by S J Abbott
Aaron felt lighter at Seth’s words. He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been about the potential for Lily and Oak to sue them for moving on. He stood, buttoned his jacket, and walked around his desk. “Let’s go get a drink to celebrate.”
Seth looked at his friend. “It’s only three.”
“So what? What’s the good of being the boss if you can’t skip out and have a drink when you get good news.”
Seth shrugged and grinned. “True. Let’s grab Gideon first.” And they left the office together.
Julie had been picking up as many shifts as possible lately. She hated being at home; she felt as if the walls were closing in on her. Being at work had added benefits. Besides making extra cash, it also meant that Shannon couldn’t pester her into going back to Genesis for lunch. And as long as she had someone looking in on her mother, it worked out well. She was also making her co-workers happy … which, honestly, could be seen as either a good or a bad thing. They were happy about it at the moment, but once their rent came due, they’d be scrambling and pissy that they gave her their shifts. Regardless, she was in the zone, a place where the outside world couldn’t touch her. Her thoughts were her own, and mostly involved remembering which table ordered the rigatoni parmesan and which had the linguini. It could have even been relaxing if her five-top would get their toddler to stop trying to fish things out of her apron pocket every time she went to the table.
Thursdays were good nights. Busy but not overwhelming. Julie was running around like she had been all week when Libby, the new hostess, found her.
“We need you to pick up table twelve.”
Julie gave her an irritated look as she scooped ice into large glasses. “Can’t someone else take it?”
Libby shook her head. “Apparently not. They asked for you specifically. It’s just one person, if that helps at all,” she told her as she walked away.
Julie finished filling the glasses and left for the dining room. She dropped the refilled drinks off to their owners as she made her way to table twelve. She had managed to calm herself down a bit on her walk but stopped dead in her tracks as Aaron’s smiling face looked up at her from the tiny, tucked away table that she’d been ordered to take. It took her a second to recover from the shock of seeing him there.
After a moment, she approached the table, pulled her notebook from her apron, and her pen from her hair. “Good evening. Can I start you with something to drink?”
She tried to stay neutral, but even she could hear her voice waver.
“You can’t avoid me forever.”
Julie looked up at him. “Never said I was. So can I get you something to drink?”
Aaron widened his smile. “You didn’t have to. You have my number and you know where I work. You could have contacted me, but you didn’t. Therefore, you’re avoiding me.”
Julie let her hands fall and a smirk dress her lips. “You’re awfully confident. Has it occurred to you that I just might not like you? I might not want to talk to you.” She brought her notebook and pen back together. “Now, can I start you with something to drink?”
Aaron leaned toward her. “No. And I’ll have red wine.”
“Do you have a preferred label?”
Julie watched as his eyes lit up. “Nope. I trust you.” She stood there like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming death machine. She wanted to turn around. Her brain was screaming at her to … but she couldn’t tear herself from his gaze.
Another server bumped Julie as she passed behind, releasing her from his spell. Once freed she instantly turned and walked away.
As soon as Julie was out of sight, she pulled her cellphone from her pocket and texted Shannon.
Holy shit!! Aaron just showed up at one of my tables! KMN!!!
Trying not to hyperventilate, Julie closed her eyes and told herself that he’d just eat and leave. But she knew that wasn’t true. Plus, in order for him to eat she’d have to go back over there. Several times. She thought briefly about passing his table off to another one of the girls—none of them would mind picking up a table with a cute, single, rich guy at it. However, the mere thought of one of her co-workers flirting with him made the ThunderCats theme song play in her head, and projected visions of scratched-out eyeballs rolling across her closed lids.
Her phone vibrated in her hand, jolting her out of her crazy thoughts, and she lifted it to see Shannon’s response.
Tell him I said good boy … or better yet, show him :P
Julie’s jaw dropped when she realized that her best friend had sent him, had told him where to find her. She shook her head, stuffed the phone back in her pocket without responding, and went to the bar to get Aaron’s wine.
Julie was grateful it was the end of the evening and things were winding down. She’d also arranged it so that she didn’t have to close, so besides Aaron she only had two tables left and then she could leave. As the bartender handed her Aaron’s wine, she took a breath and reminded herself that he was just another person. She didn’t always have to use his name when she was thinking about him—and she certainly didn’t have to think it with such silk and languidity.
Annoyed with herself, she marched more than walked back to his table. She set the wine in front of him. “What’s wrong?” he asked, grabbing her hand as soon as she’d let go of his glass.
She sighed but didn’t pull her hand away. She wanted to, but it felt safe there. His hand was big and covered hers. She liked it way more than she’d ever admit.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
He moved the pad of his thumb over the top of her hand. “Don’t do that. Even if it’s me, tell me. I can take it.”
She huffed out a single laugh. “It’s not you,” she told him as she rolled her eyes. But after a brief pause, she continued, “Well not you, exactly.” She tilted her head to the side, gauging his reaction as she spoke. “It’s more how I am when you’re around. I’m not really myself.”
Aaron smiled wide, turning Julie’s insides to liquid. “What if I were to tell you that the way you act when I’m around is actually you, you just don’t recognize her because you’ve never met her before?”
Julie straightened her head and looked at him, confusion written on her face.
“Let me put it another way. What if how you’re feeling is the real you, but you didn’t realize it because you’ve been so busy being who you think you should be instead of who you actually are?”
Julie’s eyes narrowed on him and stared into the deep depths of his sparkling blue eyes. She waited and watched, looking for anything more to surface as her gut churned with a feeling she wasn’t sure she wanted to claim. She settled on hoping like hell it was just from his hand on hers. When nothing came into his eyes after a few beats she swallowed hard and asked, “Have you decided what you’d like to eat?”
Aaron stared back at her before answering. “I’ll have the lasagna, please.”
Once Aaron removed his hand from hers, Julie thought the feelings he’d just ignited within her would dissipate. But they didn’t. Even with him being out of sight, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he might be on to something. She’d been a different person a few years ago; a lighthearted college student with the world out there for her to take. Now she was an overworked twenty-something with responsibilities she hadn’t thought she’d have for at least five more years. Sometimes, when life got particularly overwhelming, she thought she could feel herself cracking. When that happened, she always straightened her spine and held it together. Falling apart, weakness … she didn’t have time for that. They weren’t part of the deal. Picking yourself up after you fall was a lot more difficult than just making sure you stay upright, even if you’re wobbling the entire way.
After putting in Aaron’s food order, Julie finished up with her other tables. They were done and paid, by the time his meal was ready. As she shuffled through the motions of her evening, she pondered her reality. Shannon—and even her mother during her lucid moments—had
been telling her that she needed to get a life. They thought she’d closed herself off from the world. Although she’d been trying to take their advice when that asshat tried to slip her a roofie. So maybe hiding wasn’t a bad thing?
After that thought, no matter how hard she tried, she kept coming back to Aaron. She’d always had a crush on him. They’d just never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Plus, she was too shy, too geeky for him to have noticed. He was an all-star baseball player, and she cared about school. She wasn’t unsocial, she just wasn’t gregarious.
What kind of girl wouldn’t jump at a second chance with her high school crush? As she pulled Aaron’s food from the window in the kitchen she wondered exactly when it was that she’d lost her sense of adventure.
Julie made her way back to his table. She set his plate down in front of him, then pulled out the second chair and sat down. They stared at each other for a minute before she finally opened her mouth.
“One date. And honestly, I suggest it be tonight before I have a chance to change my mind.”
Aaron’s smile couldn’t have been bigger. “Noted.”
“I’ll be ready to leave here about ten minutes after you’ve finished eating.”
Aaron picked up his fork and started shoveling lasagna into his mouth.
Nine
Julie stood as soon as he’d wrapped his lips around the first mouthful. She nodded to him and went to the kitchen where she could do her work and panic in private. As she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other, she realized that not only had she basically asked herself out for him, but she’d demanded that it be on her terms and hers alone. She comforted herself with the logic that with the speed he moved to make his food disappear, he couldn’t have been too upset about it.
Aaron took less than fifteen minutes to finish his meal, but it gave Julie plenty of time to finish everything else up. Since he was the last diner in the restaurant, he told her he’d wait for her out front. So after escorting him to the door, letting him out, and locking it behind him, Julie leaned against it and finally took a breath.
Exhaling slowly, she whispered to herself, “What the hell have I done?”
Closing her eyes and letting her fear wash over her, it took very little time for her to realize that she was more fearful of herself than she was of him. Aaron was sweet. He always had been. She just wasn’t sure who she was or what she wanted to be anymore. She returned to the moment that things seemed to shift. It was the night of the frat party, when she’d decided that even though she didn’t really like the hunky football player, she was going to sleep with him—not just because she could, but because she wanted to feel something different. But after what happened, Julie had decided it was proof she was thinking crazy and that she couldn’t trust her instincts anymore. Aaron had certainly rescued her from a horrible moment, one that could have been a potentially life-shattering event. But it was that moment that had allowed her to reconnect with Aaron.
Julie opened her eyes again, suddenly realizing she still had that need to feel something different … but more importantly, Aaron was just the one to make it happen.
With renewed energy, Julie pushed herself off the door and headed to the kitchen to grab her things.
Julie took her purse from her locker and stashed her cash inside. After saying good night to her co-workers and turning down offers to grab drinks, she headed around the building to the front door where she found Aaron sitting on a bench, staring at his phone. He must have heard her coming up behind him because he immediately picked his head up and turned in her direction, a smile coming across his face as soon as he saw her.
“All set?” he asked, getting up and walking toward her.
Now that the moment had arrived, Julie was starting to get nervous. She thought about telling him that she needed to go check on her mom, and then she could further excuse herself from there. But her mother was asleep, and she knew it. The neighbor had checked in on her and texted Julie a few hours ago to let her know that her mom was quiet and settled in for the night. Julie was out of excuses, so she nodded and tried not to throw up.
“Well, I didn’t exactly have a ton of time to plan anything, but if you’re okay with it, I’d like to take you to one of my favorite spots. We can stop and grab a bottle of wine on the way. It’ll give us a chance to start catching up.”
The idea of going somewhere private and secluded with him and a bottle of wine did funny things to Julie’s insides. She felt excited, but also very nervous. She tried to hide the nerves behind a smile before saying, “Sounds perfect.”
Aaron reached for her hand and Julie allowed him to take it as they went to his car.
They’d found a surprisingly promising red at the tiny liquor store in the plaza next to Nikos, then made a short, fifteen-minute drive to the spot that Aaron had said was his favorite. The car was silent except for the hum of the engine; the sound was burrowing itself in Julie’s brain, causing her to think things and hate herself for them. Instead of continuing on her self-destructive path, she decided to open her mouth.
“So, this spot you’re taking me to, what do you love about it?”
Aaron looked over at her briefly before returning his focus to the winding road they were traveling. “Remember in high school, when a bunch of people would get together with a keg in the middle of a field or in a clearing in the woods, and party?”
Julie laughed. “Yeah. So that’s where you’re taking me? Make Out Mountain, the site of all your long-lost trysts and high school kissing escapades.”
Aaron smirked. “No. But since you’re so interested in my high school conquests, I will say that I never made out with anyone on that hill that I would have made out with off it. I swear, the combination of skunky illegal beer, two-cycle engines, and the grit in the air made all rational thinking stay firmly at the bottom of the hill.”
Julie smiled. “So basically, it was a hillside of shame.”
Aaron looked at her with a grin, his eyes catching the moonlight a little. “Yeah, that about sums it up.” He looked back to the road. “But you were there. You went to the same parties I did. You know how it was.”
Julie looked at her lap and fidgeted. She could feel Aaron’s eyes on her.
“What? Did I say something?” He moved a hand to the knee closest to him and gently squeezed. “I’m sorry.”
Julie shook her head. “No. Don’t be. You did nothing. It’s just that … I wasn’t at those parties. I know we went to the same school and even had some classes together, but I think our experiences were very different.”
Aaron turned his eyes back to the road, moving his hand a bit higher on her leg and squeezing it gently. “That’s actually good to know. Now I know that all my stupid human party trick stories won’t be wasted on you.” He laughed.
Relief washed over her. He hadn’t made a big deal out of her not being there. He hadn’t apologized for his assumption or for the fact that she wasn’t there back then. She appreciated both. The truth was, she never had a desire to go to those parties back then. So an apology wouldn’t have been appropriate. She hadn’t been left out; she’d decided not to join in. She’d been on a path, and she couldn’t deviate from it if she wanted to have the life she’d dreamed of. So, she’d studied instead of partying. Thing was, now she was starting to realize that being so focused hadn’t gotten her where she’d planned, and that was mostly because planning didn’t guarantee the outcome you wanted … sometimes shit just happened.
Julie had also counted on being able to loosen up her rigid path once she got to college, and she had—until she’d had to leave. She’d dated, and even partied a little, but she hadn’t been at school long before her mother’s accident. Not that she hadn’t had fun, she just hadn’t realized it would be so short-lived.
Julie focused her attention on the road they were traveling. They reached the peak of the hill and were driving into a clearing of sorts. The area reminded her of a campground clearing; a spa
ce that was still highly wooded but had been cleaned up enough that a tent could be pitched and a fire could be built. She’d lived in this town for as long as she could remember, and she’d never known this place existed.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Round Ridge.” He slowly pulled the car to the outside edge of the clearing and parked. “It’s part of a larger park that is down the hill. You’ve seriously never heard of it before?”
Julie shook her head. “Nope. I think I’ve been to the lower park though. Is there a weird old swing set that looks like it belongs in a really bad horror movie?”
Aaron smiled and reached for the wine and the cups they’d had to bribe the man at the liquor store for. “Yup. There definitely is. Even has chipped red paint, and last I saw one of the swings was hanging by a single chain. The other chain just left to hang all on its own.”
Julie shivered and shifted in her seat. “That’s the one.”
Aaron got out of the car and moved around to her side, opening the door for her. “If we head just slightly into the woods, the view is pretty awesome. There’s even a little sitting area.”
Julie settled her feet in the loose dirt and got out of the car. The way Aaron was holding the door made it so that their faces were very close when she stood. So close that their noses almost touched. Julie exhaled slowly, his closeness sending vibrations through her body. “Sounds good.”
He shut the door behind her, then took her hand and led the way.
On the other side of a small batch of trees was another clearing. This one was smaller than the last and looked out over a high cliff. There were a few logs that looked like they’d been strategically placed to serve as benches. Julie dropped Aaron’s hand and walked close to the edge. She noted the height made her a little woozy. She was in awe of how far she could see. It was breathtaking. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, trying to take in all aspects of the experience, so she could remember it whenever she wanted. The air was crisp, and it felt cleansing in her lungs. She exhaled and turned back to Aaron, who was watching her intently. “Thank you for sharing this with me. It’s wonderful.”
