“What? When would I have time to find a mate?”
“Your words say one thing, but your smile betrays you, my friend.”
Alex huffed. “You don’t miss anything, do you? Well, I did just run into a girl from my school days right before I got to the gallery. Literally. She nearly knocked me over.”
Adrian’s eyebrows shot up high on his forehead.
“Wait. You can’t mean the girl you talked about our whole time in university?” Adrian asked, his eyes narrowing.
“One and the same.”
“What in the world...”
“I know. I’m still in shock,” Alex said as Adrian led them to some chairs by the front of the gallery.
When they both sat down, Alex nervously rubbed his forehead.
“So, what happened?” Adrian asked excitedly.
“Hang on, let’s get Enzo on the phone so I can tell you both at the same time. He didn’t have any clients this afternoon,” Alex said as he took his phone from the back pocket of his jeans and dialed the number.
“Miss me already?” Enzo said with a teasing tone when Alex put the call on speaker.
“Hey, I’m with Adrian and I need to tell you something crazy that just happened, if you have time.”
“Always. Hey, man,” Enzo called out to Adrian.
“Hey. I wish you were here to see the stupid grin on your friend’s face right now,” Adrian joked.
“Grin? When he left here earlier he was scowling about that time I hit him.”
“You still bragging about that?” Adrian said.
“Well, if you shut up for a minute, I’ll tell you why I called. But you might want to sit down. Let’s just say if you called out her name today, it might have actually been believable.”
“No way,” Enzo said flatly.
Alex heard the creak of Enzo’s chair as he must have done as he was told.
“You’re not gonna believe this. After I left the gym, Sofia and Papa were still not answering so I had lunch at Susanna’s Cafe, the place you told me about. I’m grabbing the door to walk out, and guess who was coming through it like she was on fire. I grabbed her before she fell, and when she looked up at me?—”
“Are you telling me you saw Aria? Today? That was her name, right?” Adrian said, his face registering shock.
“Yeah. I caught her before she fell. I’m looking down at her face when I realized who she was. I don’t know how it’s possible, but she’s even more beautiful now. So, I lean in to kiss her cheeks and some older lady at the counter called out to her so Aria turned.”
“What happened, man? You’re killing me,” Enzo said.
“I kissed her. I kissed Aria!”
There was silence on the other end of the phone and in the gallery. Alex could hear his breath increasing at the memory of it all, but both his friends were apparently too stunned to notice.
“I, I can’t believe this. How you feeling?” Enzo asked.
“Excited, nervous, confused. Too many words to choose from.”
“So, what did she say? Did she remember you?” Adrian asked anxiously.
“I don’t think so. After the kiss, she ran into the restroom. I waited for a long time, but Papa called me back and said he was about to leave for this trip, so I had to go.”
