Cole

by Tijan

  place, they’ll know you’re down here.”

  “Oh, good grief.” I needed to get a life. Now. “Move away from the door. I want to talk to them.”

  “Just wai—” A ping sounded in the closet, followed by a myriad of bells ringing.

  I knew that sound. “You have Sia’s phone!”

  “No, I don’t.”

  But she did. The sounds kept coming, which Sia had set on purpose. She never wanted to miss something. Dawn pulled it out from wherever she’d had it hidden. It lit up the closet, and I saw enough to grab it and push past her at the same time.

  “No!” She came after me.

  I hit the accept button for the text message and read the message from Jake: Where are you, phone? If someone finds this, please call my number.

  I’d had enough. I hit the call button and lifted it to my ear.

  “No!” Dawn tried to grab the phone from me.

  I held her off, leveling her with a warning. “You are unbelievable. At first I thought you thought you were too good for me. Then I felt bad for you. You were shy. That’s what Jake said, and now I find out you stole my best friend’s phone? Were you down here while they were swimming?”

  If looks could kill, I’d have been ashes.

  Then Jake answered his phone. “Hello? You have Sia’s phone?”

  “Hi, Jake. Yeah. It’s Addison.”

  “Addison?” I could hear him pull away from the phone. “Addison has your phone,” he told Sia.

  I could hear her in the background. “Oh, thank goodness. Hi, Addy!”

  He came back. “Are you home? We just tried buzzing your place.”

  “I’m in the lobby.”

  “Oh good.” He pulled away again. “She found your phone downstairs.”

  “She did?” Sia questioned, her voice distant. “That’s so weird. I wonder where I left it. Where was she? We were just down there.”

  I returned Dawn’s glare. As she heard the conversation, horror bloomed in her eyes, and she began shaking her head. “Don’t tell him. Please. Don’t tell either of them.”

  “Okay,” Jake said. “You want to come up here or should we come down there?”

  I didn’t answer right away, mulling over my best course of action.

  Dawn mouthed, “Please. Please!”

  I groaned. “I’ll come up there.” Then I forced a lightness in my voice. “Are you guys dressed? Do I need to cover my eyes when I come in?”

  He laughed. “We’re dressed. We were already out and about today, too.”

  “Addison, we need to have drinks tonight!”

  “Yeah. Drinks sound great. Be up in a bit.” I hung up and placed my hands on my hips. “What the hell were you thinking? Did you break her code?”

  “No.” Some of the fight seemed to have left Dawn. She moved back a step and her head hung slightly. “I could just read the texts the way you did now. You know her code?”

  “I’m her best friend. Of course I do.”

  “That’s nice.” Her shoulders drooped. “That’s really private. She must trust you.”

  “Yeah, and you know what? I’m going to tell her you stole the phone.”

  Her head shot up. “You can’t. Please. Please don’t.”

  “Why not?” I felt like I was bartering with a child. “Give me a good reason why I should break her trust in me?”

  “Because…” Dawn’s hands came up in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know. I’ve loved Jake for a year, and it’s hard. You have no idea how hard it is. He finally looked at me. You have no clue what it’s like to always be around, but never have someone look at you, really look at you. He did. A month ago. There was a moment, and then you moved in, and you brought her along. Now it’s back to how it was before. He doesn’t even see me. He walks right past me.”

  Okay. My heartstrings tugged a little, but only a little. I held up the phone. “So you stole Sia’s phone?”

  “Yeah. Because…I don’t know. I was hoping for information.”

  “What kind of information?”

  “Like…” She shrugged, looking away. “What does he like? Does he flirt on the phone? How did she get him? She’s not prettier than me. I might be weird, sometimes, but I can look good. I know I can. Derek thinks so.”

  “So date Derek.”

  “No way. He’s weird.”

  “So are you.” I cringed as soon as the words were out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, but the two of you are similar. Jake and Sia, they’re similar.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Don’t say that. Opposites attract.”

  I…had no words. This wasn’t the hostile and guarded Dawn; this was the real her. She was in love, or thought she was, and she wanted that guy to love her back. A part of me felt for her. We all wanted to be loved, or to have that back again.

  I tucked Sia’s phone into my pocket and started for the door.

  “What are you going to do?”

  I turned around, hitting the door with my back and pushing it open. “I don’t know.”

  I saw the pain and hurt in Dawn’s eyes, but my heart hardened. I felt for Dawn. I did. But she’d gone about things in a bad way, and Sia was my family. Even after forgetting about me the night before.

  “You stood me up!”

  I went up there to tell Sia about Dawn, but then I saw how happy she was. They were eating cheese from a platter. Jake had his arm around her waist, and she was snuggled into his side. If they hadn’t been so adorable, they would’ve been nauseating.

  Dawn could wait.

  She was putting a piece of cheese in her mouth and froze. “What?”

  “We had plans last night.”

  “Oh…” I saw the wheels turning and then she groaned, her head falling to the counter. She rested her forehead there, gently hitting it one more time. “I am such a shitty friend. Holy shit. I suck. There’s no other way around it.” She moved around the counter, lifting her arms up. “First the whole make-out in front of you and now this.” She pulled me in, hugging me tight. Her voice dropped to a murmur, “I’m so beyond sorry. I’ll make it up to you. Slumber party tonight. I don’t care what I have going on. It’s canceled, and prepare for an entire month of me groveling. You’ll be getting chocolates, wine, whatever you want. Every single day.”

  I laughed, hugging her back. “I’m okay, and I don’t want any of that. Just don’t stand me up again. Okay?”

  Sia continued to apologize, but I was more interested in hearing how fun the hockey game was. Then I heard about their spontaneous decision to go swimming in the middle of the night, and a small guilt began gnawing at me. I didn’t want to get Sia mad about Dawn. She was ridiculously happy with Jake. If anything, I’d tell Jake later, but for now I wanted to do damage control, so I excused myself to the bathroom. I knew her passcode, and I deleted my calls from her phone, then the two texts, too. None of them had been seen yet, and once I was done, she’d never have any idea they’d been there in the first place.

  I checked for any creepy messages from Dawn as well. There weren’t any, and after I finished, I left her phone on a table by the elevator door. Sia hadn’t asked for it yet, though normal Sia would’ve wanted it as soon as I stepped off the elevator. Happy and in love Sia seemed to have forgotten the whole thing already. Probably how she lost it in the first place.

  When I returned, they invited me to dinner with them at Gianni’s at seven. I gave them a maybe, saying I wasn’t sure how I’d be feeling. I was going to wait to see if Cole really did call me before deciding on my plans, but of course I didn’t tell them that.

  Once I got back to my place, the waiting began.

  As time passed, I began to wonder if he’d follow through. Maybe he just wanted to get away without any awkwardness. But I couldn’t deny that I wanted him to call. I wanted to see him again, and I hoped I wasn’t being stupid at the same time.

  Halfway through the afternoon, I realized he might not have my number. I tried to shove that aside, but
figured he knew where I lived, but probably not my number. I should go with Sia and Jake. I wasn’t going to wait here in case he rang my floor. Literally.

  That worked. My decision was made…for thirty minutes.

  Then my mind started whirring again.

  Did he have my number? Something told me he could find it.

  Cole knew Dorian.

  Ken had called him Cole the night before.

  I had to know.

  I was moving to the elevator before I realized what I was doing. Hitting the lobby button, my heart raced.

  When the doors opened, I didn’t step outside. I looked up, and Ken was there. He looked too.

  “Does he have my phone number?” I asked, straight to the point.

  He nodded once. “He does.”

  No other questions asked; no other answers needed.

  I nodded in thanks and hit my floor again. I leaned back and closed my eyes. I felt like a nervouås school girl. Was this how dating was? How hooking up felt? I had a new sympathy for Sia.

  The elevator stopped, and I started to get off, not looking at the floor number.

  Dawn stood in front of me, her arms crossed over her chest.

  I stepped back, my eyes flicking to the lights. She’d called the elevator.

  “Did you tell?” she asked.

  Annoyance flared in me. I jerked forward, hitting the button to make the doors close as I said, “No. Consider yourself lucky, okay? You owe me.”

  She let out a breath of relief, and jerked her head in a shaky nod.

  “But if you don’t leave ‘em alone, I will.”

  Four o’clock came and went with no word from Cole.

  Five o’clock.

  Five thirty, and I needed something to do, so I checked my email. Not much there. I scrolled over most until I saw one from my realtor.

  Addison, I’ve been in touch with a lawyer representing Liam’s family. Can you give my office a call? We should plan a meeting.

  --Heather, Coldwater Realty Services

  I frowned. That didn’t sound good, but maybe his family wanted to buy the house? Maybe they were upset I was selling it in the first place. We weren’t close. His mother had never wanted us together. For the first year we dated, she brought another woman along every time she met Liam for a meal. They were always the same: older twenties or early thirties, single, beautiful. A few were co-workers. A few were daughters of her friends. One woman was in her walking club.

  Liam’s dad hadn’t been much better.

  The first year he’d hit on me himself. The last couple years, he’d ignored me and only talked to Liam at get-togethers. Liam’s older sister was married, lived in the suburbs, and kept asking when we were going to have kids, but her interest never felt like it was genuine. There was a younger brother, too, but I never met him. He lived in San Francisco and never came home to visit, not the entire time I was with Liam.

  I put my realtor’s email on the I Really Don’t Want To Deal list. It’d be nice to see Heather, but anything about Liam’s family brought my walls up and claws out.

  And I’d officially been distracted for ten minutes.

  I watched the clock. Six o’clock came and went, and I’d officially had enough. I went out for dinner and drinks with Sia and Jake. Despite the urge to check my phone and constant effort to keep my thoughts on the conversation, not on a certain person who hadn’t called yet, the evening was similar as our last time there. Well, except there was much less kissing. I figured Jake and Sia were holding hands under the table. They’d stop talking suddenly and share a look, one of those dreamy kinds, but other than that, it was an enjoyable dinner.

  At the end when we asked for our bill, none came. Each of us took turns asking, but we all got the same response. It was on the house.

  Sia was fine with it. Jake wasn’t.

  His eyebrows furrowed together, and I could see his wheels spinning. He wanted to know what was going on. A nagging voice kept saying Cole’s name in the back of my mind, but that didn’t make sense either. Cole said he knew the owner of that other restaurant, but I remembered how he’d walked into Gianni’s with his friends. They knew the place like they ran it, like it was a second home to them. That didn’t make sense either. I’d just brought up the restaurant with him last night, and my lunch date with Sia had been taken care of the week before.

  “Maybe we should hold off going there?” We were nearing home, but I paused. Sia and Jake both stopped and looked at me. Sia gave me a blank expression. I added, “I mean, until we know why. Unless it doesn’t bother you.”

  It bothered me. I wanted to know why we weren’t getting a bill there. It felt like we owed someone something. I wanted to know what, and I wanted to be the one to sign up for it, not have it put upon me.

  Jake didn’t say anything at first, his eyes skirting to Sia. “I’m with you. It’s weird.”

  “It’s free food. Who turns that down?” Sia gave us both confused looks. “I say we go there every day.”

  “And if it’s a creepy guy who wants to get in your pants?” Jake asked.

  She shrugged. “Let him try. We never asked for free food. That’s on him.”

  I didn’t like it, but I didn’t have a good argument against free food. If Sia found out if there were invisible strings, she’d be the first to give the middle finger to whoever was holding them. Then she’d snip those strings off. That was how she was, but I was more cautious.

  Not with Cole, a voice said to me. I took a breath. That voice was right. I was reserved, though not last night. I glanced up at the building, wondering if he was up there somewhere. If he wasn’t, where was he? I couldn’t help it. I pulled my phone out, and it was still blank.

  My hope sank in me. Maybe I shouldn’t have been all spontaneous last night. Maybe I should return to being cautious and boring Addison? Nothing like going home to an empty apartment to make the transition back, and I turned as the doors opened.

  Walking inside, I expected to find Ken waiting for us in the doorway. He wasn’t.

  Dorian was there instead, and he gave us all a polite nod.

  I paused mid-step. The same disapproval was there from this morning—I saw it in his eyes. His face was blank, almost unemotional.

  I frowned, feeling a nagging worry in my chest. Why did that bother me?

  “Addison?”

  Jake and Sia had gone ahead. They waited for me in the elevator.

  Something didn’t feel right. Ken was always here. Where was Ken? I stepped into the elevator, my mind whirling.

  “You want me to come in for a while?”

  I’d been chewing the inside of my cheek when Sia asked. I looked up, realizing they were waiting for me to get out at my floor.

  “Nah. I’m going to bed soon. I’ll see you later.”

  Sia suggested lunch on Monday, and I might’ve accepted. I wasn’t sure. I was distracted, as a certain someone kept popping up in the back of my mind.

  And I tried further distracting myself from that someone with a book and a glass of wine, but after reading the same page for an hour, I quit.

  I was getting up, ready to go to bed, when my elevator buzzed.

  Cole?

  I rolled my eyes at myself. The hope that burst forth was