AllFreeNovel
Share Us
However, Aiden seemed pleased by my spontaneous affectionate words and replied, “I miss you, too!”
I saw Julia mouth, Aww! I could feel my face start to flush, so I ended the call before I embarrassed myself further. Swiping the screen, Aiden’s face disappeared.
I pivoted around and faced Julia. “Now what?” She was still smiling from hearing me tell Aiden that I missed him.
I pointed a finger at her face. “Not a word. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Julia didn’t say anything and mimed zipping her lips. But it was Julia, so she couldn’t help herself. She gave me a knowing smile and gave me a hug. “I won’t embarrass you and ask you more questions.”
“Thanks, mom,” I joked, relieved that I could shelve my romantic relationship until later. “So, now that our plans to go to Monterey have been derailed, what do we do in the meantime?”
“Let’s go meet Tristan and his friend Will. He texted me while you were talking to Aiden and said that he looked at a place in Will’s apartment building that was the perfect for us.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m game. It’s not like I have anything to do while I wait for Aiden to talk to Annisa.”
“Great, let me text Tristan and let him know that we’ll be at Russian Hill in fifteen minutes.”
“Russian Hill? Wow!”
Julia had an excited look on her face. “I know. It’s probably going to be a dump because the area is so expensive, so I’m trying not to get too hopeful.”
“Lead the way,” I said and motioned for Julia to enter the hallway first.
But before we left, I took pictures of what we had found, just like Aiden suggested we do. I didn’t know if any of this was related, but it was odd that Annisa would have all this stuff.
Chapter Nineteen
The drive to Russian Hill from Annisa’s apartment didn’t take long as it neighbored Nobb Hill. When we parked in front of the angled building, the guys were standing outside waiting for us.
Julia waved at Tristan and his friend, William Lee, from the car, and she poked me slightly in the rib and whispered, “If you weren’t already seeing Aiden, I would set you up with Will.”
I shuddered as I recalled my mother asking for Julia’s help setting me up with a friend of Tristan’s. She was probably hoping that the friend would be a nice doctor like Julia’s husband.
I sneaked a peak at the tall and lanky guy standing next to Tristan. Due to some out-of-town business, Will wasn’t able to attend Tristan and Julia’s wedding, so I hadn’t met him until now.
“Will and Tristan are friends from college,” Julia said and then leaned in closer. “Isn’t he cute? He looks like an actor from a K-Drama.” She gave me a wink to emphasize her point.
I rolled my eyes at Julia’s observation. Between Julia and my mother, I couldn’t escape their incessant need to find someone for me. Then I chuckled. Both my mom and Julia were petite Korean women, but when it came to meddling in other people’s affairs, their determination made them appear larger than life. If match making was a sport, they would be Olympic Gold medalists. I snorted.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, giving me a strange look.
“Nothing. We should probably get out.”
Julia nodded her head in agreement and then rushed out to give Tristan a hug. She threw herself into his arms, and he swung her around. Geez! You would’ve thought that they hadn’t seen each other for weeks instead of a few hours. Embarrassed, I averted my gaze and ended up meeting Will’s eyes.
He gave me a sheepish smile. “Hi, I’m Will,” he said and held out a hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Claire.” When I shook his hand, I noticed that his grip was firm, and I liked that. There was nothing worse than when a man gave a woman a wimpy handshake.
“How long have you lived in this neighborhood?”
“I’ve been here for about five years. It’s close to work, and there’s a nice park where I can go for a run in the mornings,” he answered.
As he spoke, I looked more closely at Tristan’s friend. Julia was right. Will resembled the lead actor in a K-Drama that my mom said that I should watch. I couldn’t remember the name of the show, and I debated whether I should call my mom later to ask about it. I decided against it because she would ask endless questions about why I wanted to know.
Trying to push the thought of my mom aside, I asked, “How’s the apartment? Can we get a tour of the place?”
“I’m sorry, but the building superintendent already left,” Will said, giving us an apologetic smile.
