Page 22 of Alfie

“I’m not sure I swooned, but I might have. A little.”

Mrs. P gave her a quick hug. “You must be soulmates! How else can you explain the strange events that led you together?”

“He says that too,” she said. “That we’re soulmates.”

She gave her a serious look. “You’re only soulmates if you both feel it. Soulmates are not a one-sided thing.”

“When did you know that Mr. P was your soulmate?”

“Immediately. Like day-one. First date, he hops out of his beater car blasting heavy metal music, wearing ripped jeans and a concert tee. I didn’t see any of that, though. I saw his blue eyes, and the way he held doors for me and listened to me when I talked. I was a total fool for that man from the moment we met.”

Myla smiled. Mrs. P chatted while Myla finished putting her things away in the breakroom, and then she said, “I’m glad you’ve found your Mr. Right. Bring him around sometime, I’d love to say hello.”

“I will.”

Myla walked out of the breakroom to get started with her shift, but her mind wasn’t on the work, it was on Alfie.

She thought about the kiss at midnight, and how he’d called her his soulmate. After the kiss, he’d lingered for a while, helping her family clean up after the party, and then he’d said goodbye. She’d stayed over at her folks’ that night, as she always did on New Year’s, but missed the chance to spend time with Alfie.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she lifted it to see a text from Alfie.

It’s awful that it’s Monday and we have to work and not spend time together.

I agree! she texted back.

Can’t wait to see you tonight. How about dinner at my place? You can see the park without anyone else being there.

Sounds awesome!

He was picking her up at seven. Suddenly, her shift couldn’t be over soon enough.

Alfie parked in the employee lot at the side of the safari park and got out, coming around to her side and helping her from the SUV. They walked to an iron gate within the massive stone walls that surrounded the entire park, and he entered a code to unlock the gate.

“So,” he said, as he held the door for her. “Right now, we’re only open on weekends since they’re doing a construction project near the safari tour that will be a bakery and coffee shop. Plus, we don’t really get that many people in the colder months, anyway. The time off during the week gives us a chance to work on remodels and updates that we can’t get to when we’re in the warmer months.”

“That’s cool,” she said. “It probably makes your security job easier in the winter months too.”

“Definitely. The park has a cafeteria that handles the meals for the workers, plus the patrons when we’re open. I asked the head of the cafeteria to put a meal together for us, and it’s being kept warm in my apartment.”

“That’s neat that they provide meals for the workers too.”

“I appreciate not having to leave for lunch and dinner for sure,” he said.

They followed a path through the park that was lit with solar lights as well as the occasional streetlamp. He pointed out the safari tour area that was blocked off because of the construction, the various food stalls, the aviary and avian hospital, and the petting zoo, where they could hear the soft noises of the small animals from inside.

They stopped at the carousel for a long moment, and then continued on to a small apartment complex at the back of the park. It was two stories, and his apartment was on the first floor.

“There aren’t a lot of apartments for such a big park and so many employees,” she said after he used a keycard to unlock the door and held it open for her.

“It’s fairly new,” he said. “The others have their own places. I had a roommate for a while, and when the apartment complex was built, I was happy to be able to get one.”

The apartment was spacious, but while it was decorated, it lacked a personal touch. There weren’t any framed photos, but he did have knickknacks scattered around. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it just didn’t seem all that lived-in despite the clothes hamper being full, the closet stuffed with shoes and clothes, and the kitchen with dishes drying on a rack.

Alfie brought out a tray with two covered plates and set it on the coffee table. He pulled out two bottles of sweet tea from his jeans’ pockets and handed one to her before taking a seat next to her on the comfortable navy and cream striped couch.

Her curiosity at why it didn’t seem like he had much in the way of personal decorations in the apartment got pushed aside when he took the lids off the plates and revealed her favorite meal: pulled pork-topped mac and cheese.

“Oh my gosh, this looks amazing!” she said.