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Not this!
“WHAT IS THIS?” she screeched in disbelief, stunned… as she stared at Kyle’s proud smile that was quickly fading.
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked quickly. “Did I spill on the floor somewhere? I’m nearly done and have only this little panel left to paint…”
“It’s supposed to betan!”
“Youboughtblue!” he countered, looking flummoxed. “There were two cans of bright blue paint – so I painted everythingblue, Reyna. What do you mean, ‘It’s supposed to be tan’…”
She sank down in a dusty wooden chair nearby and stared at the walls around her, putting the bag of food onto the table, before sinking her head into her hands, feeling such overwhelming emotions rocketing through her.
Was nothing going to go right?
Was she cursed?
“Reyna… talk to me,” Kyle said nervously. “Was this really supposed to be tan? I thought the blue was a nice change – very bright and cheerful – and there was so much of it, that I didn’t think twice about painting everything.”
She drew in a deep shuddering breath and didn’t move – only to see blue splattered work boots appear before her where she was staring at the floor in shock, her head resting in her hands, peering between her fingers blindly as she was thinking of what to do…
She saw him kneel before her, a bluejeaned knee appearing in her vision… only to see the threadbare denim split, revealing a tanned-yet-scarred kneecap. Of course, his jeans would split, wouldn’t they?
Everything else had gone wrong, too…
A small nervous giggle escaped her as she looked up, wiping her eyes.
She looked around the room, her eyes touching everything… except the kind man kneeling before her chair, looking at her.
“Blue, huh…?” she said shakily.
“Very blue…” he replied quietly – and she finally looked at him to see a small, nervous smile on his face as he watched her. “Are you okay?”
“Stressed – and probably a little hungrier than I realized…”
“Ah,hangry… I can understand that,” he teased and touched her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Breathe – everything works out in the end, you know? It might not be what you expect, but itwillbe okay.”
She glanced at their hands, feeling the warmth of his palm and every callus, realizing that this was a man who worked hard his entire life… and was trying to comfort her.
Handsome… and sweet.
An unexpected combination!she thought wildly – and saw him look at her nervously before pulling his hand away.
… Annnnd there are the mixed signals again.
Standing up, Kyle hesitated and then spotted the bag of food. He quickly opened it, yanking out several long, wrapped sandwiches, and then smoothed the bag, dumping the large container of fries out onto the bag.
“Do you mind using this as a plate?” he said evasively, handing her a sandwich. “Let’s get you fed, and then we can talk about how to fix the blue if you actually hate it…”
Reyna sighed heavily, nodding, and turning her chair slightly towards the table, seeing Kyle sitting opposite of her. It was silent in the café, except for the occasional drip of water coming from the bathroom sink.
She’d need to get that fixed too, she thought, adding it to her mental checklist, as she took a bite and sighed again.
“It’s delicious,” Kyle said, interrupting the solitude, speaking with his mouth full as he took another big bite. “I’m starving. Thank you.”
“I should be thanking you,” she replied, swallowing quickly and nodding. “This was more than I ever expected…”
“Blue,” he offered, chewing, and smiling slightly.
“Blue,” she replied, taking another bite, and looking around the room to keep from gawking at him.
