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Her bright pink lips round into a tiny O and she shakes her head. “Never.”
I nod. “When I picked King’s, I did it thinking I would be paying. Jake wouldn’t hear of it. And that’s why I didn’t have the cheesecake. I already felt dreadful about ordering the petite filet with shrimp on the side. And getting salad and an appetizer.” My shoulders hunch up as I think about the way his brown eyes widened when he saw the bill.
“Aww… Vanna, you didn’t know. He should have said something if he couldn’t afford it.”
Rolling my eyes, I push at Blaire’s knee. “What man is going to admit that?”
“True. Men have pride no matter what.” Her gaze darts from mine over to Leland’s closed door. “Does it make me a snob that I’ve never dated a guy that didn’t have a gold card?”
“Absolutely not! I mean, where do we meet the men that we’ve dated? At college, the club, through our families or friends.”
Her eyes come back to me. “That’s true.”
I continue, “If it wasn’t for you and your little oops, I wouldn’t have met Jake. I wonder how many years he’s been collecting trash for my neighborhood. I could have met him ages ago if I had been paying attention.”
“Sometimes things have to line up for someone to be ready first,” Leland’s raspy voice cuts in.
With a gasp, I spin in my chair to face the director while Blaire scampers down from the edge of my desk. For a guy who uses noisy forearm crutches, he can be awfully stealthy at times.
“We were just discussing the upcoming 5K,” Blaire lies.
Her beet-red face does a poor job of convincing anyone that’s true, but Leland lets that obvious falsehood go. The fingers on his right hand jerk in a dismissive movement. “It’s fine to chat about personal things at work. I’m not that much of a hard ass.”
Mine and Blaire’s mouths drop open. Leland is not the type of guy you’d think would ever use the term hard ass, and definitely not when referring himself.
Today is just full of surprises as the director grins and angles himself to rest against the corner of Blaire’s desk. Not having to support his full weight, a bit of strain eases from his face and I can’t help noticing once again that our director, though in his late thirties, is a very attractive man. A quick glance over at Blaire shows my bestie isn’t immune either, as her wide eyes are pinned to his lean face.
His pale blue eyes settle on me. “Sorry Savannah, but I couldn’t help overhearing part of your conversation. And I believe things happen for a reason.”
Talking about fate with my boss wasn’t on my list of things to do this morning. Or any morning, actually. In the eight months I’ve been working here, I can’t recall Leland ever discussing personal things or butting into conversations.
“Well, lots of things happen. There doesn’t have to be a reason behind all of them,” Blaire argues.
Leland’s lips inch up in a cocky smile. “Oh, if someone were to spend the time breaking down every single action, I believe they could find a corresponding reaction.” His blond head inclines in my direction. “Savannah wonders how long she’s been missing out on meeting the man she’s now…”, he hesitates and looks in my direction. “Dating? Seeing?”
At my nod, he continues. “But what if she had met him six months or a year ago? Would she have been in the proper place for an attraction or relationship to flourish?”
I want to say absolutely I would have been attracted to Jake a year ago. Doubt keeps me quiet.
Yes, I might have thought him hot, because come on, the man is built, but dating a man that made a living hauling other people’s trash? A man that served time in prison for a crime that wasn’t fashionable tax avoidance. A guy that couldn’t afford to take me to fancy restaurants, vacations in Europe, or give me meaningless material things that just got tossed in the back of my closet.
The truth isn’t as painful as I thought. “No,” I admit. “A year ago, I wouldn’t have been in the right place to appreciate the man Jake is.”
Leland nods. “Everything in your life in the past year has shaped the person you are today and made it so you don’t miss out on this chance encounter. So, you see, it really wasn’t a chance encounter at all.”
Okay, mind officially blown.
Blaire is a harder sell. “So, you’re saying Vanna was too selfish a year ago?”
I elbow her in the side.
Her head whips my way. “What? I’m not the one who said it!”
“He’s not saying I was selfish. Just that I’m not the same person I was then, and the person now is mature enough to see this as the opportunity it is.”
Turning, I look Leland dead in the eye. “Sometimes, people need a new perspective to see what’s been right in front of their face all along and to use that newfound knowledge to go after what they want.”
I pat at Blaire’s arm but aim my words at our director. “Opportunities don’t hang around forever, and we all know about missed ones for people who don’t take the chances they’re given.”
