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“Are you even listening to me?”
I blinked and switched the phone to my other ear. “Yeah, sorry. I spaced out for a few seconds there. What were you saying?”
Taylor exhaled. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Still thinking about the financier?”
“No,” I replied a little too quickly. “I’ve just had to pick up a few extra shifts at the restaurant, and Ander has been on my case lately.”
Since the night I met Bernard, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. Unfortunately, between the extra shifts I was having to work at La Mesa under the watchful and judgmental gaze of Ander, who was still carrying a grudge over the wineglass-breaking incident and waking up alone in my bed every day, I hadn’t been able to do much about it.
Bernard and our night together were never far from my thoughts.
Unfortunately, he’d made it pretty clear that I meant nothing to him by sneaking off in the middle of the night without even a note to tell me where he went.
Waking up in the hotel room in the large, empty bed alone that fateful night a few weeks ago had been hard. I kept replaying it over in my head and seeing myself wandering around the hotel room with a sheet held up to my body. I’d circled the entire room twice before stepping into the shower and trying to forget all about him.
I’d even scrubbed my entire body twice as if I could rid myself of his scent.
But I could still smell him on my skin, and I could still feel his hands all over me weeks later.
And every night, I dreamed of him, his lean, muscular body lying down next to mine and his bright eyes full of warmth and laughter. In my dreams, I saw myself reaching for him and drawing him closer. Each time he opened his mouth to say something, my alarm went off, and I woke up in my small, empty apartment, heart hammering in my chest and covered in a cold sweat.
Why couldn’t I get him out of my mind?
After only one night together, I was going out of my mind, and I didn’t know what to do. Given that I only knew his name and the fact that he worked in LA, I didn’t have much else to go on. Even a deep internet search hadn’t revealed anything useful, making the hollow ache in my heart worse.
I didn’t even know why I was still looking for him.
Considering he left in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye.
I was better off without him.
Or at least it’s what I tried to tell myself.
“Are you sure you can’t remember anything else about him? I still can’t believe he just left without a word.”
I sighed and glanced over my shoulders at the kitchen doors. “Yeah, me neither.”
The double doors opened and closed while several servers rushed past, carrying trays and looking frazzled. I sat on the table in the corner and pushed my food around, unable to enjoy my lunch break. In the kitchen across from me, steam hissed and rose through the air. Now and again, I caught a glimpse of the cooking staff in their pristine white uniforms, and I paused.
They looked happy, like they had a purpose.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t even find one man.
A man who, for all intents and purposes, didn’t want to be found.
“You should come out and visit,” Taylor suggested after a brief pause. “It’ll help keep your mind off of things.”
“Maybe I should. How’s the insurance job going, by the way?”
“It keeps me busy, but I love every minute of it,” Taylor responded. “You know, you could hire a PI or something.”
I picked up a fry and snorted. “Yeah, with what money?”
“Good point. Maybe go back to the hotel and ask them for information? Tell them he forgot something, and you have no way of returning it.”
“I tried that already.”
Two weeks after his abrupt departure, I’d made my way back to the hotel and made a beeline for the front desk. Two men and women in black and white uniforms were seated behind the desk, and they all levelled the same look at me. I’d clutched my purse and barely got through my explanation before they shook their heads at me.
