked through her closet. She felt more like herself after getting a few more hours of sleep and showering some of her worries away. Nothing in her closet seemed right. Although it was early fall, DC was experiencing a heatwave that led her to keep gravitating toward a black maxi dress and sandals. Figuring that this wouldn’t get any better, she placed the maxi dress on her bed and grabbed a denim jacket just in case she got cold while out and about.
Rae tied her hair into a ponytail and chose a more natural look for her makeup. She plucked the black satchel bag off of one of the purse hooks she had put up in her bedroom just a few days before. Since it was the purse Rae used yesterday, she knew it had everything she’d need for tonight. She grabbed her sunglasses from her coffee table and headed to the front door. Surveying the room before closing her door, she knew she had what she needed and locked the door. She tried to tame the butterflies in her stomach as she wandered toward the bar where she was to meet the one who let her get away.
When Rae reached the front door of the bar, her nerves were going haywire. During the walkover, she had tried to calm herself down by thinking of anything but this. That had all changed as she stood in front of the door. Although she didn’t think anyone could read her feelings on her face, the small tremor in her hands would give her away. Was this it? Would she get the answers to the questions that had been on her mind for so long? Was she prepared to receive those answers?
As Rae opened the bar’s door, her eyes locked on Flint, who was looking at his phone while he waited for her arrival, she assumed. He was sitting closer to the back of the bar, giving her some time to analyze him before she reached the table. His navy-blue T-shirt and gray shorts with black sneakers gave off a similar vibe to what she was wearing. He brushed the longer strands of his hair off of his forehead.
She took some time looking around the bar and noticed the strong character it had. The bar had a heavy focus on famous writers, including Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austen, and William Shakespeare. It had taken great care in being able to incorporate many writers into the theme and décor of the space without making it look gaudy. Rae figured this location would serve as a perfect backdrop for a writer to spin their tale together while also serving as a source of inspiration.
Rae took her time walking up to Flint. The closer she got to him, the more things she noticed. She could see his leg bouncing up and down, and one of his hands found its way to the back of his neck and rubbed it. Maybe he was just as nervous she was. When she was a few feet away, he looked up, and she saw a smile take over his lips.
“I’m glad you could make it.”
“I’m never one to turn down drinks,” Rae said as she sat down in her seat. She didn’t realize that Flint had stepped behind her and was pushing her chair in toward the table until she felt herself moving.
“How are you doing?”
Rae was happy he didn’t jump right into the reason he wanted to ask her out for drinks. She welcomed the warm-up to their conversation.
“Pretty well. Still recovering from the move, but I can’t complain, you know?”
“I’m glad.”
“I realized I never finished talking to you about what you did after we broke up. So spill.”
“I left the Air Force about seven years ago, during which I got my bachelor’s. After that, I went to law school and ended up in Chicago for a while. I joined a law firm out there before I moved on and joined the same firm my father works for here.”
“That’s great. You did always say that you wanted to end up back home someday.”
“That I did. For various reasons.”
She sensed there was an underlying meaning to that but was afraid to know that answer.
Flint continued, “Honestly, it took me about six to eight months before I even felt as if I wasn’t treading water to keep up with the workload. Th
ings have gotten better now.”
“That’s good to hear.” Rae leaned over to grab a menu as Flint shook his head.
“I’m an idiot. Here I am, throwing these questions at you without even asking if you were thirsty or hungry. What would you like?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’d like a glass of red wine,” Rae said, studying him. “So, do you come to this bar often?”
Flint shook his head and said, “I’ve been here a few times but wouldn’t say I come often. How is everything going with the new apartment?”
Of course, his job and apartment were in the same area as hers. Which gave them more opportunities to bump into each other outside of work. She was waiting for further instruction from him about what she could do to help him work-wise.
“Great! I love the apartment itself, and the area is fantastic. My commute time is way shorter than it used to be, which has been such a relief. Plus, it has a tub, which I’ve been excited to use. Thanks again for helping me move.”
“I’m happy to have helped.” The duo smiled at the server who approached their table and took their drink orders. When he left, Rae fiddled with her phone that was lying on the table to her right. Only a brief thank-you to their server when he returned with their drinks interrupted the silence at the table. Once the server hurried away, the silence was back in place.
“Well, are you—” Rae almost filled the silence with a question, but relief flowed through her veins when she stopped herself. Almost asking him if he was dating someone was not in the cards. Now she needed to figure out how she would cover up that almost blunder.
“Am I what?”
“Are you going to tell me why you wanted to grab drinks together?” Rae took a deep breath after her quicksave to stop her racing heart.
The silence that surrounded the two of them made Rae tenser than she was when she entered the bar. She grabbed her glass of wine and took a sip.