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Feeling a little off, Addie just stared. After they gathered her things, Patrick walked her to the cafeteria. Making small talk, he explained that he was also a freshman, was there from Dallas, and was majoring in finance. Over breakfast, where he had coffee and a bagel and she had o.j. and a donut, they talked about childhood. Well, mostly Patrick talked of his, where they grew up, and what brought them to Baines University. Addie explained that she was majoring in communications and hoped to go to work in marketing when she graduated. Patrick, studying finance, was on the fast track to gain employment at Morgan, Lehman & Scott, where he was already interning.
The attraction was instant, the chemistry between the two of them uncanny and palpable. Unfortunately, the time for their next class came much too soon. As they said their goodbyes and parted, Patrick casually mentioned having dinner the following Friday, and they exchanged phone numbers.
Waiting for his call was excruciating for Addie. Every time the phone rang, adrenaline ran through her. Her hair stood on end. And every time it wasn’t Patrick, her stomach sank. Three days went by and no phone call came. Had she been mistaken? Did she imagine that there was an attraction? Was he just being polite asking her to dinner? No. She didn’t think so. Finally, just about the time she put it out of her mind, the call came. She couldn’t tell you how, but that day, when the phone rang, she knew it was him.
“Hello.” She answered, a little too enthusiastically.
“Hi. Addie? This is Patrick. We met in the commons the other day.”
Surprised and thrilled, she noticed his voice was even deeper and sexier than she remembered. Addie shut her eyes, lifted up a silent thank you, and smiled. “Uh . . . Yes, I remember.”
“Good. So . . . I was wondering if you still wanted to have dinner on Friday.”
Addie, doing a little happy dance, screamed silently. “Yeah, of course.”
Patrick paced his tiny apartment. “Great. I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock then.”
Addie plopped down on her bed and sighed. “Perfect. Oh, and Patrick?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
This time Patrick smiled. “Me too. See ya Friday.”
The next few days both dragged on and went by in a blur. True to form, Addie started planning her outfit Wednesday evening. Wondering what she should wear, she realized that she hadn’t even asked where he was taking her. This was the first, first date that Addie could remember. She had been with Jason for so long that he was practically part of her family. They never needed to make plans; it was just assumed that he would be there, that whatever it was they were doing, they were doing it together. This is what Addie missed the most. It wasn’t so much Jason per se but always having someone to do things with.
Dating was all new to Addie. She wasn’t even sure if she could technically count what she was doing as dating. Most of the time, the boys she was dating simply asked to meet up with her and a group of friends. They’d ask what party she’d planned to attend and then there they would be. This time it felt different. Patrick felt different, which was, in part, why there was so much riding on this one date and why her outfit had to be absolutely perfect.
Addie had a great sense of fashion. She knew how to dress for her body—always had. Her friends told her she was blessed. Tall and slender like her mother, she had curves in all the right places. It made dressing the part fairly simple. And for that she was grateful. Still, she didn’t have the fashion sense nor the clothing budget that her roommate Jessica had, which was exactly who she went to in order to help her find the perfect first-date outfit. Jessica was, of course, thrilled to help. While Jessica wasn’t quite as fortunate to have the body type that Addie had, she was an expert at putting things together. And when Jessica couldn’t figure it out for herself, she was lucky that she had an unlimited budget and access to a personal shopper at almost every high-end store in town.
Jessica was the only granddaughter of an oil tycoon, practically born with a silver spoon in her mouth into a family where they never wanted for anything a day in their lives. At 5’2”, Jessica was short with an athletic build. She had long chestnut hair and eyes to match. Jessica was everything that Addie was not: rich, worry-free, and extremely smart. While Addie was organized and by the minute, Jessica was fly by the seat of her pants. While Addie had to study for days, sometimes even weeks to ace an exam, Jessica only had to show up.
So it was quite a surprise to Addie that Jessica not only wound up at Baines but also ended up becoming one of her dearest friends. Baines was certainly not the most prestigious university. However, because it was small and secluded, it was known for being hard to get in to, like an exclusive country club.
Addie had dozens of potential date outfits lined up and strewn about her bed when Jessica burst through the door. She took one look at Addie’s perplexed expression and exclaimed, “Oh, no, no, no. This occasion calls for special trip to Neiman's. I booked us an appointment with my favorite and, of course, their best personal stylist. We have to be there in thirty, so hurry up. Oh, and by the way, I checked out this Patrick character, and I’m just not sure. From what I’ve heard, he’s mostly a loner, though a smart one: valedictorian and currently sitting at the top of our class. So, I guess, maybe there is potential. But you need someone who is social, not someone who stays holed up in his apartment and rarely dates.”
Addie picked up a dress and rolled her eyes. “Uh huh. How do you know all of this, anyway?”
“I asked around. And I may or may not have had Perry sneak a peek at his student file.” Jessica said with her signature sly grin.
“That’s illegal. And Perry needs to stop doing everything you ask of him. If he weren’t so in love with you, surely he would know better.”
Frowning, Jessica picked up a shirt and threw it at Addie. “He is not in love with me, but whatever. Let’s go.”
Jessica, usually right, was correct about the stylist at Niemen’s. Although, Addie knew that she had nowhere near the kind of money required to buy the dress and shoes that were put together for her, she knew better than to argue with Jessica. While Addie hated it, she knew that Jessica enjoyed buying her things. She saw it as Jessica making Addie her very own personal charity case, but deep down she knew it was more than that. Sometimes Jessica felt more like a sister or even a mother to Addie than a friend. And the one thing that made Jessica happy was seeing Addie happy. So she played along as best she could.
The dress they picked out for Addie fit beautifully and hugged her curves in all the right places. A long version of a t-shirt dress, the navy stripes brought out the blue in her eyes, complimenting her long blond hair and tan skin well. Against Jessica’s adamant insistence, Addie decided against wearing heels because she was tall. Instead, she decided to wear her favorite sandals. Jessica eventually relented but only after insisting on stopping by the spa downstairs for fresh pedicures. Despite the fact that Addie had tons of homework and a paper due the next day, she agreed.
It was late by the time Addie finished her paper. It bothered her that she would not be turning in what she considered her best work, but, frankly, she was out of time. And
although she was exhausted, she found herself lying there, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep, and wondering how tomorrow’s date would go. Would she say the right things? Would he like her? Would she even like him? And when it came time to discuss her childhood, where would she find the words? How exactly do you tell someone that you’ve never in your life ever felt really loved? She sighed, wondering just how long could she put off having that conversation?
Three
Patrick picked Addie up outside her dorm exactly as he had said, promptly at seven o’clock. It was a warm fall night. The air smelled of fresh cut grass. Standing there waiting, leaning against the stoop in his dark jeans, he looked so good. Damn. She took a deep breath and paused, taking him in. This man was quite possibly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
While she stood there mesmerized, pondering how she could keep from messing this up, Patrick looked up at her and smiled. Her heart sank; the butterflies in the pit of her stomach churned. Addie was certain she hadn’t felt these feelings in a very long time, if ever.
