AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lift an eyebrow. “Good to know if I was even remotely interested in her, which I’m not.”
“I thought she was flirting with you. I’ll remind her to be professional.”
“Dude. She wasn’t flirting and neither was I. We were talking. That’s all.”
Michel clears his throat, averting his gaze. “Apologies.”
“Are you gonna keep being all formal like this with me?” I nudge his arm. “Come on, Michel. You can drop your guard. You know that.”
He exhales, dragging a hand through his dark hair. I don’t remember it being so thick and silky looking, but high school was a long time ago.
“A lot of time has passed, friend.”
“It has, but I’m so damn happy to see you again.”
Michel smiles, relaxing his tight expression. “Sorry. Being here triggers a lot of old memories.”
“That sounds like a good place to start. Why are you here?”
He gestures for us to walk so I turn with him. “Why areyouhere?”
“I asked you first.”
“My answer is bound to be more complicated.”
I chuckle at that. “Okay. I’ll go first. Long story short—”
“I’d prefer the long story long, please.”
I nod, but take a moment to compose my thoughts. I guess if I can’t tell Michel the truth, who can I tell? “Do you remember how hard my folks pushed for me to go to medical or law school?”
“Yes. If I recall correctly, you chose law school.”
“Yep. Got into Columbia and everything. My parents were proud, but I was miserable as fuck, man. Hated every damn minute. I dropped by the second semester.”
“No shit?”
“Yep. Got a job in sales and rode that wave for years. I was so good at it, too. I earned trips and awards, promotions. They even paid for my apartment in one of the best buildings in town.”
“And then?” he asks, pausing in front of a bakery.
“This wasn’t here before.”
“No. It’s their third location. Just opened three months ago, but doing well, as you can see.”
“Yeah.” I have so many questions. “Anyway, I’m back because six months ago, I hit a wall. Burned out bad. Couldn’t close a deal for shit. I couldn’t sleep. I was drinking too much. I went to the doctor and they told me to cut the stress in my life or face an early grave.”
Michel stops walking, turning to face me. “You’re serious, Eli?”
“Yeah. It sucks, but I pushed myself too hard. I’m okay though. Mostly. I just need to chill. I already dropped a lot of bad habits and picked up a few good ones.”
The concern in his eyes makes my heart flutter. “So you came back to get away from it all?”
“Yeah. Tail between my legs, as they say. Folks don’t even know I’m back yet. I’m dreading that conversation.”
“Where are you staying?”
I shrug. “With them until I can find a place. I guess you’d know what’s available, huh?”
