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She nodded and I let Adele take back over. They went through the nitty gritty of things, and I felt almost bad for bombarding her with a payment for her grief. It felt cheap and disingenuous, but I understood why the company had that clause. And it never hurt anything.
While they talked, I smiled at Harper, making funny faces at her. At one point, I caught Sicily watching, and she smirked for just a moment before turning her attention back to the others. It wasn’t anything big but if for even a split second I could take the stress away, it was something.
When the meeting was over, I walked with Sicily and Harper to the elevator. “Why don’t you let me walk you out.”
She shifted Harper to her other hip. “It’s really okay. We’ll be fine.”
“Nonsense,” I replied, holding open the elevator and walking in behind them. “The security seems to be on break from the elevator, and you guys just moved to town. I don’t want you to already have a bad view of who we are here in this city.”
I put the key in and glanced at Harper. “You want to press the button?”
She looked at Sicily and smiled, nodding her head. Sicily leaned forward and Harper pressed the Lobby Parking button before snuggling back into her mom.
Mom.
On one hand it was so strange to think of Sicily as anything other than the hot sexpot I couldn’t get out of my mind. On the other hand, being a mom fit Sicily so well. She didn’t seem forced or struggling. They fit together, like Harper had always been there.
“One day maybe you can come watch me surf,” I told Harper.
She looked at her mom excitedly and nodded. “Big waves!”
I laughed. “Well, as big as we can get out here.”
The little girl yawned big and laid her head against Sicily’s chest. Sicily looked at me and diverted her eyes. “She’s tired. It’s been a big day. She’s not used to the California sun and sand. Tuckered out every night.”
“I’m sure,” I replied with a chuckle. “I’ve been here most of my life but after a long day surfing in the hot sun, you’ll find me passed out on my couch, covered in sand.”
“It’s funny,” she said quietly. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were a surfer boy.”
“What gave it away?” I laughed. “The tie dye shirt under my dress shirt?”
She looked down, her cheeks red. “The Chuck Taylors and shaggy blonde hair. That and the ground in tan you had, even after a year of college dorm life.”
“The tan is permanently in my skin,” I replied.
“I’m hoping my skin gets used to it, otherwise I’m going to be a lobster for the unforeseeable future,” she replied.
I looked at her, and she looked at me, Harper’s eyes closed. For a second, we met eyes and I felt like I was standing back outside of graduation seeing her for the first time. The little girl coughed lightly, breaking the gaze, and we both looked away, staring up at the numbers as they quickly reached the bottom level. I could have ridden in that elevator forever with her.
We were quiet the rest of the way. It wasn’t necessarily awkward, but I wasn’t sure what else to say. I was pretty sure I didn’t need to say anything else at all. That was a nice moment, one that after everything we had been through that day, was very welcome. When the doors opened, I stepped out, holding the door as Sicily backed toward the glass doors. “Thank you. I’m right there in front of the doors. I’ll see you…maybe tomorrow.”
She was not blowing me off, but she seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. That’s when the dumb blurted from my mouth again. “And tell Mr. Sicily I’m sorry for keeping you.”
Having turned to open the door, she glanced back over her shoulder, chuckling. “Well, if he existed I’m sure he would be grateful for your apologies.”
For a split second, I could have sworn I saw her hide a smile and reddening cheeks. It took everything in me not to break out in a full on smile. I stood there watching until she had gotten Harper in her seat, gotten in her seat and backed out of the parking spot. I looked down and climbed back into the elevator, my mind on Sicily’s beautiful smile, and the way she looked at me when she was leaving. I knew it was the worst time to be thinking about her in that way, but I couldn’t deny the feeling of excitement that flooded me knowing there wasn’t a Mr in her picture.
I put the key in the door, thankful to have an entire building of floors to let the feeling tingle in my chest, when the buzzer sounded from the glass door, pulling me from my daydream. It was my next appointment, waving at me as he handed the security guard his badge.
Damn.
I forced a smile and held the elevator.
It was probably for the best anyway. The last thing I needed was to get involved with a single mom who worked for me. The guys would have my head. Still, that didn’t take away the way she made me feel. From the day she left, I held her in my mind. It may have only been four years, but it felt like a lifetime compared to how much I had changed. I still liked to party with my friends, and have a good time, but I was more reserved now. I liked my quiet time, my surfing all alone when the sun came up.
Back then, I was a kid, looking toward an uncertain future, just trying to get through my last year at college. By the time I hit the company, we were already starting to explode, and everything that happened after had consumed me. But on those early morning surfs, bobbing on my board in the waves, I thought about Sicily, wondering whatever happened to her. Wondering if she even remembered that hot night with me.
It was crazy, I knew it. I had been with other girls. I had dated. And Sicily and I had spent very little time together, but she left an impression on me from the first time I laid eyes on her and she was still doing it. Even sitting there, terrified, shocked from the day, holding a little girl I never knew she had, I was still enchanted by her.
