by Amber Heart
Outside of the softness she showed toward Ava the Sunday prior and beyond the intrigue she directed toward The Tragedy at the art gallery, this was one of few times Chance displayed a human side. Most importantly, it was the only time Silas could remember that it was solely being directed at him.
As they left the classroom, then the building, and finally started on a direct trail to Starbucks, Chance and Silas danced around and then dove head-first into an intriguing conversation. Mere feet away from the coffeehouse, Silas made the potentially catastrophic decision to break from the light banter they were having and ask a real question that, presumably, had an uncomfortable answer.
“So, you know,” Silas started, “I noticed that you didn’t really like the attention Dr. Byrne gave us today – acknowledging that he thought our paper was really good in front of the entire class. What gives?”
Chance groaned as Silas opened the door for her and walked inside without a word.
“I’m listening,” Silas said, as they got in line, the aromatic scent of coffee filling his nostrils and awakening his senses.
“Well…” Chance began, facing him, oblivious to the fact that a cashier had just opened a new register.
“Actually,” Silas said, reluctantly putting their conversation on pause. “Hold that thought,” he insisted, motioning Chance over to the awaiting barista.
Shortly after Chance began to place her order, it was Silas’ turn. “Yeah, I’ll have a venti blond roast,” he began, stepping up to the register, “with a little extra room for cream, please.”
“I’m going to get us a table,” Chance said, with her coffee in one hand and a slice of pound cake in the other.
“OK,” he replied, reaching into his wallet to pay for his order.
Chance eyed the scene and scored a table in the corner. After adding his cream, Silas joined her there, ready to pick back up where they left off.
“So…” he cajoled, taking the seat right in front of her, closest to the wall.
“So….what?” Chance responded, looking genuinely confused.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Chance Parker,” he declared, not buying her act at all.
Chance took a sip of her coffee.
Silas sighed. “Whatever! I’ll bite. Tell me why you reacted to Dr. Byrne’s announcement about our work the way you did earlier. It looked like you were embarrassed by the attention, somewhat.”
Chance grimaced and pinched off a bit of her pound cake.
“Seriously, what’s wrong?” he probed. “I thought that whole thing was pretty cool, actually. Nerve-wracking, when it took him so long to get to us, but cool at the end.”
“Well,” she began, intermittently making eye-contact and looking off into space. “I don’t know. Sometimes – sometimes compliments are a little hard to take.”
“Hmmm, what do you mean?” Silas asked, leaning in slightly, attentive, and beyond ready to hear her answer.
“Mmm, I don’t know,” she said, clearly stalling. “I guess I’m saying that – sometimes – I don’t always feel like – like people really mean them.”
Silas cocked his head to the side, looking as if he wanted to follow-up, but unsure how. As he opened his mouth to speak, Chance interjected.
“I’m not sure how to say this, but,” she paused for a brief second, “I’ve just had people be nice to me all my life – not necessarily deservedly.”
“What do you mean? You think that people have just been kissing up to you?”
“Oh, I know it! I’m telling you. I can’t quite explain everything right now but…just take my word for it.”
Silas was confused and not sure where Chance was going.
“I don’t know,” Chance continued, taking a sip of her coffee, “I’m just thinking out loud.”
“Well, just knowing how you work and how high your standards are,” Silas exhaled, ready to change the subject, “I think Dr. Byrne’s reaction was probably well-deserved. I can’t wait to read the final copy!”
“I’m telling you – seriously – I didn’t have much to do after the draft we had by Sunday.”
“Well, I just want to thank you once again for taking over – that really helped a lot!”
“Yeah,” Chance said, “No problem! Ava’s a cutie and I can tell she’s a handful!”
Silas laughed, tickled at how spot on Chance had captured his favorite toddler.
Chance paused for a second, clearly unsure about whether she should say what was on her mind. “So, are you married?” she asked, looking directly into Silas’ eyes. “To Ava’s mother?” she clarified.
“Oh no,” Silas intoned. “We weren’t ever married. And, actually, the crazy thing is that Ava came at the tail end of our relationship.”
“Like right before you guys broke up?”
“Actually, after we broke up!” he admitted to a stunned Chance. “Yep! My ex, Kalyn, didn’t find out that she was carrying Ava until after we’d called it quits!”
“Wow!” she gasped, “how long had you been together?”
“Since our freshman year here at Stronghold. We dated for about three years.”
“That’s a long time!” Chance said.
“Yeah, it is! That’s already enough to make a break up hard. Add on top of that a surprise pregnancy and you’ve got us!”
Chance shook her head, trying her best to keep up with Silas’ story.
“We’re trying to stay on the up-and-up for Ava,” he said with a heavy sigh, “but it doesn’t always work out that way, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like Sunday,” he exhaled, “Kalyn was supposed to pick Ava up the day before; then I thought she would get back early Sunday morning – as you know, both of those things fell through.”
“Ah!” Chance said, nodding. Somewhere along the way, listening to Silas’ story, she had propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.
“Yeah, I hadn’t planned to have her by the time we met. So, when I did, I was a little annoyed…well, a lot annoyed.”
“Mmm, I can see why you would feel that way,” she replied, “but it wasn’t a big deal to me. I’m glad I got a chance to meet her. She’s a doll!”
“Thanks, I wasn’t sure if you’d be OK with it.”
“I hadn’t expected her… I didn’t even know you had a daughter. But, all she needed was a pen and paper – and she was good to go! That….I can deal with!”
As Chance and Silas sat, on the heels of their small triumph, getting to know each other a little better, they found themselves sincerely enrapt, increasingly intrigued, and – before they knew it – hopped up on caffeine. At the end of the evening, they agreed on two important things. One, that having coffee so late was probably a bad idea and, two, that they should definitely hang out again – and sooner rather than later. Realizing that Ava would be with her mother that weekend, Silas offered to take Chance out on Saturday and she quickly agreed.
Chapter 6
Before he knew it, the weekend was upon him, and the date he had been waiting for was seconds from getting underway. Silas sat patiently in the waiting area of the Martha T. Simpkins Residential Hall for Women – rethinking everything: what he wore, why he hadn’t brought flowers for Chance, and whether the movie he had suggested was actually any good. All of these things, though quite settled in his mind earlier, rather suddenly became up for debate. To make matters worse, up until that moment, he had forgotten how long it had been since his last date. Turns out, that was actually a good thing. If he’d had a chance to think about it, before this moment, he might not have had the guts to invite Chance out.
As he sat and waited, for what seemed like forever, Silas was mesmerized thinking about the intricate series of events that had led him directly to where he was sitting at that very moment. The more he pondered, the more he was convinced: all of this had to be a part of a larger scheme. What were the chances, he thought, that the girl on the running trail –
who had ignored him – would end up being his partner on a project; even better, a project with a highly successful outcome. How likely was it that, despite a terse start, they would warm up to each other and that she would even welcome his daughter with open arms? He didn’t know where all of this would go but he did know that he was happy to be journeying on the path.
“Silas?” he heard coming from mere steps away. He looked up to see, what appeared to be, an angel. Chance was wearing a periwinkle and white striped A-line dress and a pair of strappy gold sandals. Her hair was drawn up into a top knot with a thin gold-toned headband perched atop, adding just a little bit of shine. Her dainty jewelry, a pendant necklace and stud earrings, paired with light make-up completed her look and, all combined, underlined her girl-next-door flair.
“Wow,” Silas said, rising to his feet and finding it hard – per usual – to take his eyes off of her. “You look great!”
“Thanks,” she said, nervously gripping the strap on her cross body bag and blushing slightly. “Ready to go?”
“Sure!” Silas replied, as they began to walk toward the exit, both nervous, both smiling, both excited about the evening to come. “Let me get that for you,” he said, rushing over to the door, opening it, and waiting for Chance to walk through.
Though it was a Saturday night on a college campus, it was rather quiet on the walk from the dorm to Silas’ car.
“So,” he began, timidly, breaking the silence, “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time – I just have to ask…”
“What?” Chance said, seriously confused about what would come out of Silas’ mouth next.
“Uh, OK….here goes: do you remember me from the running trail – the first week of school?”
“The running trail?” she echoed before adding, “no, I don’t think so!”
“No? You don’t remember seeing me on the running trail near campus? The Monday school started?” Silas reiterated, wishing that he hadn’t brought it up in the first place.
“I can say unequivocally, no.” she responded, shaking her head in tur. “I can’t even remember the last time I’ve gone running. It was definitely months ago, though, not weeks or days.”
Silas was undone. He had clearly seen Chance on the trail the first day of classes. It was no way in the world that he would forget a face like that and, here she was, saying that it had been months since her last run.
“Wait a minute!” she shouted, as if she had just solved the mystery. “The running trail?” she repeated, smiling knowingly before erupting into laughter.
“What?” Silas said, staring at Chance intently, thoroughly unamused.
“Now, brace yourself for this one!” she said, slowing her pace and then standing still as Silas did the same.
“What?” he repeated, impatiently, ready for her to tell him everything.
“It wasn’t me you saw out running that morning. You probably saw my sister, Patience,” she laughed.
“You have a twin?!” Silas said, as they began walking again and crossed from the walkway over to the parking lot. “You’re kidding!” he continued, sincerely flabbergasted.
“Nope! She’s the runner between the two of us! It had to be her,” Chance giggled.
“And let me guess, she’s got green eyes!” he said, finally solving the mystery and realizing that he hadn’t lost full grasp of his colors after all. Silas had the wide-eyed look of a man who had just learned the answer to a mystery. He continued to walk to his car, intermittently saying “I don’t believe it!” and “This is unreal!”
“Don’t worry. It’s not the first time this has happened,” Chance said fully understanding why he was so confused.
Silas stopped in his tracks again and laughed raucously. “Now, you’re not going to believe this,” he said with a sheepish grin.
“What?” she asked, thinking that the night had already had more than its share of surprises.
“I forgot where I parked my car,” he said, still looking confused. “Wait a second,” he said, lifting his keychain and pressing a button. In no time, a car two paths over honked its horn and flickered its light. “Never mind! Follow me,” he said crossing Chance’s path and walking between a set of cars to get to his.
As she followed him, Chance giggled gleefully.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” he said, “my mind is still reeling! You’re a twin!”
“It’s OK,” she said, “I’m used to this by now, it’s happened all of my life.”
“So, who’s older?” he asked as he opened the car door for her and waited for her to get in.
“I am, by twelve minutes!” she explained, as she took her seat.
“Wow!” Silas said, still trying to process everything. He walked over to his side of the car, opened his door and got in.
“It’s why they eventually decided to name her Patience,” Chance continued as Silas buckled his seat belt. “We were initially supposed to be Chance and Destiny…but slow-poke messed up the original plan.”
Silas laughed, heartily as he grew to appreciate her sense of humor more and more.
As they made their way over to the movie theater and sat watching the previews, Silas continually kicked himself. The way she kept him guessing, made him laugh, and dropped interesting tidbits along the way made him want to keep the conversation going. He was beyond interested to learn more about her life and understand more about what made her tick. But going to a movie was definitely not the way to do that. While, silence is golden in the theater it was, in fact, was the direct opposite of what he wanted to do. Truthfully, he could just talk to her forever.
Shortly after the movie started, Chance lifted the arm rest in between them, leaned over, and rested her head on Silas’ shoulder. Adjusting herself, trying to get more comfortable, she let out a faint sigh.
“Comfortable?” he asked, somewhat sarcastically as the opening credits rolled.
“Uh, yeah. I guess,” she said, with the kind of tone that usually accompanies a shrug.
“Wait,” he said, somewhere between a whisper and a chuckle, “Let’s see if we can’t make that a definite ‘yes’. Hold up for a second.” While he tugged his arm inward, Chance instinctively raised her head. Before she knew it, he had lifted his arm in the air and placed it around her shoulders. “Lay back,” he coaxed just before she happily accepted his invitation. “Now isn’t that better?” he queried, as she nuzzled in.
As she rested in his arms, out of nowhere, Silas’ nerves began to jump again.
“Your heart is beating so fast,” she whispered, feeling somewhat flattered that she had this effect on him.
“Yeah,” he said in a low voice, not quite willing to admit that his nerves were getting the best of him, “it must be my arrhythmia acting up again.”
“Oh, arrhythmia is it?” she said, playing along. “Well, let’s see if your arrhythmia can handle this.”
Chance raised her head up from his shoulder and leaned forward to kiss him, resting her hand on his stomach in the process. At first, she just gave him an introductory smooch on the lips; nothing too forward, but just enough to let him know that there was more to come. She quickly followed with a more passionate, lip lock. While it was definitely more sensual than the first, Chance was still setting the scene – she still hadn’t reached the height that she had set out to conquer.
“Am I dreaming?” Silas said, smirking boyishly like he really didn’t know the answer to his question.
“Yes,” she said, sarcastically before plunging, lips-first, into a kiss so on fire, it’s a wonder that they didn’t burst into flames.
As his lips wrapped around hers, and their tongues playfully glided past one another, Silas could feel the breath quicken in his nostrils and a warmth come over his entire body. Knowing he could only handle so much, he quickly enacted a plan to taper the kisses off.
As they began to end their first kiss in a series of sweet pecks, Silas heard himself say “Wow!” as he gripped her in his arms tighter.
He hadn’t felt this way about anyone since Kalyn but he never wanted the tingle in his toes to fizzle out. “You’re amazing, you know that!” he said with reckless abandon not worrying at all about whether he was playing it cool or not.
Much like welcomed bookends, the conversation Silas and Chance had after the movie was just as rich and engaging as the one they had on the way there. Silas could see a twinkle in Chance’s eye and – realizing how far they had come in the way they interacted with one another – he was intrigued by their collective, though relatively quick evolution and couldn’t wait to see what was next.
Feeling more relaxed and having a greater sense that the attraction was mutual, Silas was almost giddy as they proceeded from his car and up the walkway to Chance’s dorm.
As they reached the front door, he let out a reluctant sigh. “Well, I guess this is good night,” he said, with a slight pout.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “I had a really – really – great time,” she continued, grinning broadly and looking deeply into his eyes.
“Me, too!” he said, once again, abandoning all semblances of cool. “Hey, how about we meet for dinner next Saturday. At my house?”
“At your house?” she echoed.
“Yeah. Next week, I’ll have Ava.”
“OK, sounds good!” she said, eagerly anticipating his kiss.
“Goodnight, Chance,” he said, pulling her in, and placing a tender kiss on her lips.
“Good night,” she said, as soon as her feet were figuratively on the ground again.
Chapter 7
Clad in a gray oven mitt and gingham apron, Silas lifted the pot top and let the steam billow up before taking in a great big, satisfying whiff. Ever since Chance agreed to have dinner with him at his house, he had carefully planned a menu that three of them – Ava included – would really like. With her anticipated arrival to his house only minutes away, he was convinced that he had made the right choice.
“Mmm,” he said, as the rich smell of tomato sauce, ground beef, and Italian sausage filled the kitchen, danced into his nostrils, and awakened nostalgic feelings. As a kid, spaghetti and meat sauce had been a huge favorite of his; now that he had a child of his own, he enjoyed sharing some of his childhood treats and helping her create the kind of memories that would last her for a lifetime. Although, they didn’t agree that all of his favorites were actually treats – Salisbury steak being one of the most notable duds – Ava definitely liked this one.
