AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh! That’s huge!” I say, finally cottoning on. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks!” he replies, beaming like he didn’t have to practically feed me the line. “By the time you get back from your jog, it should be close to done!” he says, checking his cell. I wonder if the time spent working on the roof is what inspired him to get the help.
“My jog? Oh, right!” I’d almost forgotten I was supposed to be going on a jog. I tell myself that I definitely didn’t come out here just to talk to Emile.
I chuckle awkwardly, feeling a natural end to the conversation. “Well then, I don’t want to keep you! You’ve got stuff to do!”
Emile grins again before clapping me gently on the shoulder.
“Thanks, Clarissa,” he says. “Enjoy your jog!”
He turns to head back inside, and I have to muster an inordinate amount of energy to jog off down the street instead of standing there savoring the chill of his hand on my exposed shoulder.
16
CLARISSA
“So let me get this straight.” Marcel’s voice sounds casual over the phone, but I know he’s really dying to get me talking. “You brought a plant over to someone’s house you see every day, nearly have a meltdown when you overhear a conversation you think is between two lovers, then –”
“I wouldn’t call it a meltdown.” I leap from my chair, suddenly feeling the urge to pace. Lovesick puppies have meltdowns. Grown men have reactions and perfectly normal ones.
“Didn’t you say you froze?” I don’t like where this line of questioning is going. If Marcel weren’t in love with big projects and working on them by hand, he’d have been a lawyer.
Probably a really good one. I suck a breath in through my teeth and keep the thought to myself. He doesn’t need any more compliments on his observational skills. Or his brutal habit of questioning innocent friends.
“I didn’t want them to hear me,” I reply. My tone is all business, just like the plant fiasco. Wait, not fiasco. Odd encounter.
“Hello? Are you there?” Marcel sounds like he’s smiling.
“I’m not stuttering, am I?” I catch a glance of my nearly translucent reflection in one of my bay windows. Though my vampire face is hard to see, my shirt is prominent in the glass and my arm points out, as if I need to gesture wildly to make the point that yes, yes I am still here.
“Then what did I say?”
“You said, and I quote, ‘Didn’t you say you froze?’” It’s my turn to smile. Marcel likes winning arguments just because, but this time, I’m putting my foot down.
“After that. What did I say after that?”
He said something after that?
My silence speaks volumes. I hear him chuckle into the receiver.
“Go put on some cologne and a clean shirt, get some flowers, and tell her how you feel. Maybe over dinner or some sex. It’s not rocket science.”
I don’t know how to respond to that, so I decide to play dumb instead. “There’s no way you said all that and I didn’t hear you.”
“Emile, listen to me. Clarissa just might be your mermaid. Do you want to risk losing out on her because the timing isn’t right?”
“It’s not the timing.” The words come out before I can help myself. I wince as he whistles into the phone.
“That’s not a denial,” Marcel says as if I need to be told what I just did.
“It’s also not the end of my sentence so shut up and listen to me.” My voice sounds steady and strong like I meant it to. Suddenly, I’m over the moon that Marcel isn’t here and can’t see my open mouth and wide eyes.
It’s not denial, is it?My nails sink into my palm as I squeeze the thought away. I still have Marcel to convince.
“It’s the fact we’re just friends. We’re neighbors who like spending time with each other. You’re –”
“So she’s not attractive?”
