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Asher was a good-looking man, and from what I remembered, he’d been good-looking in high school too. As we drove, I studied his chiseled features, perhaps a little too long and hard for someone who wasn’t looking for anything more than friendship. He finally pulled into the parking lot of The Cooling Rack and turned to look at me.
“If you’d like, I’ll take you home, or I can leave you here, so you can walk. I don’t want to push you to give me your address.”
I thought for a moment, glancing down. It was a little late, even though this part of the neighbourhood was safe. “You can take me home. You seem like a trustworthy guy.” I winked. “I just live over on Eastport Park Drive.”
“It’s amazing how you forget an area you once knew so well,” Asher said as he plugged the address into his GPS and followed the directions and turned onto my street, which from there I gave him directions to the condo. He pulled up in front of the big white building and put the car in park.
“There you go, Bella,” he said, his large hand resting on the gearshift. “Safe and sound. I hope you had a good time.”
“Thank you. I did. Will I see you sometime soon?”
“I think you might.” He winked. “I’m sort of addicted to the coffee at The Cooling Rack.” He chuckled.
I smiled. “Until next time then.” And with that, I got out of the car and walked to the main door, glancing over my shoulder many times to see Asher still sitting in his car at the end of the walkway, waiting and watching to make sure I got inside.
* * *
One Week Later
It had beenone week since the night Asher and I had gone out after work. Part of me was upset that I hadn’t attempted to exchange phone numbers. He’d seemed like a nice guy, and I was excited to have hopefully made another friend, aside from Brielle and Sawyer. Yet I still hadn’t mentioned a word about that night, or about Asher, to Brielle.
I let out a sigh and finished placing our order for our supplies when Brielle walked into the office.
“Bella, what are you doing on Sunday?” she questioned.
“Hmmm, let me check my calendar… Oh wait, that’s right, no plans!” I laughed.
“Sawyer and I would like to have you for dinner on Sunday.”
I shrugged. If I knew Brielle, this was another attempt at unsuccessfully matching me with yet another doctor from Sawyer’s work. “No, wait, I have to work. Did you forget?”
“Of course not, silly. You’ll finish before dinner,” she said, making a silly face at me. “I’m the boss, remember!” She laughed, flinging her purse onto the desk and flopping into the chair in the corner. “I’ll just schedule someone else to close.”
She was being too accommodating just for me to come and have dinner with them. Something was up. I looked over at Brielle. “Uh-huh, who am I meeting this week?” I asked, letting out a deep sigh.
“Okay…okay. If you must know, he is a cardiologist. Very good-looking, highly successful, and very single,” Brielle replied, smiling at me with excitement.
“Brielle, please, I am not ready for a relationship. I don’t know how many more times I need to say it. I said it after the brain surgeon, after the psychiatrist, and after the endocrinologist you guys thought would be perfect for me.”
“I know, you keep saying that. You just need to be open to the possibilities of a new relationship. We just want to see you happy.”
“I am happy. Thrilled. I’d be even happier if you’d stop trying to fix me up with every single guy you know. I am happy just focusing on this job, and I’ve been focusing on decorating my place and committing to my yoga practice. For once, I’m focusing on me, and it feels fantastic.”
“I agree. You have been doing all those things, but you need some spice in your life too,” she said, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside me.
I let out a breath and looked at my best friend. “Spice can come when I’m ready for it. Honestly, I just want to focus on me. It’s what I desperately need right now, Brie. Before I let someone else in, I need to focus on myself and get my life in order.” I was practically begging my best friend to stop trying to set me up with people. I needed to just focus on the things that were important to me. It was something I’d never done before.
Just then a knock came to the door, and we both looked over to see Tomi, one of the staff, leaning against the doorframe. “Sorry to interrupt, but, Bella, someone is here to see you.”
“Did they say who it was?”
Tomi smiled. “It’s a guy, says that you’ll know who it is.” She smiled.
Brielle looked at me with surprise on her face. “Well, well, keeping something from your best friend, are you?” She laughed, getting all giddy with excitement, grabbing me and shaking me. “You little liar.” She laughed again.
“My God, Brie, I’m not keeping anything from you at all. Now, if you’ll calm down and excuse me…” I said, getting up.
“Not a chance. No way are you keeping this from me,” she said, getting up and following me through the kitchen.
