He Looked Back
Page 34
“Would you like to sing ‘happy birthday,’ or are you too cool?” Dylan asks me as I hand him a fork.
“I’m definitely too cool.”
He chuckles and we eat in silence, the sound of the TV muffled in the background.
“It’s been a hell of a week, hasn’t it?” Dylan breaks the silence.
“What do you mean?”
“Just, these past weeks. They’ve been hellish.”
“Why have they been hellish for you?”
“They just have.”
Vague answer. Typical Dylan.
I pause. “I’m sorry for snooping in your journal,” I say. “That was...stupid of me.”He stares at me for a bit before nodding.
We finish eating and I put the rest of the cake in the fridge, cleaning up the kitchen.
“I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow, then,” I say flatly.
“Yeah.” He nods. “You...you don’t want me to stay?”
His question shocks me. “Why would I want you to stay?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Right, yeah. I don’t know, I...yeah.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I’ll see you at work.”He turns and walks out of my apartment, the door clicking shut behind him.
What did I just do? He offered to stay with me on my birthday, after he make me a cake, for fuck’s sake. I’m an idiot.
There’s no point in going after him, so I sigh and slide into bed.
I stare at the ceiling for two hours straight, alone with my thoughts.
I open the drawer of my nightstand, looking for a new hair tie (my current one snapped), when I come across a stack of folded paper.
Dylan’s notes to me.
Random, short notes that he’s written to me over the months.
I pull them out and unfold them.
Katie—
Sorry about the mess the other day. Thought you’d want some help cleaning up.
—Dylan
Katie—
You fell asleep in my car last night. Don’t let it happen again.
—Dylan
Katherine—
I swear to God, if you click your pen one more time I will snap it in half.
—Dylan
Katie—
Roof at lunch?
—Dylan
Katherine—
I’ll race you home.
—Dylan
These meaningless notes seem to mean the world to me.
Before I can stop myself, I grab my key to Dylan’s apartment and slip out of bed, padding through my apartment. I twist the key in the lock, pushing the door open quietly.
The apartment is dark, with his bedroom door cracked open. I see the glow of the TV flicker from inside the room, and I tiptoe through.
He looks up when I enter, shutting his leather journal.
“Katie?”
I look at my feet. “Hi.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
He looks at me confusedly.
I take a breath. “I actually wanted you to stay.”
He furrows his brow. “Really, because I got the vibe that I had ruined your birthday, or something.”“No, you actually made it a great birthday.”
He raises an eyebrow.
I chew on my lip. “The cake was the best I’ve ever had, except, don’t tell my mother, she’ll get upset because I’ve always told her that she makes the best red velvet, but actually you do.”He cracks a smile.
“And I love the pens. I’ll use a different color every day, I’ll write up a schedule. Warm colors on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and cool colors on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”His dimples show.
“And you remembered my birthday this morning, when I hadn’t even remembered, so that meant a lot. It meant so much, Dylan.” My voice cracks slightly.
Dylan sets his journal on his nightstand. “Come here, Katie.”
I slowly crawl onto the bed, leaning into his outstretched arms. I’m engulfed by the warmth of his being, and I almost cry at how much I’ve missed him.
He holds me tight, the muted sound of the Office playing in the background. I smell his minty scent and shut my eyes, leaning my head on his chest.
How can he hold me like this, and tell me I mean nothing?
I pull away, looking down at my lap.
“I should go,” I say, beginning to stand, but he catches my wrist.
“Don’t go.”
“Dylan, I—”
“It’s your birthday. Just stay with me, tonight.”
I shake my head. “I—”
“Just stay.”
I look into his eyes, searching them.
I finally nod and slide under the covers next to him, his legs finding mine as I nuzzle my head into his neck, his warm hand pushing my hair over my shoulder.
“Happy birthday,” he whispers to me. “You’re twenty four.”“Great,” I say, and he laughs lightly.
Our breathing slows and I fall asleep shortly, my senses overcome with his minty scent and breathtaking touch.
Chapter Sixty One
I wake up still nestled in Dylan’s arms, his warm breath fanning onto my forehead.
I could stay like this forever.
Unfortunately, we have work, and I don’t know where Dylan and I stand.
Weeks ago he told me I mean nothing, yet here we are, tangled together in slumber.
Should I wait for Dylan to wake up?
I decide against it and gently untangle myself from him, sliding out of bed.
I grab my key from his nightstand and carefully tiptoe out of his apartment.
I shower and blow dry my hair, slipping into a lavender blouse and grey skirt. I slide on my pumps and grab my keys and phone, almost late for work.
I arrive just in the nick of time, dropping my things onto my desk and sighing.
“Morning, Katie,” Sarah calls to me from her desk in HR and I smile at her.
Events from the night before begin to flood back to me as I open the manila folder sitting on my desk.
“You...you don’t want me to stay?”
“Why would I want you to stay?”
I click my pen anxiously, trying to focus.
“Don’t go.”
“It’s your birthday. Just stay with me tonight.”
“Just stay.”
I shut my eyes. Out of all the people that wished me happy birthday, Dylan’s meant the most.
“Katherine.”
I look up into the angry, blazing eyes of Dylan.
I furrow my brow. “What?”
He clenches his jaw. “Roof. Now.”
“No, I’m—”
“Now.”
I rise from my seat, confusedly following Dylan up the stairs. He walks briskly, his long strides hard for me to keep up with. I can almost see anger radiating off of him, although I have no idea why.
We finally reach the roof, where small amounts of snow sit. The air is frigid, but I can tell Dylan’s temper is too hot for him to notice.
As soon as the door to the stairwell shuts, Dylan whirls around, enraged.
“What the hell was that?” He shouts.
I step back. “Wh-what?”
“You leaving, without telling me? Do you know how fucking worried I was?”“What are you talking about?”
“This morning, I woke up and you were gone.” His cheeks are flushed with anger. “I thought something happened, and you didn’t even have the decency to leave me a goddamn note!”I flinch as he yells at me, his voice loud and his eyes ablaze.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d care,” I say softly.
“Why wouldn’t I care? I was so worried.” He tugs at his hair, like I’ve come to know he does when he’s stressed.
“I’m sorry, Dylan,” I say again. He’s probably right, I shouldn’t have left without telling him. I know if our roles were reversed, I would be acting just as he is.
He nods, sighing and sticking his hands into his pockets.
/> “It’s freezing, can we at least talk in the stairwell?” I ask.
He cracks a smile. “I thought you were from London,” he says as we step inside, the warm air engulfing us.
“I am,” I say. “But it’s pretty damn cold here.”
“Agreed.”
I cross my arms over my chest, unsure of where we go from here.
“Alright,” Dylan says. “Let’s go somewhere.”
“What? We have work.”
“So?”
“So, we can’t just ditch. These are our jobs, Dylan, not high school.”“Come on, it’s just one day. Unless...you’re too much of a goody-goody.” He smiles slyly.
I run my tongue over my teeth, narrowing my eyes. “I am not.”“Then come with me.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere.”
“What if you’re really going to murder me this time?”
“It’s a public place, I swear.”
I sigh. “They’re going to notice we’re missing.”
“No. In a second you’ll go down to Morris’s office and tell him you’ve got a dentist appointment, alright?”“Fine.” I tilt my head. “What about you?”
“I’ll just tell him what I always do.”
“And what is that?”
“My ailing grandmother that lives in a retirement home has called for me, and she has a terrible case of amnesia, so when she remembers who I am it’s a big deal.” He grins proudly.
“You are evil!” I shake my head, laughing.
He smirks. “Evil genius.”
“I thought you were a god.”
“True. Evil godly genius.”
I roll my eyes.
“Alright, now go. Meet me by my car, I’ll be out fifteen minutes after you.”I sigh. “Fine.”
I travel down the stairs, mulling over what I’m going to say to Mr. Morris.
I finally reach his office, knocking lightly on the door before stepping in.
He’s on a phone call when I enter, and motions for me to wait. I nod and stand silently while he finishes up the call.
“Miss Harris,” he says, hanging up the phone. “How can I help you?”“I have a dentist appointment this morning, I realize I forgot to notify you,” I say.
“Of course, Miss Harris. You’ve done some real quality work the past two weeks, so go ahead and take the time you need.”“Thank you, Mr. Morris.”
Relieved, I gather my things from my desk, smirking at Oliver when he tells me it’s unfair how I get to leave early.
“See you around,” I say, waving him goodbye as I exit the office.
I lean against Dylan’s car in the lot, pulling out my phone to pass the time. I text Courtney asking her how she is, and I hope to see her soon.
Dylan finally emerges from the building, smirking widely.
“That idiot, always believing my lies about Grandma Millie,” he says, unlocking the car.
“What if he finds out one day?” I ask, getting into the car.
“I’ll just tell him she died.”
“That’s horrible!”
We laugh at Dylan’s sick idea as he turns on the heat, backing out of the lot.
“So are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I ask.
“You’ll recognize it,” he says slyly.
“Damn it, Dylan!”
He laughs and turns onto the highway.
About twenty minutes later, I furrow my brow as he pulls into a parking space.
“We’re ditching work to go to the zoo?”
Dylan grins. “Come on, who doesn’t like the zoo?”
“Me, when we’re missing work for it!”
“Don’t shit on the party, Katherine. The animals await.”
I grumble halfheartedly under my breath as I follow him out of the car and up to the admission area. Families roam around, small kids tugging at their parents arms.
Dylan pays admission, despite my protests, and we enter the zoo.
The Essex Zoo is quite the lovely place, and although I’d never admit it to Dylan, I’d much rather be here than work.
“I don’t see any,” I complain at the first exhibit—the mountain goats.
“It’s right there, Katie.”
“Where?”
“Literally right in front of you. Look!” Dylan points.
I finally see it, chewing lazily on a lump of grass. I giggle.
“Don’t laugh at the goat, Katherine.”
“Why? It’s funny looking.”
“I bet it’s laughing internally at you.”
“Shut up, Dylan.”
We smirk at each other as we walk away from the goats, following the map Dylan picked up at the beginning.
“Next are...black bears,” Dylan says.
We stop at the exhibit, watching the bears cuddle close to each other for warmth.
“They’re so cute,” I coo.
“Cute? I bet it’d rip your face off in a second.”
“Well, then. Who’s shitting on the party now?”
Dylan laughs. “Katherine, watch your language. This is a family environment.”I roll my eyes at him and we move on.
We walk past the eagle, beaver, otter, and duck habitats. Dylan always seems to have some sarcastic or witty remark about each animal, making me laugh with him.
Eventually, we find ourselves in the open area towards the middle of the zoo, arguing over which exhibit to see next.
“I’m telling you, the Pacific Shores is the way to go,” Dylan says.