Page 19 of Not Mine To Love

She reached for her phone and started texting him. I felt uncertain. I knew nothing about flowers. Like nothing. My nose felt itchy just thinking about them.

I sat on the couch with her and waited for Julius to respond.

“He’ll be here in a few minutes,” she reassured me.

We sat there awkwardly, both of us not knowing what else to say to each other.

“Sooo…” I said, tired of the silence, “…how long have you two known each other?”

“We’ve been friends for a while,” she said. “We actually met through a mutual friend.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

She nodded but didn’t add anything. I guessed Ana wasn’t much of a conversationalist. I wasn’t either, but I tried to find something to talk about to fill the silence.

“So what are you into, Ana?”

“Horses. I used to ride all the time when I was little.”

Her answer surprised me. I didn’t know anyone who rode horses. “Cool. I’ve always been afraid of horses. Their big teeth give me the creeps.”

She smiled. “They’re pretty gentle. I mean, I’ve been thrown by a spooked horse before, but I didn’t get hurt too badly. What about you? What are you into?”

“Sleeping.”

We both laughed, and then she said, “What made you get into photography? That’s a really interesting hobby.”

“It might sound lame, but I like taking pictures of beautiful things.”

“That doesn’t sound lame.”

“Well, it’s not as cool as riding horses or”—my eyes drifted to the motorcycle helmet sitting on the counter—“riding a motorcycle. Is that your helmet? Do you ride motorcycles, Ana?”

Her face changed. Gone was her easy smile, and her expression became guarded. “No. Not anymore.”

I didn’t know what I had said or done wrong, but it was clear that I had made her uncomfortable. I opened my mouth to apologize when I heard a knock at the door.

Ana rushed over to open it, and a smiling Julius came in.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his smile falling as he got a look of Ana’s face.

“Oh, nothing. Just tired.”

He seemed like he wanted to argue, but then he caught sight of me.

He looked from me to Ana. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Fine,” she said. “I think I just need some rest.”

The look on his face said he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t argue.

He turned to me. “So I heard you got roped into looking at flowers with me. Are you going to charge me extra?”

“I should…” I mumbled.

He laughed, “You look so miserable. I think you might actually hate this more than I do.”

“That’s about right.”