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I get up from the couch and walk over to the door, prepared to tell her to leave me alone, but I look through the peephole and see ... Graham. Graham?
“Lucy?” he says, through the door.
I step back from it, not sure what I should do, but confident that opening the door is not one of my options.
“Lucy, I know you’re in there,” he says. “Please open the door.”
“No,” I say. “Go away.”
Is this how it’s going to be? How am I supposed to get over Graham if he keeps showing up all the time? First the coffee shop and now here at my condo?
“I’m not leaving here until you open the door,” he says.
I let out a breath and then unlock the deadbolt and crack the door.
“Lucy,” he says, looking relieved.
“What are you doing here, Graham? I told you I didn’t want to see you anymore.”
My gosh, it’s hard to look at him, standing there in the doorway of my condo, wearing jeans and a coat, his face red from the cold. He’s so pretty. He could be a model for my Doctors Who Break People’s Hearts calendar.
“Can I come in?”
“No,” I say. “You can’t.”
He lets out a breath. “Why didn’t you come to the coffee shop?”
“Because I changed my mind ... wait.” I take a step back from the door, confused. It was a rookie mistake, because Graham takes that opportunity to come inside, shutting the door behind him.
“How did you know I was going to a coffee shop?” I eye him suspiciously.
He holds out a hand for me to shake. “Allow me to introduce myself. I believe you know me as GothamGuardian5. You must be PlainJane2.”
I shake my head, not taking his hand. “No,” I say. “No. That can’t be. That doesn’t make any sense. Did you hack my account or something? Are you a hacker?”
“Lucy,” he says, letting his hand drop to his side. “I was shocked, too, when I figured it out.”
I reach up and run a hand across my forehead. “I’m so confused right now.”
“I think I can explain,” he says.
“Okay,” I say. “Let’s hear it.”
He looks down at the floor before looking at me. “You know that my therapist wanted me to make a friend.”
I hold out a hand, stopping him. He’s really going to bring that up right now?
“I know,” he says. “I promise I have a point, and this will all make sense.”
“I think I need to sit down,” I say, suddenly feeling lightheaded. I walk over to the pink couch and take a seat. Graham cautiously takes the seat next to me like I’m a stray dog who might bolt. I won’t bolt, but I might bite.
“Okay, go on,” I say.
“Before I started talking to you,” he starts, “I didn’t know how I was going to do Gloria’s assignment, so I made an online profile, thinking I could do it that way. And I matched with someone right away. PlainJane2.”
“This can’t be happening,” I say, shaking my head, still not really believing it.
“As you know, we struck up a conversation, but it felt too easy to me, like I wasn’t doing the assignment right. Maybe that should have been a clue, because when I started talking to you at the hospital that first time, it also felt too easy.”
