by T. K. Chapin
“I know… I’m sorry; I don’t know what came over me.” Rebecca’s face was beet red and she turned quickly to exit, but Jonathan grabbed her arm to stop her. Turning back around to him, she looked him in the eyes. “What?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Rebecca jerked her arm away. “Then let me leave.” Rebecca began to leave the office.
“I like you,” he said quickly.
Stopped in her tracks, she turned around with a smile. Suddenly the night wasn’t so dismal after all. “You like me?” she asked as she came back into his office.
“I do…” Jonathan rubbed his forehead. “I just don’t know what to do. I’m with Stacy.”
Rebecca shook her head in confusion. “Umm… you break it off with Stacy?”
“It’s not that simple Rebecca… I love her, and I don’t want to break up with her just because I like you.”
His words made sense, but her heart told her otherwise. She wanted to be with him more than any other man she knew, but she didn’t love him. He and Stacy had a relationship, even had a puppy together, how could he leave it all behind to be with Rebecca? They shared a lot with each other in the office, but they didn’t know that much about each other. It had always been superficial.
“Can I show you something?” he asked.
Rebecca nodded as she set her purse down on the couch in his office and began to take off her coat.
“Keep the coat on,” Jonathan smiled. Leading her through the office, they ventured over to the elevators and stepped in. The roof? She wondered as they rode the elevator up.
“This is my favorite spot in the entire city.”
Following Jonathan out of the elevator, they stepped out onto the rooftop. She hadn’t ever been to the roof at any time in the two years she had worked there. It wasn’t really somewhere she ever thought about going. Coming to the edge of the roof, she looked across the Spokane cityscape and admired the neighboring buildings. While much of the city was still awake and alive down below, the rooftop was quiet and tranquil. “What do you do up here?”
“I think about life,” Jonathan said as he sat down on the ledge. He seemed to be conflicted by the heavy look on his face.
“What about it?”
Glancing over his shoulder back at the cityscape, he continued. “I’m thirty-eight years old… I just wonder what else is out there.” Turning back to Rebecca he smiled. “I’ve spent decades in board meetings and behind plastic walls… I just want something different.”
“Like a different job?”
“I don’t know.” Adjusting in his seat, he continued. “Tell me, what do you want? Where do you see yourself in the next couple years?”
“Well, if I ever get a series… that’d help me progress, but I’ve been here two years and have yet to land one.” Rebecca walked up to Jonathan and looked into his emerald green eyes, admiring the youth that was tucked behind his aging, but attractive body. “Life is what you make it. If you are miserable at this job, it’s because you choose to be.”
Jonathan nodded as he stood up and turned around to take in the city. “The world goes so far beyond the eight by eight offices I come to every day…” Standing up on the ledge, he turned around and looked at her. “I want to experience more.”
“Well, you are going to experience death in a second if you don’t step down from there!” Rebecca said, dashing over to him and pulling him down. Jonathan laughed as he came off the ledge.
“I’m sorry.” Jonathan looked up at her and was only a few inches away from her face. He seemed different, his shoulders were relaxed and it was like his defenses were down. Rebecca wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, he was with Stacy and had no plans of leaving her.
“What about you and Stacy? Or what about us?”
Jonathan shook his head. “I don’t know… Can we just hang out and talk? I don’t want to worry about relationships or this or that, I just want to be me. I’m always trying to fit a role, and for once, I just don’t want to.”
Rebecca nodded. She didn’t have anywhere to go, or someone waiting at home for her. She was a single thirty year old lady, and if Jonathan was the one she had been waiting for, ditching out on him right now wouldn’t be an ideal choice. She wasn’t getting any younger.
CHAPTER 3 ~ Michael
Peace and quiet weren’t in the cards for Michael as he woke up to another day of construction in the apartment next to him. Rolling out of bed and over to his computer he thought about the deadline with the small publishing company he had, and how he had only a matter of days left before losing the contract. The construction was driving him insane and holding him back from his masterpiece. For the past week, just as he would be about to write, a loud saw would rip its way through a piece of wood or a hammer would smack against the wall breaking his focus. There was no work getting done, and he was running out of time.
A knock came from his door, breaking what little concentration he mustered as he sat at his computer. Sighing heavily, he put on the bathrobe that hung over his computer chair and ventured out of his room to the door to answer it.
“We are shutting off the water for a couple hours,” the construction worker said.
“Okay…” Michael replied, swinging the door shut. “I have to get out of here,” he said, glaring over at the shared wall of his apartment. Though the construction was a nuisance, it wasn’t unmerited. The previous tenant had a bath running when they passed away suddenly and the bath ran for hours before the tenant below them arrived home to find a leaky ceiling.
Going back into his bedroom, he glanced at his laptop that sat on his desk and then over at his satchel that sat against the wall. I’ll give it another shot; I have to at least try to get something done before heading to the school. When Michael wasn’t writing, he was teaching at MCC, the local community college in Spokane. Sitting back at his desk, he began typing and suddenly a plank of wood smacked against the wall. “That’s it!” he declared, slamming his laptop shut. Gathering his notes and laptop into his satchel, he got dressed and headed out the door.
Michael drove to a little coffee shop downtown, only a few blocks away from his apartment. Bella’s Coffee Shop was the name, and he and his late wife would frequently go there before her passing. She would read while he worked on writing the next best-seller, or so he thought. After she passed, he struggled to retain his imagination and ability to write, as grief consumed his mind and filled his heart. He never really enjoyed working in public, even back then, but he had done it to make her happy. She loved being around people.
Taking a seat near the window, he pulled out his laptop and began writing. The waitress came over and took his order.
“Coffee, black please,” he said, looking up to her. Glancing past the waitress, he saw a woman sitting in the booth that he and his wife would always sit in. She was attractive, and his eyes couldn’t help but linger on her a little longer than necessary.
“Is that it?” The waitress asked, breaking his concentration.
“What?”
“Just the coffee?”
“Yeah… that’s fine,” Michael replied, turning his attention back to his laptop.
Soon enough Michael had the concentration and focus he needed to write, and the words were flying onto the pages as he typed quickly and precisely. He had been so focused he didn’t even realize the waitress had already returned to his table and brought his coffee.
Taking a sip, he glanced over towards the booth to see the lady was gone. He was relieved that she had left; it was a distraction he didn’t need. Looking back to his laptop screen he pondered for a moment how a woman might arrive to an elderly age with no husband and a house full of felines.
“Nice purse.”
Confused, he looked up to see it was the girl who drew his eyes earlier. “Excuse me?”
He watched as her eyes shifted over to his satchel that sat on the seat across from him. “The man purse you have there, it’s nice.”
“It’
s a satchel, not a purse!” Michael replied annoyed.
“No, it’s definitely a purse.” She grabbed it and slung it across her shoulder to show him that it was a purse.
Who was this stranger and why did she think she had any right to touch his belongings? It baffled him. Standing up quickly, he stopped her by snatching the satchel from her hands. “Don’t touch my stuff!” He shouted, causing the coffee shop patrons to all fall silent. Michael’s face went beet red, he didn’t mean to draw so much attention to himself or the situation, but the stress he had been enduring lately at his apartment was keeping him on edge and not himself.
Everyone looked over at the two of them as Michael took his seat back down at his table. She rolled her eyes and turned around to head back to her booth. What is wrong with that woman? He wondered as he watched her walk away.
Returning to his story, he found himself unable to concentrate and write any words without immediately backspacing them out. He had been broken out of his rhythm by a crazy woman, and every few moments that would pass he’d peer back over at her. After twenty minutes or so, he had enough of his writer's block; he had to go confront her.
Rising from his seat, he nervously walked over to the booth and sat down. Looking up from her phone, she smiled.
“I’m Rebecca,” she said as she set her phone down.
Shocked at her name, he paused for a moment… But then continued, “I’m Michael… wait, I don’t care who you are. What you did back there was embarrassing. I expect an apology for your rudeness with me.”
“A little demanding, aren’t we?” she replied, taking a sip of her coffee as she smiled. “For what it’s worth, I found you cute and I wanted to meet you.”
“So you insulted me? That’s kind of ridiculous.”
“You were so enthralled with your blog or whatever that I couldn’t make eye contact with you at all… And when I came out from using the restroom I saw you were still glued to the screen. I guess I could have done something else, but I just wanted your attention.”
“Okay… That’s kind of strange and aggressive.”
“I don’t have all day… And you weren’t looking up.” Rebecca grinned as she glanced back over to Michael’s table. “I promise, that whole thing wasn’t typically what I do… What’s your blog about?”
“It’s not a blog… I’m writing a story for my publisher.”
“Oh really? You’re a writer?” She asked, perking up as she leaned across the table. “What are you writing about?” she asked, taking another sip of her coffee.
“A lady with a ton of cats,” he replied.
Rebecca laughed spitting some of her coffee out and onto the table. She immediately went flush in embarrassment and grabbed a napkin to wipe it off. “I’m sorry…” she said as she cleaned up the spill.
Laughing, Michael said, “That’s okay. Why’s it so funny?”
“I was just talking to…” She paused for a moment as if she appeared to have lost her train of thought before continuing. “A friend... we said I would end up like that. Never mind, it doesn’t matter. So is that your main job? Writing?”
“I also teach a couple pottery classes at MCC,” he replied. “Writing is nice, but I haven’t been able to land a really nice publishing deal. Right now it’s just short stories with a publisher.”
“That’s so cool. Hey, my great grandmother made pottery out of the ashes from Mount Saint Helens.”
“Sweet…” Glancing at his watch, he saw it was just about ten o’clock and he had to be clear across town in thirty minutes to make his pottery class. “I hate to make this short, but I have to get over to MCC in about thirty minutes.”
“That’s fine,” she replied.
Scooting out of the booth, he stood up and felt like he needed to see her again. Spokane was a big city and if he didn’t get her number or anything, he’d never see her again, most likely. “Want to do dinner?”
“Sure. Give me your phone for a second.” Michael pulled his phone out from his pocket and handed it to her. Suddenly her phone rang and she hung up on his phone, giving it back to him. “There. You have my number.”
Glancing at his phone he smiled. “Thanks. It was nice meeting you.”
“Was it, really? I was kinda mean…”
“At first I was taken back, but it got me thinking, ya know?” He leaned against the booth. “Which says a lot for a woman!” Pausing for a moment, he realized it sounded wrong. “That sounded sexist, I just meant I don’t meet a lot of women who stimulate me.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened as she looked away.
Cringing from his word choice, he said, “That didn’t sound right either… I’ll just stop now.”
Smiling, she shook her head, “Good plan. Have fun with your class!”
Michael nodded and quickly left the booth, returning to his seat. Gathering his laptop and notes together, he paused to drop a few dollars on the table for the coffee and left Bella’s Coffee Shop, heading to MCC.
CHAPTER 4 ~ Rebecca
On the following Monday, Rebecca arrived at the office to find an email sitting in her inbox. The subject line read: Private Meeting Please, Nine O’clock, and it was from Jonathan. Thoughts rushed through her mind. Did he break it off with Stacy after all? Maybe he’s finally coming around. What about Michael? Wait, I don’t even know him…
As she waited for the meeting that was thirty minutes away, she wasn’t able to get any work done. She kept daydreaming about Jonathan and her in the conference room. She imagined him locking the door and grabbing her, pulling her in close and saying, “I was wrong about Stacy. You are the one for me.” Then they kissed.
Breaking into her daydreaming, Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder as he stopped at her desk. “You ready? Only ten minutes…” He smiled warmly at her, causing her to melt inside while tingles ran down her spine.
She wasn’t sure if her suspicions were right, but she patiently waited at her desk; the minutes felt like hours as they ticked by.
“I’m so sorry!” Vivian said coming up to her desk. Her eyes were red and swollen from what Rebecca assumed to be excessive crying.
“What’s wrong?” Rebecca asked, standing up and touching her arm. “Is it…”
“He broke it off!” She interrupted and began crying into Rebecca’s shoulder. Wrapping her arms around her, Rebecca patted her back gently.
“It’s going to be okay…” Glancing up at the clock that hung on the wall behind Vivian, she saw it was ten. “I am so sorry Hun, I have a meeting… We’ll talk later, k?”
“Oh, alright,” Vivian replied, drying her eyes with a tissue. “You really think everything is going to be okay?”
“I’m sure it’ll work out.” Glancing over to the conference room, she saw Jonathan go in and shut the door behind him. Rushing past Vivian, Rebecca made her way over to the conference room, and every step she took, she felt her racing heart beat harder and her breath shallow its breathing. Placing her hand on the door handle, she opened it and stepped in, shutting the door behind her.
Thinking of earlier when she pictured him pulling her in close to him, she was startled to find Jonathan covered in sweat from head to toe. It wasn’t a very attractive side of him, even though the sweat made his muscles defined through his dress shirt. And boy, did he have muscles.
“What on earth happened to you? Why are you sweating profusely?” She asked, approaching the table that sat in the middle of the room. He stood up and came around to her, shaking his head and catching his breath.
“I took the stairs.”
“But I just saw you at my desk?”
“Yeah, but I went downstairs to get my phone from my car and took the stairs back up.”
“Why on earth would you do that? That’s forty flights of stairs…”
“Look, my doctor said I needed to get more exercise, he suggested stairs. Regardless, my health wasn’t why I brought you in here.”
“Well, what was it?”
“I was gett
ing to that.” He motioned for her to take a seat at the table. She took her seat, looking up at him as he wiped the remaining sweat from his brow. “I want to give you the upcoming Green House series we are launching next month. It’s going to be big and I think you are ready.”
She smiled deeply. She had been waiting so long to have a series, but was it because of her hard work or the time she had spent with him the other evening and the flirting? She became increasingly worried that Jonathan was showing her favoritism because of their talk the other night. If word got out about them flirting or they did end up together, it could ruin everything she’d worked for at the publication. And that’s despite the fact that Debbie was supposed to be getting the series; it had already been decided weeks ago in the meeting about the upcoming series.
“What about Debbie?”
“What about her? She was on it… but she had some family stuff come up and I already let her know you’d be taking the series. That is… if you are still interested in getting your own series?” He smiled with a raised brow.
“Of course I want it!” Rebecca replied quickly. I bet it was because I came in on the weekend. I’m a super hardworking employee. It’s not about our little talk… I hope.
“Great, you’re going to do a great job with the series,” He said, shaking her hand and showing her to the door.
Walking back to her desk, she peeked over her shoulder to catch him sneaking a glance of her figure. Smiling, she shook her hips a little more as she made her way back over to her desk. Taking a seat, she grinned from ear to ear as she began prepping for her new role. She’d need writers, photographers and an assistant to help with the project. There was plenty of work ahead and she started right away.
Taking a break at lunch, she warmed a bowl of tomato soup in the kitchen area. While she waited by the microwave, Vivian came in and got into the fridge.
“How you holding up?” Rebecca asked.
Vivian stood upright and sighed heavily as she leaned on the fridge door. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t think, nothing sounds good to eat… I just want to go home and cry and eat chocolate while I watch ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ all night long.”
