“Make another appointment.”
“I had to wait two months to get this one and my roots are—” I self-consciously ran my fingers over the top of my head, pretending to fix my hair even though I was really trying to hide the grays that were coming in. “Okay, what about this? I also lost my cell phone today.”
He winced. “Ouch. That can be very frustrating, for sure, but not devastating since you can buy a new phone rightthere.” He pointed to the mobile phone store next to Peet’s Coffee.
“Well, even if I wanted to buy a replacement phone, I would still be presented with the same problem of not being able to park sincesomeoneis trying to rob my spot.”
“Good one. Have you finished with your list of minor inconveniences that aren’t even close to horrible?”
The driver in the car honked behind me.
“Go around!” we said at the same time, both of us caught off guard by the coincidence.
He grinned.
I ignored his perfect teeth. “Fine—someone I’ve known since high school just died.”
I wasn’t going to play the death card, but desperate measures were needed.
Something flickered in his eyes.
His smile disappeared.
Was he really considering it?
Maybe he wasn’t as heartless and arrogant as I initially assumed.
Please, please, please.
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” His eyes lost their spark of competition. The arrogance was replaced by sympathy. “You can have the spot.”
I blinked. “Really?”
“Of course. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“But you didn’t even tell me what happened to make your day so horrible.” Something about his compassion made me feel guilty since technically I hadn’t talked to the woman who had died since . . . well, since forever.
He shook his head. “It’s not necessary.”
I stared at him. “Yes—it is. Please tell me.”
He hesitated. “Fine, but it’s not going to really change things. I found out this morning that I may lose my job tomorrow if I don’t go along with a completely ridiculous decision from my boss. And if that happens, I will most likely have to move away from the place where I have lived my entire life. My favorite city. Honestly, as horrible and shocking as that would be for me, that doesn’t compare to losing a loved one. Life is precious. Take care.” He put his car in reverse to back out of my way.
More guilt filled my senses.
It was true that someone I had known since high school just died. It was a shocking and unexpected death, which sort of rattled me. She was way too young to die. Even though I hadn’t talked to her since high school, it didn’t mean I didn’t care about her. I also didn’t want to take the parking spot because he assumed we were close, which we weren’t.
I held up my hand. “Wait!”
He braked and glanced over to me. “Yeah?”
“I can’t take the parking spot.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t know the whole story.”
“I told you—it doesn’t matter.”
