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“Alright, don’t overload yourself. I’ll see you soon.”
Charlie saw the time on her computer screen and cringed. Nearly midnight. Everyone left hours ago. Besides late-night operating restaurants, every business in the plaza had already closed. She loved being in the zone, but her body was soon losing momentum. Maybe she could sleep in tomorrow.
Their operations manager was coming early to open up shop, and Aera said she’d stop by as well, so hopefully tomorrow’s load would be lighter. Charlie looked at the box of salad still uneaten on her desk. She had grown comfortable fasting, but lately her body needed more to sustain her work habits.
She grabbed the box and began to munch, noting the staleness,and eventually spat it back out. It was time to head home, anyway. She could stop by a drive-through on the way.
Getting her things ready, she saw an unread text message on her phone. Her heart danced thinking it was from Rick, but checked and saw an unknown number.
Hi there, this is Rick. I had a great time meeting and golfing with you. If you aren’t too busy, maybe we can do it again next week?
Rick. But not her Rick, not that Rick washerRick. Frederick, the one in finance that her mother met on her cruise. He wanted to do it again next week.
She’d forgotten about him since they last spoke, feeling guilty about ignoring him soon after. It was no questioning Frederick had gotten her number from her mother, but romance would have to wait until she figured out what she wanted.
Stuffing her phone back into her purse, she shucked the bad salad into the trash bin before pulling on her jacket. After locking the doors, she turned to see a familiar figure sitting across the building on a public bench.
His arms were crossed, knees out, and he looked deep asleep. She walked closer, and surprise hit.
“Rick?” she said. He barely stirred, and she reached to nudge him gently on the shoulder.
Grunting, he slowly opened his eyes. “Charlie.” He quickly stood up.
She was lost for words. “What are you doing here? Were you sleeping here?”
“I thought I’d wait for you to finish work, so I can walk you to your car,” he said.
“Youwaitedhere for me?” Charlie noticed his outfit, which was different from when he arrived for the shoot. “Did you go home to change?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to shower before I came back.”
Under the light, she saw his dry hair in its loose glory, his face washed of makeup with the adorable sunspots peppering his uppercheekbone. He smelled like fresh laundry with a simple white shirt and athletic shorts.
“How long have you been waiting?”
“Not long,” he said. “I had dinner here. There’s an arcade, so I played some games.”
Her pathetic heart went soft, and she fought the urge to jump into his arms. She was so close to disparaging everything she stood for if she did.
“Why didn’t you call?”
“I didn’t want to disturb you.” He scraped his hair and coughed. “Though it looked like I would’ve missed you if you didn’t wake me up.”
Charlie gave him a smile. “That’s very sweet. You shouldn’t have.”
“I wanted to. I told you,” he said with determination. “I’ll do all I can to make it up to you.”
They stood silently afterward, neither having much to say. The nighttime breeze passed over, reminding her where she was heading.
Rick lead the way, trailing alongside her as they walked toward the parking structure. Emotions ran wild as she kept a steady pace. He was walking close enough for her to feel his strong presence, and she was too scared to touch him.
But, she loved his gesture. It was like high school, being courted like a princess by her crush. Only nothing about this was juvenile and Rick was very much a man who could crush her heart, and she wouldn’t be able to recover.
As he said, he walked her until they reached her car. Opening the door for her, he watched her slide into the driver’s seat.
“Drive safely,” he said, bending down to look at her through the window. “Can you let me know when you’ve arrived home?”
She nodded. “I will. You drive safely, too.”
