AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He trails off. I’m not totally sure what he was going to say, but I don’t know if it would be a good idea to press it either.
“That makes sense,” I tell him. “Maybe I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. It just made me feel like you didn’t really care about me. Or at least, not the way I care about you.”
He winces. “That’s the last thing I wanted you to think. I just didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t think I deserved to bother you.”
That surprises me. “You didn’t thinkyoudeserved to botherme?”
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“You’re the boss!” I reply. “I’m just some paralegal you had a fling with! Why would you ever worry about bothering me?”
“You thought that was just a fling?”
“I don’t know,” I say, looking down. “I was afraid you did. I was afraid of looking silly if I was the only one who thought it was something else.”
He stops walking and looks me dead in the eye. “My feelings for you have never been just a fling. I care about you. I wanted to come back to you after the fake marriage.”
I can feel myself blushing. “Thank you…”
“And you might be just a paralegal now,” he adds. “But soon, you’re going to be a real lawyer. An important one. You’re going to be the kind of lawyer I only wish I could be.”
I smile. I’m not sure how to handle this kind of compliment, but I can tell he means it. “You’re a better lawyer than you give yourself credit for. And I feel like I’ve seen you really get to show that recently.”
We both stand there, quietly. And that’s when we notice the smell of something absolutely delicious coming from just around the next corner.
“Someone’s cooking something nice,” Finn says, sniffing audibly.
“They sure are,” I say, walking towards the smell. As soon as I reach the corner, I can see the source. A food truck selling tacos and burritos, parked just half a block down.
Finn looks at the truck, then at me. “You know, if you want, we could still do the super expensive, fancy night. The horses at the opera thing might be a no go, but I know some great restaurants where we could feel really bad about the tab once it comes.”
“I don’t think you could pay me to eat anywhere other than that food truck right there,” I tell him. “And technically, you already pay me.”
“Well, I’m glad you said that, because that sounds a lot better than any of the restaurants I know about.”
A few minutes later, we’re walking again, each of us with a handful of warm, fresh-cooked meat wrapped in a browned tortilla. The sun is almost set and the stars are just starting to come out. It’s a quiet and beautiful night.
“I just need communication,” I say. The food makes everything feel better and easier to solve. “It made me upset that you made this whole plan without talking to me. Next time, just talk to me earlier.”
“I won’t be bothering you?” He’s smiling, but I don’t think it’s quite a joke.
“I like it when you bother me,” I reply.
We stroll on, aimlessly.
“We’re getting near your house aren’t we?” he asks.
I’ve been engaged enough in the date and our conversation that I hadn’t noticed. But he’s right. My apartment is just up the block from here. I can’t help but feel a little disappointed.
“This has been a good evening,” he says.
“It has,” I tell him. And I realize that this was all I needed. Just a calm evening. To spend some time together doing nothing important, but doing it with him. And to see him having just as much fun as I am, and enjoying himself the same way I do. What no opera on horseback could have achieved, we’ve managed with a food cart and a nice walk.
I walk up the steps to my door, and for a moment, I’m thinking about whether I want to invite him in. But he starts talking before I can make up my mind.
“I know it’s gonna take time before we work everything out,” he says. “I know it always takes time, and it’s never steady. But I just want you to know that I’m okay with that. I want you to take all the time you need. Because I want to build something good with you. Something that lasts.”
He pauses. I barely even know what I should say. This is a side to Finn I had never suspected. It seems like there are a lot of those, these days.
