Forever Love: A Friends to Lovers Collections

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  “Hello?” I immediately picked up the unknown local number. Maybe Leo had worked fast. “Any news?”

  “Hey, Cassidy. What kind of news were you hoping for?”

  “Will your guy fix it or not?”

  “Uh, fix what?”

  Then it hit me. “Who is this?”

  “It’s Brent. Remember I saw you at the Salon today? Who did you think it was?”

  I sighed. “Oh, hi.”

  “Who were you waiting to hear from? I might be able to help you fix whatever it is you need fixed.” His voice rose slightly on the word fixed making me question what he was getting at.

  “It’s nothing. Just someone from a store.”

  “From a store?” His question was laced with skepticism. Who knew what kind of store he thought I was talking about? I didn’t care.

  “Yeah. Forget it.”

  “Ok… I was calling to see if you still wanted to grab that coffee?”

  “When?” I hoped I could buy myself some time.

  “Tonight, if that works. I can pick you up if you want. I remember where your parents live.”

  “Oh… I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  I struggled to come up with an excuse. I had no interest in doing anything, but I didn’t want to be rude. “I’m already ready for bed.” It was kind of true.

  “Want me to come over then? We can hang out?”

  “Ah, I’m actually going to go to bed.”

  “Ok. Gotcha. How about tomorrow night?”

  “Sorry, plans with my brother.” At least my mom hinted he’d be around.

  “Oh yeah? He and Melinda?”

  “Melinda?” I repeated the unfamiliar name.

  “Yeah, his girlfriend.”

  “You know my brother’s girlfriend?”

  “Yeah. We always end up at trivia night at Bailey’s on Thursdays.”

  “Trivia night at Bailey’s?” I had no clue that old bar was still open.

  “Yeah… we’ve been doing it for years.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to get some coffee? I can show you the sights.”

  “I grew up here. I know the sights.” They weren’t particularly exciting aside from some decent beaches in the summer.

  “Yes, but you knew them as a teenager, not as an adult. Things have changed since then.”

  “And that makes them better now?” Then I thought of something. “You have to have gone through a bunch of phones since high school. Even if your contacts remained on each, why didn’t you delete this number?”

  He didn’t say anything for a minute.

  “Brent?”

  “It never seemed worth deleting.”

  “Okay… just wondering.”

  “Obviously you didn’t still have mine.”

  “I deleted almost everyone’s from high school.” I liked to keep my contacts trimmed so I didn’t accidently call someone I hadn’t spoken to in years.

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t need them anymore.”

  “Just because you move away doesn’t mean you have to cut ties.”

  “Didn’t you go away to school?”

  “Yeah. Yale.”

  “Ok. Just checking.” He’d been one of the smartest guys in our class. I knew he’d gone somewhere good.

  “Listen, I’m not going to be that guy and keep calling, but if you want to hang out let me know. Okay?”

  “I will.”

  “Were you really going to bed, or was that your way of getting out of going out with me?”

  “Technically, it was true.” Did he really have to make me feel bad?

  “But you would have made up an excuse anyway?”

  “I recently broke off my engagement.”

  “Oh, Cassidy. That sucks. I’m so sorry.” He seemed to actually care, which made me feel even worse.

  “Yeah, it was for the best, but it just happened.”

  “So really recent?”

  “Yesterday.” It was hard to believe so little time had passed. “That’s why I’m here. I moved out and needed a place to stay.”

  “Oh, wow. Now I really need to get you out. You can’t hole up and wallow.”

  “I’m not wallowing. I had ice cream with my mom.”

  “That’s wallowing.”

  “I’ll call you when I’m up for it.”

  “Ok. Well, have a good night.”

  “You too.” I hung up ready to do some more wallowing.

  After laying on my bed for another five minutes, the wallowing got old so I took a shower. I once again marveled at how nice it was compared to my apartment in Philly. That place had crappy water pressure and a questionable hot water heater. I could have spent an hour under the heavy stream here.

  I’d just gotten out when my phone rang again. I wrapped up in my towel and grabbed my phone. It was another unknown number. I picked up more tentatively this time. “Hello.”

  “Cassidy?”

  “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “It’s Leo. From the store.” His voice was strong and crisp. It was the kind of voice I expected to hear on the radio.

  “Yeah, I know who you are.”

  “My friend thinks he can help.”

  “Really?” My spirits rose. “That’s great.”

  “Can you come by and drop the tape off tomorrow?”

  “I’m not dropping it off.” I tightened the towel around me. “I already told you that.”

  “Well he’s in Roslyn, and he’s not coming all the way out here.”

  “Ok, I can go to him.” I had nothing better to do anyway.

  “Yeah… not a chance. He’s doing this as a favor to me. I need to do it.”

  “Then we can go together.” I wasn’t giving up the tape.

  “Go together?”

  “Yes. I don’t bite. I’ll even do the driving.”

  “I wasn’t worried about you biting me.”

  “That’s a good thing—I think.”

  He laughed. “You’re really not going to let me do this myself, are you?”

  “Absolutely not.” I dug out some clothes from my bag.

  “And you’re not going to leave me alone until it gets done?”

  I wasn’t sure if I should have been offended or embarrassed by his words. I chose not to feel either. “No. I’m not.”

  “Ok. Can you come by tomorrow at closing?”

  “Is it six o’clock?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’ll really be there?” I stepped into a pair of pajama shorts. “You’re not going to slip out?”

  “Would I have bothered calling you tonight if I was?”

  “Maybe. I’ve given up on trying to understand people.”

  “And you’re what, twenty-five?”

  “Twenty-seven.” My age slipped out. I wondered at what point I wouldn’t want to share that information.

  “Same difference. That’s too young to give up on people.”

  “Then prove me wrong. I’ll see you tomorrow at six.”

  “I’ll see you then.” He hung up.

  I set aside my phone. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I didn’t really care.

  * * *

  Meow.

  I rolled over.

  Meow.

  Fluffy, the same cat that ignored me all day, had decided to annoy me when I’d finally fallen asleep.

  Meow.

  “Leave me alone,” I hissed. I was starting to regret my decision to take him. Maybe I should have left him with Steve to deal with. Only I knew that would have made things worse. Steve would have posted pictures of the two of them snuggling, and somehow that would irritate me more than seeing pictures of him with another partner.

  Meow.

  “Shut up.”

  Fluffy ignored me.

  I rolled over toward the side where the meowing was coming from. “What is it?”

  Meow.

  There was no lamp by the bed, so I had to traips
e across the room to turn on the light. “What?”

  Meow. He gave me a pitiful look.

  “What could you possibly want?” I checked his food and water. He had plenty of both.

  He ran over to the bottom of the stairs.

  “What are you doing?” I yawned. “You are a cat. Cats don’t need to go out.”

  Meow. He started up the stairs.

  “You have got to be kidding me.” I walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Fluffy, get down here.”

  Meow.

  “What do you want me to do? Walk you?”

  Now that I was fully awake, the thought of fresh air didn’t sound quite so bad. I pulled on a sweatshirt over my pajama shirt and stepped into a pair of flip flops. I walked up the stairs and scooped up Fluffy despite his meows of protest and opened the door.

  Letting the cat roam the neighborhood was out of the question, but it wasn’t like I could walk him on a leash. The only option I had was to let him out in the backyard. Hopefully he wasn’t small enough to slip under the fence.

  I opened the back door and let him out onto the deck. He walked to the edge of the stairs and sat down.

  The night was cool with a slight breeze. It was the type of early fall night when you want to be outside. I took a seat next to him, expecting Fluffy to run off as I sat down. But he didn’t. He sat right there. I took a chance and petted him. He let me. No biting, no hissing. Interesting. Was that all he wanted from me? Fresh air?

  “I know the feeling, Fluffy.” I sat outside and pet him for another twenty minutes before I headed to the door. He followed me, and I scooped him up. This time he didn’t protest as much.

  As soon as I opened the basement door he jumped out of my arms, scratching me in the process. But they were accidental scratches, and those were much better than the intentional ones he liked to give.

  Chapter 6

  I waited in my car as long as I could. I didn’t want to show up too early, but I was in a rush. I wanted to hear the tape; no, I needed to. I hadn’t thought about that tape in years, but now that I had it in my hands, I couldn’t wait any longer.

  I ran my hand over the faded sticker on the tape. How had so many years passed since then? Every year had crawled as a kid, but now they seemed to fly by.

  I glanced at the clock. It was 5:55. I turned off my car. I was done waiting. I got out and walked inside the once again familiar store.

  The desk was empty when I walked in, but I assumed he was in the back. I walked over to the used CDs area and started flipping through.

  “Moving on to newer technology?”

  I turned at the sound of Leo’s voice behind me. “Yeah, you know. At least you can pick the track with CDs.”

  “Yet you still want my help with the tape?” He pointed to my hand.

  “Yes. I need it.”

  “I’m at a loss for what’s on it that could possibly be so important.”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Not really. Well yes. I mean, it would be nice to know why you want my help so badly.”

  “Would you help me any more or less if you knew?”

  “Not less.”

  “I would be happy to pay you for your time, or go over there myself.”

  “We’ve been over this. You’re not going by yourself.”

  “And the money?” I didn’t particularly want to hand over cash. Any hope I had of getting an apartment depended on saving up, but I could handle giving him twenty dollars or something.

  “I don’t need your money.” His face hardened.

  I dropped the money talk. “Ok.”

  “You ready to go?” He grabbed a set of keys.

  “Yes. I can finish my CD shopping another day.”

  “You sure? I mean we have a pretty epic selection.”

  “It will still be here tomorrow.”

  “Yes, it will.” He walked toward the front and gestured for me to walk outside first. He followed and locked the door.

  “How long have you been working here?”

  “Nine months.”

  “Oh.”

  “Is that long or short?”

  “Neither, I guess.” I walked to my car. “I assume you are okay with me driving?”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t want you to think I was kidnapping you or something.”

  “Are you trying to freak me out?” I hit unlock.

  He opened the passenger door to my car. “No, just making sure you’re thinking things through.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  I got in and buckled my seatbelt.

  “How do you know I’m not a complete psycho? I could kill you as soon as we leave the parking lot.”

  “Oh yeah? With the sun up on Jericho turnpike?”

  “You never know.”

  “If you wanted to kill me there would be easier ways. I’ve told my family we’re together. They’d figure out it was you.” I hadn’t actually told them I was going anywhere with a guy, but they did know I was heading over to the record store.

  “All right. Good point. I’ll keep my psycho instincts at bay.”

  “Good.” I pulled out onto the road.

  “You going to take the Northern State?”

  “Yes. There shouldn’t be too much west bound traffic.”

  “You have a Pennsylvania plate.”

  “I do.” Eventually I’d have to change it over to wherever it was I settled down.

  “Is that where you usually live?”

  “It’s where I lived. Past tense.” I wasn’t going back there.

  “Why are you here?”

  “I’m staying in my parents’ basement.”

  “Oh.”

  That shut him up fast. “Is this when you get judgmental?”

  “You mean how you got judgmental about me working at the store for nine months?”

  “I wasn’t being judgmental. I was curious.”

  “You were trying to figure out if it was the only job I was qualified for.”

  “I was not.” I merged onto the parkway.

  “Yes you were.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Not at all.”

  “Fine. I wasn’t being judgmental of you either. I was surprised.”

  “Surprised I’d be living in a basement?” Considering he thought I was unbalanced, he couldn’t have been that surprised.

  “Particularly your parents’ basement. You don’t look like the type to crawl back like that.”

  “I didn’t crawl back.” Ok, yes I did, but he didn’t need to know that. “It has only been a few days.”

  “A few days in and you are already on a crazy quest to fix a tape?”

  “What else do I have to do?”

  “Work a job… or is that why you’re in the basement?”

  “I quit my job.” I’d never quit a job before. All my previous jobs had fixed or natural ending points like a semester or summer.

  “What did you do?”

  “Does that matter?” I switched lanes to pass a slow moving car.

  “No, but It seems like a normal conversation topic.”

  “I was in-house counsel for an insurance company.” I avoided the word attorney. I hated the word. That and lawyer.

  “You’re a lawyer?”

  “Was.”

  “But you’ll be one again.” He stretched out his legs in front of him.

  “Not any time soon.”

  “I thought about law school.”

  “You did?” Everyone seems to think about law school. I probably should have left it at just a thought. Although knowing me I’d have spent the rest of my life questioning my decision to forgo it. Loans or not, it was probably worth suffering through it.

  “Yeah… but I didn’t go that direction.”

  “Smart move.”

  “You regret it?”

  “Every time I pay a monthly loan payment.”

  “I know that feeling.”

  “You have student loans too?” Most people my age did.

  “Oh,
not being judgmental are you?”

  “Nope. Just making conversation.” Bad conversation, but it was better than silence.

  “I have more than I’ll ever pay off.”

  “Great feeling, huh?”

  “Fantastic. The last ones I took out for my MBA were the icing on the cake.”

  “MBA?” I didn’t have too many friends who went that route.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you own Mr. Cheapos?”

  “Own it?”

  “I mean if you have your MBA, maybe that’s your story.”

  “No. I don’t own it. I work there, exactly like it looks like.”

  “I need a job.” I changed lanes to pass a slow moving car.

  “But not a law job?”

  “Nope. I want something different.” Different was what I needed.

  “Have you applied anywhere yet?”

  “No. It’s only been a few days.”

  “Why did you quit your job before finding another one? Don’t you know it’s a lot easier to find a new one when you already have one?”

  “I wasn’t really thinking long-term future planning.”

  “What were you thinking?”

  I glanced over to look at him. “I hate this job.”

  “Nice.”

  “I also broke off my engagement the same day.”

  “Wow. Big day, huh?”

  “Yes.” It wasn’t my first time quitting a guy. I’d dumped a few, but breaking off an engagement with someone I lived with was much harder. I wondered if people ever got married simply to avoid the situation. Having to move out wasn’t fun.

  “How did he take it?”

  “Who?”

  “The ex-fiancé.”

  “He didn’t really care.” He’d been relieved. He’d been hoping I’d take the initiative myself. I had thought he was the strong one, but in that way he’d been weak. We all had our flaws.

  “Oh.”

  “Now you are being judgmental.”

  “Yes, I am. I mean what kind of guy doesn’t care that the girl he plans to marry changed her mind?”

  “Steve.”

  “Steve? You were going to marry a guy named Steve?”

  “What’s wrong with that name?” I moved back into the right lane in time to have to slow down again for traffic. I was surprised there were so many people heading west this time of night.

  “A Cassidy can’t marry a Steve. It wouldn’t work.”

  “Oh yeah?” I raised an eyebrow. “There’s a science to names and marriage?”