AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 9
Rachel
Rachel sat with her phone in hand, staring at the number in her contacts list, the name both foreign and familiar.
This was a horrific idea, a no-going-back kind of mistake. What was she thinking? Sure, she’d been feeling lonely and worthless, still trapped in the apartment, still a week out from her appointment that would hopefully clear her from this imprisonment she was living with. She was still a week away from hopefully being back on stage, picking right where she left off and climbing the ladder to the dream she had of being in the true spotlight on the stage.
There was no reason to call him. It’s not like there was something between them. Zander had stopped by to check on her, and he’d called the next day just to see if she needed anything. The roses had been a kind gesture, and the electricity she felt around him was just her mind playing games with her. There was nothing growing between them. Zander was just a nice guy who wanted to make sure she was okay, nothing more. They’d been tossed together through odd circumstances, but that didn’t mean there was anything more substantial there.
It had been less than a week, in fact, since she met the man who was usurping her thoughts. So why was she risking ruining all of that now for a little bit of companionship? Why was she sitting here ready to dial a number she knew she shouldn’t? Why was she sitting here trying to make excuses to call him? And worse yet, why was she so desperate to see him, she was going to do something she swore she wouldn’t—reach out to a man, one she barely knew in the scheme of things.
But she did know him, she argued with herself. He was this kind and sweet guy, rocking the hot nerdy vibe. He was a theater lover who understood what it was like to crave being on stage. She wondered what he would look like up there, what kind of actor he was. Did he come to life like she did under the spotlights? Did the nerdy vibe translate into the same kind of character, or did he become someone completely different up there?
And more than all of her theatrical musings, she wondered what it would feel like to have those strong hands touching her face, pulling her in, planting his lips on hers.
She rolled her eyes at her own ridiculous lust. Apparently she’d watched way too many romances this week. She needed to get a grip. Or maybe she needed a No Brides Club intervention—not that she’d admit to them this moment of weakness.
Over and over, she stared at the number until she had it memorized, telling herself she shouldn’t do this. She thought about how she was standing on a dangerous precipice, one she couldn’t return to if she took this step.
Because she knew if she saw him again, if she got to know him even more, it would spell disaster for her promise to herself, to the No Brides Club, and to her career.
From the moment she saw Zander Riley, her heart and head told her to watch out for that one—yet right now, as her fingers made the final decision for her and called the number, her heart was telling her to stop being so cautious.
He picked up, and she realized she hadn’t planned what to say.
“Uh, hi, hello? Zander? It’s me, Rachel,” she said, fumbling over her words.
“Hey, good to hear from you. Is everything okay?” he asked, sounding worried. She could hear a lot of music and noise in the background. It sounded like he was at a party.
Great. She was right. He’d just given her this number to be nice. He hadn’t expected to hear from her again, and now she was interrupting his Friday night. How was she getting out of this one now?
“Oh, yeah. I’m great. I was just calling….” And she froze. Why would she be calling if not to see him again? She lost her courage now, backing down, telling herself she’d been an idiot. Still, she had to cover, and she was out of practice with men.
“I was just calling to thank you again for the flowers,” she finished, wincing at the lameness of her words. To thank him again? Days later? On a Friday night? Wow, for being an actress she certainly was terrible at thinking on her feet.
“Oh, you’re welcome,” he replied, clearly not buying it.
“So anyway, I’m sure you’re busy. I can let you go. Don’t want to keep you,” she said a bit too exuberantly, even to her ears.
“Rachel, wait,” he said right before she was ready to pull the phone away. Rachel’s heartbeat sped up.
“Yeah?”
“Listen, well, I was thinking. I’m sure you’re probably going stir crazy and there’s this place I’ve been wanting to try. It’s an Italian restaurant that just opened. Do you like Italian? Anyway, I was wondering if you might want to go, you know, just to get out a little bit. It’s not far, so you won’t have to really walk that much. Or I could get a wheelchair to push you. Or, well, I could even bring the food to you? Anyway….”
Rachel smiled. He was talking a mile a minute and clearly nervous. It was charming in a way that confidence in a man wasn’t to Rachel. She liked that he was humble and a little nervous and clearly not perfect at this whole—whatever this was—either.
“I’d love that. And I’d love to get out of here. I’m better with my crutches now, so I’ll manage.” The words had slipped out before she could stop them or think about them, but she was glad they had. She was tired of sitting here, doing nothing, and Italian sounded great. And she wouldn’t mind seeing Zander again, chatting theater and everything else with him. He was a nice guy. There was nothing wrong with a friendly dinner, right? Because that’s clearly all this was.
“Awesome, Rachel. I’ll see you at seven? Does that work?”
“Well, my schedule is pretty crazy these days, but I think I can pencil you in,” she teased, the smile spreading on her face hurting her cheeks.
“See you tomorrow then.”
“Okay, sounds like a plan.” She pulled the phone away, clicked it, and fell back on the sofa where she’d been sitting.
She stared at the ceiling, thinking about how she should be stressing out and feeling guilty for what she was doing. No good could come of this, she knew. She was opening herself up for disaster.
