Running From Love

by J. Nichole

  Aiden: Hope your first day is going good, and you are enjoying Dallas

  And just like that, I miss Aiden. Since finding the envelope, I’ve been avoiding thinking about him. But not thinking about him is as hard as not breathing.

  “Jennifer, ready for lunch?” Ted from my team flicks his blonde, white boy bang and I look from him to my computer and nod my head. Like our Houston office, the Dallas office is downtown with a variety of dining options nearby. “Did you get everything moved into your apartment?” he asks as we collect the rest of our teammates on our way to the elevator.

  “Yes, I made it my goal to get all of my boxes unpacked before coming into work this morning and I actually finished late last night.” I look between Ted and our other three teammates. “I may sneak out of here early today.” Now that I’m the team lead, I actually don’t have to sneak. I have nobody to check me, and that’s the only good thing about this Dallas move.

  “For lunch today”—Kennedy claps her hands together—“we can check out Hard Rock, Medina, or…” She looks back and smiles. “Hooters.”

  “We’ll save Hooters for Friday. How about Medina?” I say. Walking over to Medina, Kennedy falls back with me and talks my ear off about the work she’s been doing, about the company, what she does and doesn’t like. I look up to the sky and wish anyone would find it in their heart to save me from this conversation. When she finally takes a breath I say, “Sounds like y’all have been busy.” She nods her head and I make eye contact with Ted who has a sly smirk on his face.

  While we wait on our table I send a text to Bri telling her how much I miss her. I’m sure she’s probably at lunch, or on her way back from lunch. When I didn’t have time to go to lunch with her she had no problem going alone, but I hope she can persuade someone else to join her.

  Bri: Chick, the office is NOT the same without you

  Bri: Rescue me!

  Trying not to laugh as we are seated at our table, I’m happy I’m not the only one feeling out of sorts today.

  As promised, I grab my laptop from my desk and let my team know I’m out for the day as soon as we walk back into the office. I can run reports from the comfort of my couch, after a nap.

  “Ms. Kelly,” the front desk clerk says when I walk into the lobby of my apartment complex. “You had a delivery come for you.” I walk towards the front desk as she disappears into a closed door. “Beautiful roses,” she says as she hands me a vase full of roses.

  “Wow,” I say. “Thank you.”

  “Have a good day,” she says as I walk away with the vase balanced in my hands along with my laptop. The mix of yellow and red roses could only be from one person. With the roses on the counter, sitting next to the dance studio deed, I dig my phone out of my purse and make the phone call that’s well overdue.

  He’s probably still in the midst of his workday, but he answers on the third ring. When I hear his voice the smile that’s been missing all day returns. “Hey there,” I say.

  “Hey to you too, Ms. Kelly. How are you?” I’d love to unload on Aiden, tell him how I really feel about this move to Dallas, about my token spot on my all-white team, but then I feel like he’d have room to tell me I should have stayed in Houston. And he’d be right.

  “I had to come home for a nap.” He laughs. “Unpacking all those boxes over the weekend had me worn out today.”

  “Sounds like you could have used a hand.” His voice sounds like it lowered an octave, the deep rumble sending vibrations through my body.

  “I’m just glad it’s over.” I take a look at the roses and the document on my kitchen counter. “Aiden, thank you for the roses. They’re beautiful.” He tells me how he wanted me to have something familiar on my first day in a new city. He even told me that he had to find Laila’s phone number, and then have her ask my mom for my address. “That was a lot of trouble, you didn’t have to do all that.”

  “I don’t have to do anything. But I wanted to.”

  “And the deed. To the dance studio.” I take a deep breath. “I can’t accept that. What would I do with a dance studio? In Houston at that.”

  I hear music in the background before he says, “I was thinking you’d say that. Listen, I respect you wanting to make this position work in Dallas. In fact, I’m proud of you. The studio we can work out details for that, maybe hire folks to run it, for now.” I never considered the fact that I could have people run the studio. Maybe ‘cause I thought it was too grand a gesture for him to just hand over to me like a greeting card. “More about that later. What are you doing for the rest of the afternoon, since you are playing hooky from work?”

  I eye my couch and tell him, “I’m about two minutes away from a nap.” I hear knocking at my door and I walk to the door as I continue telling him about my plans for the night. “Hold on, someone is at my door.” I peek out of the peep hole and gasp when I see Aiden, in front of my door, phone still to his ear.

  I snatch the door open. “Aiden, when did you get to Dallas?”

  He stands in my doorway. “I’ve been here since yesterday.” My face screws up and my hand goes to my hip. “I was hoping you’d eventually call.” He looks behind me. “If I knew the flowers would have gotten you to call me I would have sent them earlier so you would have had help unpacking your boxes.”

  “Come in.” I move out of the doorway and let him inside. “How long are you in Dallas?”

  He looks down at his phone then back to me and says, “For as long as it takes to convince you to come back to Houston.” I laugh and lead him to the couch. If only I didn’t need money, we could be on our way back now. But life.

  “You’re in luck.” He looks at me with his eyes open wide. “My sister’s graduation is Saturday.”

  He looks down at his hands. “I’ll take that for now. Can I join you for a nap?” I nod my head without hesitation and lean into his arms, both of us situated on the couch.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When Aiden said he was in Dallas till I returned to Houston, he wasn’t playing. Other than asking me to move home, he has given me space to explore Dallas, get situated at work, and settle into my apartment. It’s appreciated because my new position has been interesting—Ted and Kennedy have been on some Ted and Kennedy type shit.

  With a glass of wine I’m exploring my newly installed cable, trying to forget about the day. Seeing Aiden confirmed how much I miss him, and now that I’m here in Dallas I know my job won’t keep me from having my cake and eating it too. I cock my eyebrow as I call Aiden. “Dinner tonight?” I ask when he answers. We’ve gone out a couple of nights this week, and had room service delivered one night in his hotel suite.

  “Your place or mine?” I look at my glass of wine and take a long sip.

  “Mine.” I haven’t had time to make a grocery store trip, but I know how to be resourceful. I find a restaurant that delivers and place an order. I light a few candles around the apartment before hopping in the shower. Shuffling through the closet, I find a sundress to pull on while I wait for him to arrive.

  The food deliveryman arrives before Aiden and I grab the bag to unload it. I plate the Panang curry over a couple of scoops of rice, and add a spring roll on the side. With two wine glasses set and ready to be filled, I place a bottle of white wine in the refrigerator.

  My phone rings when I expect a knock at the door. “Hello,” I say waiting for Aiden to tell me he’s at my door.

  “Just wanted to let you know I’m still on my way, but I’m running a little late.” I look at the food and pout. “I should be there in about thirty minutes.” I don’t ask why he’s delayed. I assume he had something come up with work. Working remotely from Dallas, he’s tried to capitalize on meeting with new venues to partner with the DateNight app.

  I move the plates to the inside of the stove and grab my wine glass, filling it to the brim. When my phone rings again, I’m hoping it’s not Aiden again. If he tells me he won’t make it tonight, I may just have a full on meltdown. I peek over
the counter at the screen, and when I see my mom’s name I grab my phone.

  “Hey Mom,” I say. I’ve only been in Dallas a few days, and I’ve talked to my mom more this week than in the last month. “What’s going on?”

  “Your sister’s party.” Albeit the calls in the past week have all been about my sister, I am strangely happy to hear from my mom every day. “Your cousins decided, last minute, that they will be at the party.”

  “That’s a good thing, right?” My cousins are generally cool people. At times they can be a bit rowdy, and maybe a little petty.

  “It would have been a good thing had they confirmed before I made the order for the food, but now, now we won’t have enough food for the extra people.” My mom has been bouncing off issues about the party with me all week. From the missed cake order, to the space for all the tables and chairs. “I’m sure we’ll have more than enough food.”

  “You’re still coming after work on Friday, right?” I smile and decide not to tell my mom about Aiden. No need for her to get excited for nothing, or stressed about yet another person to add to the catering order. Aiden didn’t want me to drive myself home on Friday, after working, and offered to drive me home and back to Dallas on Sunday.

  “I’ll be there Mom.” I listen to a few other complaints about my brother being of no help for the party planning and my dad being upset about my mom catering the food instead of letting him be the king of the grill.

  Before she can continue, I rush her off the phone when I see Aiden’s name blink on my phone. “Are you outside?” I ask.

  “Yes. Well, no. But I will be soon. Just wanted to make sure you are still home and okay with me coming over.”

  “Of course, I’ll see you soon.” Thankfully, Panang curry can be reheated and maintain the amazing flavor. I set the plates out again, like they were before, and fill his wine glass beside it. For my wine glass, I top it off but keep it in my hand.

  Aiden finally knocks on the door, and my body jumps as if I haven’t been waiting on him to arrive. Instead of rushing to the door and confirming that I’ve just been sitting around waiting on him, I stand in the kitchen for a minute before opening the door.

  “That smells delicious.” He looks around the kitchen before handing me a bottle of wine. “What is it?”

  I wriggle my eyebrows and say, “Panang curry. I ordered take-out.” We sit next to each other at the counter and I ask him about his day.

  “I met with a few venues for DateNight.” He blows a spoonful of curry. “Dallas will be a good market for us, I think.”

  When we discussed all the places we’d consider living, Aiden seemed like he was against moving away from Houston. “Considering a move to Dallas?” I ask, knowing he’ll say no.

  “I’ve been thinking about it this week.” He looks at me and I stop chewing to make sure I heard him correctly. “Maybe not full-time, but I could spend some time here.”

  I grab my glass of wine and take a gulp before saying, “Why would you do that?”

  He turns in his seat and stares at me. “Since I can’t convince you to come home, to Houston, I have to find a way to see you more than just on an occasional weekend, and maybe a holiday here and there.”

  “Hmm,” I say, considering what it would be like if he moved, part-time, to Houston. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be on cloud nine if he made the move. “Are you sure about that?”

  “If it would give us an opportunity to be together, for you not to be worried about a long distance relationship.” He grabs his glass, taking a sip. “But only if you could trust me. Completely.” I look down at my hands sitting in my lap. “Jennifer, it’s only been two weeks since you walked away. And I have to say there aren’t many times in life, that I can remember, that I felt as shitty.”

  “I’ve missed you too, Aiden.” My head pulls back and I say, “But you being here half time, doesn’t mean I won’t be jealous. Not like Jules won’t have opportunity to run interference whenever you’re in Houston.”

  Aiden laughs and I gawk at him. “I couldn’t tell you then because it would have ruined the surprise.” He puts his hand in the air. “Surprises don’t count as withholding information right?” I cock my head and roll my eyes. “But she was working on getting the deal done with Pam and Leo.”

  “Hmph.” I smile. “Here I was thinking she was checking for you.” He brushes his shoulder off. “Not that she isn’t still checking for you, but any woman around you could be checking for you.”

  Aiden grabs my hand. “Jennifer,” he groans. “All the women on planet Earth could be checking for me, but I’m only checking for you.”

  Standing up, wedging myself between his legs, I look him in the eyes and say, “As long as you tell the world that then we can work this out.” I lean in and kiss his lips. “By the way, your girl needs a date to Binky’s graduation party.”

  He looks up and says, “Certainly. But who is Binky?”

  Laughing, I cover my mouth when I realize I called my sister’s nickname outside of the family. “My little sister, but please don’t ever call her that.”

  He puts his pointer finger to his lips. “Only if you tell me how Melody got the name Binky.”

  I shrug. “Most kids give up their pacifiers when they are like two, Melody held on to hers till she was like six.” I wag my head. “She probably still has one hidden. If she’s nervous or sad she’ll chew on it.” I wrap my arms around his neck and say, “But enough about her.” He picks me up, nibbling on my neck, and carries me to my bed.

  Epilogue

  “Ms. Boyce, this is Erica,” I say, introducing Erica to Aiden’s mom. “And this is—” Jason puts his hand out and finishes my sentence. By the smile on his face I already know he’s smitten with Erica. And since her job in Dallas fell through I’d be happy if they hit it off.

  “Thank you girls for joining us today.” Aiden and I have made it a point to come to Houston a couple of times a month and spend Saturdays with his mom and Sundays with my family. “Jennifer, how are things going with the studio?”

  I look at Aiden and smile as I describe the changes we’ve done to upgrade the studio. “With Aiden’s help, when the studio opens next season it’s going to be amazing.” I hired a studio manager who will manage the daily operations, and the instructors who taught with me all agreed to come back and teach classes.

  Aiden’s efforts to be in Dallas part-time have been beneficial to our relationship, and to his company. “By the time we open our doors next year, Aiden and I will be back in Houston full-time.” Aiden grabs my hand lacing our fingers together. “And since Aiden’s company could use an internal accounting department, I’ll be joining the team. And I’ll be able to teach classes a couple of days a week.”

  “Oh, wow,” Ms. Boyce says before adding, “I’m glad everything is working out for the two of you.” She nods her head towards Aiden and asks, “Think you two would want to work with each other?”

  Aiden and I both laugh before he says, “She won’t report to me. And we’ll have the accounting department setup on the other side of the office to give each other any needed space.”

  “Okay,” Ms. Boyce says nodding her head.

  “I can’t wait to have you back in Houston full-time,” Erica adds.

  “Me either,” I say squeezing Aiden’s hand. “Me either.”

  The End

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  About the Author

  J. Nichole received her bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Florida A&M University and a master’s degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

  J. Nichole has spent the past ten years as an IT Consultant. She is married with one daughter.

  For more information:

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  Also by J. Nichole

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  Sophisticated Sophomore

  Summer Fling

  Grown & Sexy Senior

  Creative Love

  City Lights: A Short Story

  Christmas Secrets: A Short Story

  Coming Soon:

  Have a Little Faith: A Christmas Love Story