by Krystle Rose
The anxiety in her friend’s tone wasn’t missed by Nomi. She sat down at her desk and took a deep breath and asked, “What’s going on?”
“It’s just that… well… I’m bringing Lim.”
“So?”
“So, they don’t know about him yet.”
That came as a shock to Nomi. Tess was never one to hide her life from anyone. She was always so outgoing and unafraid, proud of who she was and what she was doing even if others didn’t agree. So, it was surprising that she had chosen not to share her relationship with the people who loved her most.
“Didn’t you introduce them when you were in town last?”
“No.” She gulped. “I just went by and had breakfast and then met back up with Lim.”
“Wasn’t Lim concerned with you not wanting to bring him around?” Nomi asked.
“I explained to him why I didn’t want to. He was disappointed, but understood.”
“Ah, well, explain it to me, then.”
On the other end of the line, she heard Tess shift uncomfortably and lower her voice to a more hushed octave. Once again, Nomi was taken aback by her cohort’s strange behavior.
“I don’t think you know this, but my Grandpa was very... racist. My dad sort of just naturally picked up those opinions as he grew up. I never paid either of them any mind and I, obviously, didn’t take after either of them, but all the same, I worry about his reaction to meeting my Asian boyfriend.”
Nope, Nomi didn’t know any of that. Then again, it wasn’t unheard of. They lived in a small town with a lot of small-minded people and it was common to come across folks with some pretty strong opinions on race, religion, and politics. Nomi just never knew that Tess’ father was one of those people. She had never really gotten to know the man, so it wasn’t as if it would have come up in conversation, but Tess hadn’t offered up the information, either, so it was shocking to know that this was the reality of the situation.
“Tess, your Dad loves you. Lim loves you. And as long as your father sees that, I think it’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know, Nomi…”
“Listen, he might not like it, but you don’t need him to. You just need him to respect your decision and he’s always done that, hasn’t he?”
“Well, yeah, I guess.”
“Tess, I know you’ve done some questionable and outrageous stuff and you never got disowned over it,” Nomi giggled.
“That’s true,” Tess agreed with a snicker of her own.
“If he does freak out, then you get a hotel.”
“Okay,” her friend accepted with defeat.
“Now, let’s plan our day together."
So, that’s what they did. For the next twenty minutes, they talked about what they wanted to do with their time and how excited they were to hang out again. Then they ended their conversation and both got back to what they were doing before.
Nomi started to dress for work and, as she did so, thought about what her pal had told her. She felt lucky that her parents were pretty open-minded and accepting. She never had to worry about what they might think about a boy she was dating or how they would treat him. She probably could have brought a girl home and they wouldn’t have cared, either. They didn’t always agree with her choices, but they allowed her to make her own mistakes -- no matter how many mistakes she did make -- so long as they didn't put her in any danger.
Nomi had made plenty of those mistakes with men. Thomas had been right when he said that there was rarely a guy that gave her attention which Nomi would send away. She wasn’t popular by a long stretch and getting attention from anyone was rare, but from the opposite sex, it was almost foreign. So, when one did smile at her or talk to her, Nomi would reciprocate. That’s how she had gotten into so many messes with men. They knew how to use her and they did, over and over again.
Although most of them were awful to her, she kept gravitating toward the douchebags like a moth to a flame. She supposed it was because she had never known her self worth. That’s why this year was so important to Nomi. She wanted to learn to love herself for all the good, bad and ugly. Then maybe she could find someone who could love her for those things, too, and not just manipulate her into getting hurt all over again.
It would start with looking in the mirror.
Nomi hadn't just gotten new clothes because they expressed her new maturity, she had gotten them to force her into showing off her curvy physique. Compared to many of the other girls she went to school with, Nomi was a little… fuller. She had never been a string bean, that was for sure. She’d always been a little on the hefty side and that was okay by her, but it also got her a lot of unwanted attention growing up. Nomi would be teased for her plumpness and, even when she tried to hide her shape under baggy clothing, people still noticed her. The kids in class nicknamed her Tea Pot, given her short and stout appearance. It followed her through all twelve years of schooling, even after she shed nearly twenty pounds.
Since purchasing her new attire, however, Nomi had been making an effort to love her reflection. Not just for her appearance, but for the kind soul behind her blue-green eyes. She was starting to build a relationship with that person which wasn’t based on hate or disappointment and, although it was a difficult process, Nomi felt confident that she’d come out the other side of this feeling more awesome than ever.
Still, the idea of a guy as drop-dead gorgeous as Owen Blankfield taking up an interest in her was pretty laughable. When Nomi reflected on the women he had been with, she simply didn’t compare. Owen had a type, that was okay, but Nomi just wasn’t it.
That didn’t stop her from wishing she was.
Dismissing that thought, Nomi grabbed her belongings and headed downstairs. Tonight the restaurant would undoubtedly be busy, as it was St. Patrick’s Day. The eatery would be serving a traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage, so a lot of people would show up to indulge in the evening’s special. Afterward, they’d head out to the drinking establishments and the real party would begin.
Canaan (and Owen, she was sure) would be going to another party at Melinda’s to celebrate the occasion. She threw an event for damn near every holiday, it seemed. However, this time, Nomi wouldn’t be in attendance. Her brother was still keeping his distance, so he wouldn’t come pestering her about it and Nomi was glad because there wasn’t a person in the world who could convince her to make an appearance over there again. Plus, the last time she’d had a few too many drinks, she’d ended up asking her brother’s best friend to be her Valentine, so she was keen to keep away from alcohol for a bit.
Funny how just two months ago all Nomi wanted to do was drink away her sorrows. It was what she had always known to do, but now that was changing. She was learning better ways of coping and that would serve her well in the future, she was sure. The hardest part would be implementing those changes, which was easier said than done, but Nomi was determined to prove that she could do it.
Actually, Nomi was feeling pretty accomplished about what she had managed to do with her time, so far. In the beginning, it had seemed pointless; it felt like she wasn’t getting anything done. However, just like anything else, it simply took time. Now, she was proud of her progress and looked forward to what the next six months had in store for her.
Just as she’d expected, the restaurant was packed from the start of her shift. It was difficult to work in breaks for each of the employees, let alone herself, and they were all being stretched to their limits. Nomi was so busy, she had hardly noticed another group of people walk in the door near seven o'clock. There was a greeter to assist them, but Nomi liked to make sure that everything was running smoothly so that people didn’t have to wait too long. So, she was flustered to find a family of four in the waiting area and no clean tables available.
She rushed to find a space for them and saw a couple clearing out just as she entered the back room. It was a small table, but if the party of four was willing to make do, she would be happy to have a few chairs add
ed to it. Nomi instructed a busser to clean it off as soon as possible and hurried back to the front.
Nudging the host that stood behind the check-in podium, she explained the situation to the woman, who bobbed her head in understanding. Then she walked over to the family and filled them in. A moment later, they stood. The next thing Nomi knew, they were being led to the open table. She smiled to herself in satisfaction.
“Hey, Nomi.”
“Jesus!” she hissed as she spun around.
“Sorry,” Owen chuckled.
He was wearing a blue button-down and slacks, with leather oxfords and a crooked smile. Her mouth watered at the sight of him all dressed up. The last time she’d seen him in anything remotely similar was on his high school graduation day. She had looked at him with keen interest then, too. Nomi let her eyes wander over him and kept her sordid thoughts to herself.
“What are you doing here?” Nomi asked him, bluntly.
It quickly occurred to her that he might have brought a date and suddenly she didn’t want to know the answer to that question. It was too late, though, his gray eyes twinkled as Owen replied.
"Eating, hopefully."
That eased the tension a little and Nomi managed to relax a tad. When Owen noticed her demeanor change, he answered her more honestly.
“My sister’s in town. The family thought it would be nice to take her out to dinner.”
She had almost forgotten that he had an older sibling. His sister was nearly ten years his senior. His parents thought they couldn’t have any more children and then, surprise! Owen came along. Before Canaan had ever met him, his sister had moved to Sacramento and only visited occasionally. Nomi had never met her, in fact, and she was pretty sure Canaan hadn't, either.
“You’re, uh, looking pretty fancy,” she mentioned.
What the hell was that? She wondered to herself. Pretty fancy? Ugh! How embarrassing! Yet, Owen didn’t laugh at her. Instead, he glanced down at his attire and shrugged.
“If you knew my sister, you’d know that she would expect nothing less. She’s a fashion consultant, you know.”
“Is she?”
“Yeah. She’ll be heading off to L.A. after this. If she gets the job she’s going for, she’ll move down there permanently.”
She had no idea why he was sharing so much information with her, but she sort of liked this casual conversation. But, before it could really get started, the host reappeared beside her and offered Owen a friendly grin.
“Just you tonight?” she asked.
“Party of five, actually,” he told the woman.
She bobbed her head dutifully and jotted it down in her seating book. Nomi knew she should head off to find them an available table, but for some reason, she couldn’t get her feet to move. It was as if they were suddenly encased in cement. Standing there looking like a lovestruck fool, Nomi just gaped at Owen and begged her body to cooperate.
“Five?” she heard herself question.
“My mom, dad, sister, and her fiance,” he told her. “I’m sort of third-wheeling it tonight.”
“A-ha,” Nomi chuckled fakely. “Third wheel.”
Owen Blankfield going stag to anything was laughable. She couldn’t believe that he had actually come alone. However, if he truly was trying to impress his older sibling, maybe he thought it best not to bring one of his bimbos along with him. After all, it might make everyone, including the girl, think that what they had was serious and Owen couldn't have that, now could he?
“Seriously,” he replied, spearing her with his gaze. "You’ve inspired me.”
That caught her off guard. For the life of her, Nomi couldn't understand what he meant by that. They'd just been talking about him having dinner with his family and now...
“Inspired you?”
“To go without,” Owen explained. She blinked at him, confused. He then informed her shyly, “I haven’t had a date in over a month.”
“I’d be happy to fix that for you,” the greeter flirted.
Owen didn’t even glance in her direction. He just continued to hold Nomi’s attention. She was about to say something -- what, she wasn’t quite sure -- but before she could utter a sound, Owen’s parents entered from behind him.
“Did you manage to get us a table?” his mother asked.
“Right this way,” a waiter said from Nomi’s right.
He waved them into the dining area and the four guests followed him to their table. Owen gave Nomi a weak smile, then finally broke their connection and went to join his family. She pulled herself together, at last, and scurried away before her coworker could say anything about her unusual behavior.
She went into the breakroom and sat down in an empty seat. She had to figure out how to not go weak in the knees every time that man was around. It seemed to only be getting worse the more she saw him, which, strangely, was way more often than usual. And it appeared as though Nomi was running into him when her brother wasn’t around, which was odd because, before, the only time she would see him was when he was hanging with Canaan. They were practically inseparable. Yet, now, Nomi seemed to be spending more time with Owen than Canaan was. It was so weird.
Aside from that, she was full-on freaking out over what he had said to her. She inspired him? Her, Nomi Phillips, had inspired him? And not to do something great, like change his own life, but to go friggin’ celibate? What had she done? If the girls in town found out Nomi was the one who had taken the city’s most eligible bachelor off the market, there would be Hell to pay. She’d be as good as dead.
As a matter of fact, at the moment, she felt like dying.
What was it about her that had convinced Owen to do such a thing? It certainly wasn’t that she was so happy being sexless that it would drive anyone else to want to do the same. Nomi was stressed ninety percent of the time, lonely, and horny. It wasn’t exactly fun. And yet, Owen wanted to put himself through that? Maybe he just felt sorry for Nomi and didn’t want her to go it alone. If that were the case, it would open up a whole other can of worms. Nomi had been trying to convince herself for months that there was nothing between them -- that there could never be anything between them -- but every time she talked to him, something nagged at her that maybe, just maybe… there was a chance. This whole 'Owen is now going celibate' thing was not helping her cause.
“Nomi?”
Once again, she nearly jumped out of her skin. This time, it was Canaan speaking her name. He was standing at the doorway, looking at her perplexed. Nomi removed her hands from where they had been embedded in her hair and stood.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just that Mom and Dad wanted me to let you know they’d be going out of town for the night and, on account of the fact that I’ll be at Melinda’s by the time you get home, I thought I’d just swing by and tell you.”
“You could have texted me,” Nomi said bluntly.
“Yeah, I guess I could have, but I’m here now, so…”
“You want food,” she guessed.
“If it’s not a problem.”
He looked like a child who was afraid to tell his parents that he’d just broken the prized antique vase in the hall. Nomi was tempted to laugh but held it together. Besides, she was still mad at him.
Right?
“Fine. Wait here and I’ll bring you something to go.”
“Hey, wait!”
He stopped her abruptly. Nomi looked down at his hand wrapped around her arm and he immediately released it. Then he shoved it into the front pocket of his jeans.
“You okay? You looked a little overwhelmed when I came in.”
“I’m fine.”
“I know from experience when a woman says that, they seldom mean it,” Canaan smirked.
“It’s busy. I’m under a lot of pressure.”
“Right. Okay. If that’s all,” he said with a lift of his shoulders.
“It is,” she assured him and moved past him.
“You know you can talk to me.
”
She stopped once more.
“No matter what kind of shit we go through, you can always come to me for anything. You know that, right?”
Nomi didn’t say anything.
“Nomi,” he demanded.
“Yes,” she responded, voice full of emotion. “I know, Canaan.”
Then she slipped out the door and went to get him a meal.
Month 7
Nomi managed to stay out of sight while Owen and his family enjoyed their dinner. Then she returned with Canaan’s to-go order and sent him on his way. And after a long, hectic night, she closed up the restaurant and headed home. All without incident.
Not that it cured her of her utter disbelief and confusion surrounding Owen's new self-proclaimed celibacy. That she'd need more time to wrap her head around.
Nomi didn't have much time to think about it, however, because a week later, Tess was in town.
They had agreed that the first few days, she would spend hanging out with her family, then the two of them would hang out alone for a whole morning and afternoon. Afterward, they'd meet up with Lim for dinner and a movie, to finish off their day. So, even though her friend was back home, it would be a couple of days before Nomi saw her.
She had caught her pal up on everything that had transpired since her last visit and Tess was excited at the prospect of something brewing between her best friend and the hottest guy in city limits. Yet, Nomi had told her repeatedly that she shouldn’t get her hopes up. She had tried to tell herself that, too.
However, when the first warm day of Spring reared its beautiful head and she went out to enjoy the sunshine, Nomi was met face to face with the man she’d been ga-ga over and his scantily clad body.
Owen was shirtless, wearing only a pair of basketball shorts and tennis shoes. He was dripping sweat and drinking from a plastic squirt bottle as if he hadn’t had water in weeks. Standing wide-eyed and breathless outside the smoothie shop, Nomi watched him then spray the water onto his head and face. It was like watching a scene from a romance movie. He was that delectable.
