by Tina Martin
“Good? I don’t have a relationship with him period, nor do I want one.”
“When was the last time you spoke to him?”
“I haven’t seen or spoken to him since he left.”
“He hasn’t tried to contact you?”
“No. All I know is he remarried and is living happily ever after in Fayetteville. Hope his new wife knows what a loser he is…guess she’ll find out if she falls ill.”
Bryson frowned. It was hard for him to imagine a man who would do something like that – a man who would pack up, leave his wife and his child and not even bother to make contact.
Kalina yawned, stretching her hands high above her head. “Gosh, I’m so tired.”
“Why don’t you leave a little earlier tonight so you can get some rest?”
She giggled. “Aw, you’re cute. You think I actually sleep when I get home? I’m usually up until two or three in the morning, working.”
Bryson hid a frown. She had told him before that she didn’t get much sleep. He recalled her saying that, one night, she’d only slept for a mere two hours. “That’s not good for you,” Bryson cautioned. “Seems you’re stressed out enough as it is.”
“Stressed?” she said, laughing it off. “Who said I was stressed?”
“You don’t have to say it, Kalina. I can sense it.”
“How?”
“You don’t remember our first ever interaction with each other, at this café while you were talking to Edith about a reader’s question you’d been stumped on?”
“Yes. I remember. It was just last week.”
“Correct, and you nearly bit my head off when I said something to you.”
“Oh, you had that coming, Bryson.” Kalina laughed. “You were being nosy, too…”
“Nosy?” he said, amused.
“Yes. Nosy.”
“How can you call it nosy when you were having a loud, public conversation?”
She grinned. “Well, it was a conversation you didn’t need to be in.”
“Well, I was in it, and now look at me…helping you with these emails and all. So something good came out of it, right?”
Smiling, she said, “Yes. I suppose you’re right.”
“So go ahead and take off.”
“I can’t. I’m a workaholic. I have to work until I’m satisfied that I’ve done a good job, then I’ll stop.”
“And how many emails do you typically answer when you get home?”
“It depends…ranges anywhere from seventy-five to a hundred and fifty.”
“Okay. Send those to me.”
Kalina shook her head. “No. I told you I wasn’t going to do that to you again.”
“I don’t mind it. Plus, I would rather you get some sleep.”
“Stop it. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t like it, but what could he do? He couldn’t make her go home and sleep.
Kalina clicked on another email and said, “Hey, Bryson, I should let you answer this one. This reader said she met a guy at the grocery store and he told her that what they had was love at first sight. So she wants to know if love at first sight is possible.”
“That’s an easy one,” Bryson said. “Absolutely not.”
“What?” Kalina said, her mouth still open in shock. “I thought for sure you’d say yes.”
“Nah…I don’t buy the love at first sight thing, reason being, you can’t love someone when you don’t know that person. If you see someone and think you’re in love, nine times out of ten, you’re just highly attracted to the person and may even want to get to know them better, but it’s definitely not love.”
“I’m impressed. Let me forward this email to you so you can take this woman to school.”
Bryson laughed. “You like that, huh.”
“Definitely. Well said, Mr. Blackstone. Well said.”
At closing, Kalina and Bryson walked with Edith to her car. Then Bryson proceeded to walk with Kalina to her car, parked near his. He’d had a strong urge to hold her hand and fought the magnetism pulling him to do so.
“So you’re going to bed when you get home, right?” he asked her. In a way, he was telling her.
“Probably not.” Kalina glanced up at him, thinking how much taller he looked standing in front of her versus sitting next to her. She also thought something else – that Bryson was perhaps the most handsome man she’d ever seen in her life. That was probably because she never paid any attention to a man before Bryson came along. She’d usually dismiss a man faster than she could type. But she couldn’t dismiss Bryson. They were working together. He had her email address. Her cell phone number.
“Do I need to take your laptop home with me, Kalina?”
“No,” she said barely looking at him. “I think I will take your advice and go to bed a little early…probably around midnight or so.”
“Midnight is better than three in the morning.”
“Definitely.” Kalina unlocked the door to her car. She was thoroughly surprised when Bryson stepped around her to pull on the handle, opening the door for her.
“Thank you,” she said, unable to stop smiling. She got inside of her car and sat down comfortably on the driver’s seat, placing her laptop bag and purse in the passenger seat.
Bryson remained standing between the opened car door and Kalina. “Hey, so do you usually eat dinner before you come to the café?”
“Yes. I’ll grab something at home, or swing by a fast food restaurant and get something.”
“Well, how about I take you to a proper dinner tomorrow night?”
“Dinner?” she said frowning. “Like a date?”
“Yeah. A dinner date, similar to the lunch date you went on with Isaiah.”
“Hmm,” Kalina said. She didn’t want to do dinner with Bryson. She wanted their relationship to be work-related and nothing more. She couldn’t handle anything more. “I…I can’t do dinner. I have to work and—”
“Just a couple of hours,” he said. “And, as always, you can send me a batch of emails, equivalent to the amount you could’ve processed in those two hours.”
“Um…I don’t know. Let me think about it.”
“Okay, but don’t think too hard.”
“Alright,” Kalina said, strapping on her seat belt. “See you tomorrow, Bryson.”
“Have a good night, Kalina,” Bryson said, pushing the door closed. He watched her drive away before he got inside his car, heading for his large, four-bedroom, lonely house.
CHAPTER 17
She’d showered, put on a big T-shirt and now, with her laptop resting on her thighs, she began the task of answering emails again. Then Bryson crossed her mind…
She frowned. Why was he occupying precious time in her brain that could’ve been spent on work? She tried to shake it off, but couldn’t help but think about their conversation earlier this evening. He’d told her he owned a tree service so she decided to Google the name of his business to see if he had a website. He did. She scanned through the various services he offered – trimming, removal, maintenance and fertilization. His business was accredited by the Better Business Bureau and had nothing but good reviews on Google and Yelp.
Not bad, Kalina thought. She took pride in her work. She was sure he did as well. She had much respect for anyone who believed in their dreams enough to make them a reality. And then there was the guy behind the successful business – Bryson Blackstone. He didn’t seem as bad as she assumed he might be in the beginning. And, to be a divorced man, he was good at giving relationship advice.
When she saw a new email from him hit her inbox, she smiled and said, “What do you want now, Bryson Blackstone?”
She clicked on the email to open it:
From: Bryson Blackstone
To: Kalina Cooper
Subject: sweet dreams
Go to bed, Kalina.
--
B. Blackstone
_____
She grinned. “You go to bed Bryson,” she said out loud before
deciding to respond back.
From: Kalina Cooper
To: Bryson Blackstone
Subject: Re: sweet dreams
Call me.
--
Kalina Cooper
Editor | CEO
The Cooper Files
_____
Kalina cringed when she clicked send. She actually told him to call her. What was she thinking? Not even a minute later her cell phone was buzzing on her nightstand. She felt flutters in her stomach at the thought of talking to him again.
“Thirty more minutes and I’ll be in bed,” she said, right out of the gate.
From the tone of her voice, Bryson could tell she was smiling.
“What are you still doing up?” she asked him.
“I’m in bed,” Bryson said. “I was about to close this laptop, but I wanted to send you a quick email to make sure you were going to bed at midnight like you said you would.”
“Aw…so I’m the last person you thought about before you rested your head. I want you to know that it’s an honor and a privilege…” she said, withholding laughter.
“You’re silly…you know that?”
Kalina giggled.
Bryson did, too. He liked this playful side of her.
“Actually, I’m in bed right now with my laptop resting on my thighs, as usual.”
Laptop resting on her thighs…
Bryson forced the visual away from his mind. He was attracted to her physically, but he was never the kind of man to let a woman’s physical beauty cloud his judgment. He was more interested in the inner workings of a woman’s mind. Her heart. His goal was to find out those things that weighed heavily on Kalina, to get her to open up to him. It would be a difficult task, but he’d made some progress tonight. He’d gotten her to freely talk to him. Now, he wanted to push the envelope even further.
“Hello?” Kalina looked at her phone to make sure it was still connected, then held it back to her ear.
“I’m here,” Bryson said, “And I have a question for you.”
She yawned silently then asked, “What’s your question?”
“Did you smile when you saw my email?”
“What?”
“My question was pretty straightforward, Kalina. Did you smile when you saw my email in your inbox a few minutes ago?”
Goodness. His voice was as intoxicating over the phone as it was in person. “I did.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Why did I smile?”
“Yes. Why did you smile?”
“Because I thought it was funny…telling me to go to bed like you just knew I wouldn’t without your coaching.”
“Yeah, that’s because you wouldn’t.”
Kalina laughed. “Probably not.”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about.”
She giggled more. Turning the tables on him, she asked, “So, did you smile when you saw my email?”
“I did,” he answered quickly.
“Why?”
“Because I know it’s not like you to ask a man to call you…shows you’re getting comfortable with me and, eventually, you’ll learn to trust me.”
“Hmm…” she said. How could he draw that conclusion from a simple email?
“You don’t think you can learn to trust me?”
“Um…” Kalina drawled out. Her smile had since faded. She’d never trusted a man before and she didn’t plan to now. Didn’t matter how nice he was or how attracted she was to him.
“Well, I’m going to make you trust me.”
“No need to waste your time, Bryson. I’ve never trusted a man.”
“There’s a first time for everything, Kalina. You probably never thought you’d be on the phone with a man, close to midnight, having a conversation, but here we are.”
Yeah, here we are. What are you doing, Kalina? Almost a week ago, she would cringe at the thought of working with and conversing with Bryson. Now, she was relaxed. He had a way with words and she was hoping he was as sincere as he came across.
“You’re quiet all of a sudden,” Bryson said.
“I was thinking.”
“About what?”
About why I feel comfortable enough with you to let my guard down. “Nothing. Um, I think I’m going to go ahead and put this laptop down.”
“You do that. Have a good night, Kalina.”
“You too, Bryson.”
Kalina folded her laptop closed, connected her cell phone to the charger and turned off the lamp on her nightstand. Resting her head on the pillow, she thought about Bryson again. She wanted to know more about him and the reason he was being so generous with offering his help. He could very easily have said no, that he didn’t have time to devote to helping her out. So why was he doing it? Was he interested in her? She’d made it clear that she didn’t want, and wasn’t looking for, a relationship. But she couldn’t deny there was something about him that made her wonder.
CHAPTER 18
A Week Later
She couldn’t get into her zone with work today. She’d been working hard all week – her and Bryson – answering a ton of emails together and sharing stories about their lives. The more time she spent with him, the more she liked him.
Last night, he’d been talkative, as usual, but Kalina noticed something else – he’d been staring at her often. She’d be typing an email or taking a sip of coffee and when she glanced up, he’d be staring intently. And every night, he walked with her to her car, opened the door and watched her leave before he would take off.
Kalina stretched her arms up high in the air. “Oh, I’m so not ready for this today,” she said, yawning. Lizette had already started working. Meanwhile, Kalina was in the kitchen pouring herself a cup of coffee. Since she wasn’t ready to work just yet, she decided to call a friend she hadn’t spoken to in some time – June Blackstone.
She dialed June’s number and took a sip of coffee while waiting for her to answer.
“Hey, girl!” June said all excited. “Long time no speak.”
“I know. I’ve been hustlin’ these emails, girlfriend.”
June laughed. “You are so crazy. So what’s been going on? How have you been?”
“Good. Staying busy and all. What about yourself?”
“Been traveling a lot with Everson and having a ball. How’s your mother doing?”
“She’s hanging in there…they switched her over to a liquid diet. Oh, and they ordered a walker for her since it’s difficult for her to get her balance now.”
“Oh, okay. Sounds like they’re taking care of her.”
“They are. I’m going to see her tomorrow.”
“Cool. So what else have you been up to?”
“Um…not much,” Kalina said. She wanted to ask June about Bryson, but didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. Would she get the wrong idea? Only one way to find out. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something, June.”
“What’s up?”
“First, let me preference this by saying, please do not mention anything to Everson about this, but what’s the deal with Bryson?”
June drew in an excited breath and said, “Bryson? You like Bryson?”
Yes. “No, I’m just asking about him. What’s his story?”
“Wait, how do you know Bryson?”
“He frequents my aunt’s café and now he’s sort of working with me.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, Bryson is Bryson. What you see is what you get. He’s divorced. He was married for six years, but his wife cheated on him or something like that. He’s been divorced for two years now and he swears he’ll never marry again.”
“Hmm…okay,” Kalina said. June had told her some of the same things Bryson had. He didn’t mention the latter though – that he would never marry again. “Is that all?”
“Yeah, pretty much. He’s not as outgoing as his brothers. He’s more laid-back, quiet—”
“Quiet?” Kalina said, snapping her head back. “Around me, he talks more than a telemarketer.�
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June giggled. “Well, he’s quiet at our family gatherings. I don’t know how he was when he and Felicia were together. I wasn’t around then. Everson told me he was more of himself, whatever that means. Oh, and he owns his own business. He’s usually working, and I have my own theory about that.”
“About what?”
“The amount of time he spends working. He’s usually at his office all day, even after closing, well into the night. I swear sometimes, I think he spends the night there.”
He spends the night at his office? Now Kalina knew why he jumped at the chance to help her with work. He wanted something to occupy his down time. If he could flood his time with work, he wouldn’t have any time to think about his failed marriage and what Felicia had done to him. In essence, he needed the time with her at the café as much as she needed his help.
“The brothers actually get together to play cards on Friday nights,” June said. “They order pizza and wings, hang out and have a good time. You should come by and keep me company.”
“Um…I don’t know—”
“Oh, come on. I have a bottle of red Moscato with our names written all over it.”
Kalina smiled. She could use a night of unwinding, and it had been a while since she and June hung out. “Okay.”
“Yes! Can’t wait to catch up with you.”
“Same here.”
“Alright. See you later.”
“About what time?”
“Six or so.”
“I’ll be there.” Kalina slid her phone in the right front pocket of her slacks, carefully ascending the stairs with a cup of coffee. She finally sat down at her desk, opened her laptop and got to work, answering emails.
“Hey, Kalina, I’m sending you an email from Harland Jewelers,” Lizette said. “Looks like they’re inquiring about placing an ad on the blog.”
“Okay. Thanks, Lizette.”
“No problem.”
Kalina reviewed the email quickly, as she did with all ad requests and saw that Harland Jewelers were interested in a four-month ad rental on The Cooper Files blog. She replied back with a fee of two-thousand dollars, since her rate was five-hundred dollars per month.