by Amanda Tru
“Where do you want to eat?” He stepped a little livelier to reach her.
“I’m not really hungry after all that popcorn. Want to take a walk?” He couldn’t read her in the dark of the hall outside the theater. Her face was little more than shadow and softness, but there was hope in her voice.
“Sure, the park is just a few blocks down, and we’ll call a cab from there.” He slid his arm around her waist again, and she let her head fall against his shoulder. The touch was so simple, so innocent and without any demands. She didn’t want him for his money or his connections. She didn’t want his silly comments or even his quirky need for near perfection. She wanted him, just the way he was.
“I think we should do this more often.” Would she allow it, or would she think he was pressuring her for more dates? He wanted more, but he wouldn’t demand her time if she wasn’t ready to give it.
“Taking walks in the park was always how I dreamed dates would end. I guess that’s silly.” She tried to step to the side, but he gently tugged her back close to him.
“A walk in the park is a perfect end to a date, or get-together, or whatever. There are no rules posted around the park about pairs of people.”
She laughed, and the soft gold of the street lamps glistened over her cheeks. There was only one thing this date would lack, and only because she’d asked him to think of this as anything but a date. If she hadn’t, he’d have kissed her goodnight. He still wanted to.
Addi turned to him for a moment and searched his eyes. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do this―I know Liberty sort of tricked you into it―but this was the best night I’ve ever had.”
His breath caught, and a dopey smile took over his face until he was able to think clearly again. “It wasn’t a hardship, beautiful.” He kissed her forehead and directed her back to the edge of the park. He wanted her to remember that part of their date for a long time. He would.
Addi hummed off-key as she strode into The Bean on Monday morning. Kaylie waited on the couch, and the song died in her throat.
“Did you have a good weekend, Addi?” Kaylie narrowed her icy eyes and shifted in her seat to glare.
“I—” She’d had a fantastic weekend, filled with reliving Friday evening over and over. Especially the part where he’d kissed her ever so lightly on the head and called her beautiful. That was a memory she would cherish forever.
“Middle Park is beautiful this time of year, isn’t it?”
Kaylie had seen them? But it was dark, and by that time Addi hadn’t even been thinking about Kaylie anymore. “I’m sure it is,” Addi mumbled. Why couldn’t she ever just talk to Kaylie like anyone else?
“Did you set up my date or were you too busy enjoying your own?”
Addi couldn’t catch her breath. She’d talked to Drew about it, but he wasn’t interested. She couldn’t force Drew to go out with Kaylie, could she?
“I talked to him about it.” She had mentioned it; at least that wasn’t a lie.
“So, when is the date?”
Drew had texted her that weekend that he’d like to meet up that night at Maynerd’s. It was a sports bar where they could sit and talk while watching basketball on all the big screens.
“Tonight,” she squeaked. “Meet him at seven at Maynerd’s”
She made a mortified sound in her throat. “Really? That’s the best you could do? I ought to fire you on principle.”
She would love to sit with Drew and joke all night over a big bowl of chili cheese fries. It wouldn’t matter to Kaylie that she was sacrificing her own time, it was time Kaylie didn’t think she deserved anyway. And poor Drew. When she didn’t show up, he might never talk to her again. He’d made it clear he didn’t want to see Kaylie.
“You don’t have to fire me. I quit.” The jolt of freedom released her tongue. “Now you can work here all day and rush home so you can freshen up for a date that will be your last because he doesn’t like you and doesn’t want to see you. He’ll be surprised when you show up tonight, and not in a good way.” Addi turned on her heel and shoved back through the door.
Reality hit like a smack in the face. If she didn’t find a job that day, she was sunk.
Drew strode into The Bean and did a quick search for Addi. He’d shown up early because he couldn’t wait to see her. He hadn’t thought she’d agree to meet with him that night, but she had. He’d been careful not to call it a date. If he had to slowly convince her they were meant to be together, so be it. He’d take it slow.
Kaylie pushed through the little door and scowled at everyone in the room until her gaze landed on him. It sent a chill up his spine as her look shifted from Arctic to Tropical within seconds. She slowly made her way toward him like a lioness stalking prey.
“Good morning, Drew. What can I get you?” She traced a single line from his wrist up to his elbow with one glistening fingernail.
“Uh, is Addi in?” Kaylie was about the worst at making coffee of any of the people who worked there. It almost wasn’t worth paying for.
She yanked her hand back. “Addi called in sick. Very sick. She won’t be in for a while. Days. She asked me to take her place with you tonight.”
“Take her place?” That didn’t sound like anything Addi would do, and she hadn’t mentioned feeling sick when he’d talked with her the night before. “We were just going to hang out tonight. It’s no bother, you don’t have to.” And he didn’t want her to. Life was just starting to look up.
“Oh, I insist. I’ll meet you at seven. Did you want your usual?” She cocked her hip out dangerously far.
“Yeah, sure.” He wanted Kaylie to go away so he could text Addi and make sure she was okay. Why would she even tell Kaylie about meeting up with him? She could’ve just canceled. He sat and pulled his phone from his computer bag.
Drew: Hey, beautiful. Heard you weren’t feeling well. Hope everything is fine. I didn’t really want to meet up with Kaylie tonight, but I’ll manage. LOL. Call me soon and let me know if I can bring over some chicken soup.
He glanced up just in time for Kaylie to bring his drink. There was probably coffee under there somewhere. It was a large cup, but had a mound of whipped topping on the top, making it look suspiciously more like an ice cream cone than a hot coffee. On top of all the cream was an artistic rendition of the coloring work of his two-year-old niece, only with chocolate and caramel.
“Wow, that’s quite the coffee.” He stared at it, not even sure if he was supposed to mix it or try to drink it that way. Should he ask for a straw?
“I thought it was time you tried something new. Especially since it’s only five dollars.”
Yikes, more than double the cost of his usual. Liberty finished what she was doing at a nearby table and came over. “Good morning, Drew.”
Kaylie gave her the evil eye. “Can’t you see we’re talking? There are a lot of other tables, go find one that needs you.”
What had he ever seen in her? “Actually, I need to get to work. Thanks for the coffee.” He held it up for a second, then set it back down well out of the way. If she put mint in it along with all that other stuff, it probably didn’t taste very good anyway. He couldn’t even smell it under all the topping.
After he got his computer powered up, he checked his phone, but Addi hadn’t responded. She’d been so quick to talk to him all weekend, but if she was sick enough to avoid work, she might be sleeping. He’d surprise her with that chicken soup later since he wouldn’t get to see her like he’d planned that evening.
Liberty glanced at him once again, like she was trying to get his attention, but Kaylie scuttled her to the back room. Was Kaylie keeping something from him? Liberty wasn’t usually one to be diverted, but Kaylie was in a particularly nasty mood.
Liberty shoved the back door open, and it slammed against the counter, turning a few heads her way. She marched over to his seat and plopped down on the bench, then turned to face him.
“You can’t do this.” She clasped her hands in front
of herself on the table.
“Do what?” He was so lost about what was even going on. He glanced down at his phone, watching for Addi’s reply.
“You can’t go out with Kaylie tonight. I don’t know what happened with Addi. Kaylie won’t tell me, and Addi isn’t responding when I call her.”
So, it wasn’t just him. “I tried to text her, too. She wasn’t sick yesterday.”
Liberty tilted her head down and gave him a look like he was ten kinds of fool. “I checked the chart while Kaylie was up here flirting with you. Want to know how many sick days Addi has ever taken? Zero. Zero sick days, Drew. What’s the likelihood that she wasn’t showing any symptoms yesterday but is so sick today that she would risk a short check?”
He couldn’t answer that, but he knew Addi was money conscious. When they’d been at the movie, she’d tried to talk him into getting less food because of the cost of the tickets. “I’m guessing it’s not likely.”
“No. It’s not. She’s put up with Kaylie this whole time because she feels trapped in this job. She takes on every hour that she can. There’s no way she called in sick today. I’m here until four. Can you please go check on her? I’m worried.”
Now he was, too. “Yeah.” He dug in his wallet and fished out a five. “Sorry there’s not much of a tip, but I didn’t actually order it or, you know, drink it.”
Liberty flinched. “What is this?” She sniffed it. “Caramel chocolate mint mocha?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” He shrugged and shut his computer.
Liberty stood and rested her hands on her hips. “Addi told me you run an ad agency?”
Finally, a topic that didn’t bother him. “Freelance.”
She nodded and backed away a step. “If you’re ever looking to take on a business partner, I know someone who’s really good. I can get you a resume and references. She’s suddenly really looking to get back into her old career.”
If he ever convinced Addi to marry him, he just might. If for nothing else, the added security of having someone to take over if something ever happened to him. “I might be. Why don’t you get me their info when you can?”
She nodded and went back to work as Drew gathered his computer. It was about ten blocks to her apartment, and he jogged most of the way. It didn’t matter if he looked foolish, something was wrong, and he needed to see Addi. When he reached her apartment building, he buzzed her room, but there was no answer.
He pushed the button again. “Addi? If you’re up there, please let me in.”
Someone else came out from inside, and he dodged through the open door then took the stairs two at a time until he reached her floor. Pausing in front of her door, he listened. Many noises came from other apartments, but he couldn’t hear anything from hers. He knocked and waited. She didn’t come to the door.
“Addi?” He called through the door. “If you’re okay, can you just come to the door and let me know?”
He waited, but he couldn’t hear any movement inside. She either wasn’t there or was just ignoring him. He took the stairs, back down and made his way through town, taking the way that took him through the park where he’d taken Addi that first day he’d asked her over for pizza. It was midday, so there weren’t many couples walking around, but there were a lot of moms with baby carriages.
“Drew?” A soft voice came from behind him.
He turned and stared right into a very familiar and still incredibly pretty oval face. She hadn’t changed much in a year, but he now saw her differently. He also saw the tiny infant she carried in a front pouch carrier, like a koala.
“Lauren.” His voice sounded distant to his own ears.
She smiled slightly. “I’m so sorry, Drew. It’s such a surprise to see you here. You were always so busy.”
Too busy to see what was right in front of him, that Lauren hadn’t been happy. “I don’t come here often.”
She smiled slightly. “I need you to know that I couldn’t face you after what I’d done. It wasn’t you, Drew. It was me. The week before our wedding, one of my exes showed up, and he wanted to talk to me. I probably should’ve said no, but I felt this tug.” She sighed and laid a gentle hand on the baby’s head.
“Mark was the one who got away from me, so when he came back, it was a temptation. We met up at a coffee shop and talked for hours. I realized I still had feelings for him and I couldn’t marry you when I felt something for someone else.”
Married, with a baby. He’d been so angry with her he hadn’t been able to see her as anything more than the woman who left him at the altar, embarrassed him, proved to him he wasn’t worth having.
“I should’ve called, but I was so mortified by what I’d done. I was so scared of what you would say to me. I still cared about you, still do, but I realized it wasn’t love. I love Mark. I’m so sorry, Drew.”
It hadn’t been him all along. “I can’t tell you what that did to me.” All the other words failed him because they would be scathing, hurtful, and what good would they do now?
“I know. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you to deal with everyone. I should’ve talked to you. I should’ve done a lot of things. We found out we were pregnant about six weeks after we eloped. That first year of marriage is hard, and every time I thought of calling you, I was worried what it would do to my husband, so I didn’t. Wrong or right, that’s what I did. I had to put my marriage first.”
If he’d met Lauren in the park two weeks before, he would’ve been furious with her words, but he felt little more than a hollowness at them now. He’d been happy with Lauren when they were together, missed her when she was gone, but she wasn’t Addi. Addi filled in all the rough places every hurt had left behind.
“I forgive you,” he said without hesitation. “And congratulations.”
Lauren smiled, then slid a ring off the ring finger on her right hand.
“I wore it hoping I would meet up with you someday. This belongs to you.” She handed it to him. It was the ring he’d taken months to pick out. It was simple and elegant, just like Lauren, and just like Addi.
Lauren turned sideways so he could see the little cherub face of her daughter. “Her name is Gwen, and we are over the moon. Well, when we aren’t trying to catch up on sleep, that is.”
“Take care, Lauren.” While the baby was cute, Lauren was a part of his life best left in the past, and he needed to find his missing future. He gave her a little wave and continued on his way. Seeing her hadn’t affected him like he’d always assumed it would. She wasn’t evil or horribly changed. She hadn’t shifted her feelings for him, just realized she loved someone else more. Which meant there was hope that Addi, the one who’d reminded him of Lauren from the start, would be the perfect one. She could be the one who wouldn’t love anyone else. He just had to find her and find out.
Addi tromped back to her apartment, the left heel of her shoe broken, adding to her disappointment. Even after rushing home to change and going to every place that might have an opening, she was no closer to finding a job. And she’d missed school, so she missed a lecture and would be behind.
The day that had started out so good had been ruined by her rash mouth. If she’d just held her tongue, but then, after she’d let Kaylie take her date with Drew, working there wouldn’t be enjoyable at all anyway. But it would’ve still paid the bills.
She shoved open the door and stuck her key in the lock to open the lobby door and headed up to her floor. A few people lingered out in the halls, but it struck her as quieter than usual. She unlocked her door and kicked off her shoes, then trudged over to her sofa where she collapsed with a sigh.
Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out. Twenty-seven missed texts. She’d had her phone shoved in her backpack and hadn’t noticed it all day. Nineteen of the texts, including the last one, were from Drew.
Drew: Kaylie came. She stayed about five minutes before she left. I think that’s taken care of now. Can you please call me? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you
all day.
So, Kaylie had gone. Good, and even better now that the whole mess was over. But where did that leave Addi? She searched through all the texts, and he’d asked her how she felt, and he worried about her, but of course, he would. Friends cared. Friends loved to a point, then stopped. She needed more, more than Drew had been willing or able to offer. He’d never questioned her request to stay friends, to reassure him she wasn’t after more than he was willing to give. He’d relaxed completely as soon as she’d suggested they make their date a non-date. Didn’t that prove he didn’t want to date her at all?
Liberty made up the balance of the texts and she, too, mentioned illness. Addi quickly replied to the last text.
Addi: I’m fine. I quit. Kaylie finally got the best of me. Don’t know what I’ll do, but I need some time to myself.
She tried to think of some way to respond to Drew, to tell him she was fine but didn’t want to see him. It hurt too much. Seeing him would just remind her that she’d been willing to sacrifice his happiness to keep her job, a job she’d thrown away.
Liberty: Please let Drew know you’re okay if you haven’t already. I’ve never seen him so worried when he came back from your place, and you weren’t there. Where were you all day, anyway?
A knock interrupted her reply, and Addi got up to see who it was. She hadn’t heard a buzz. When she glanced through her peephole, Drew waited on the other side. He held a huge covered bowl in his hands. She tentatively opened the door, and he peered around it to see her.
“Thank God. I was so worried about you.” He smiled slightly and raised the bowl. “Can I come in? I brought soup.”
It smelled wonderful, and though she should send him away to protect her heart, she couldn’t. She unlatched the chain and opened the door to admit him. He came inside and toed off his shoes, then went straight for the table.
“I wasn’t sure what kind of illness you were dealing with, so I just made the most of what I had―lots of garlic, turmeric, chicken stock, carrots…” He turned to face her and stopped.
