Page 22 of Love Wasted

Present

Taking a sip from my coffee cup, I listen to one of the account mangers in the east coast office jabber on and on about our new project. I follow along on the PowerPoint set up on my computer, grateful they can’t see me yawn every thirty seconds of this entirely-too-early-for-the-west-coast meeting.

Meetings like this won’t happen often, and thank God for that because it’s six in the morning. I’m exhausted, but when they do need me to be prepared and awake and direct questions my way, I can answer with efficiency. Normally, I would be well rested and wide awake, but after Cass went to bed last night, I couldn’t sleep. I thought about her response to my question—can a person find love at a young age and it actually last? It ran through my mind over and over until my brain decided to switch to thinking about the change in her mood after she answered me.

Overall, this meeting is going better than expected.

Trying to keep my volume down so I don’t wake Cass, I interrupt my coworker. “Excuse me, Tom. It’s all well and good if we follow this timeline to perfection, which I’m confident we will. My only concern is we aren’t the only ones with our hands in this and we’ve left no margin for error if someone doesn’t keep pace with us. What is our plan to ensure we are prepared for this?” As Tom addresses my question, my attention is drawn to the near silent gait of someone behind me.

When I look over my shoulder, Cass freezes. Her tiny pajama shorts show entirely too much skin after our encounter yesterday. She gives me an apologetic smile—so damn cute. I wave her off with a smile of my own, trying my damnedest to pay attention to everything Tom is saying over the line since I’m the one who brought up this potential problem.

Once he finishes proposing a solution to our small issue, I respond, hoping we can finish this meeting. “Well, if we can make that work, I’d say we can expect the job to go well for us.” I can hear Cass quietly moving around in the kitchen; it’s distracting, yet comforting in a strange way. “Sounds good. Let’s touch base in a week then again a week before we break ground.” I pause as they all say their goodbyes. “Yes, thanks guys. We’ll talk soon.”

As I hang up the phone, Cass tiptoes past me and sits down, curling her feet under her in the overstuffed floral-print armchair next to me. I watch as she silently takes a sip, closing her eyes as it touches her lips. It’s the most blissful look I’ve ever seen on her face. A small ache forms in my chest and I begin rubbing it away.

When her eyes open, she smiles sweetly. “Good morning. I hope it’s okay if I sit here. I can always go stand in the kitchen and drink my coffee.”

“Good morning, and no, it’s fine. I’m done with my call.” My voice sounds a little foreign to my ears. I pick up my coffee and take a drink. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

“No, you didn’t,” she answers quickly. She smiles then continues a little more softly, “I have a conference call with my editor in half an hour so I set my alarm.” Pointing at herself, she adds, “This girl doesn’t function without at least two cups of coffee to begin her day.”

“Ah, I get that completely,” I agree. “I still have a few calls to make, but if I’m going to be in your way, I can always go in my room. I get that you weren’t expecting to have me around.” Setting my coffee down, I begin gathering my things.

Suddenly, Cass leans forward, her silky hand covering mine, stopping me. “Pax, stop. It’s fine. I’ll go into my room for my call, and then if you don’t mind having me in the same room, I’ll sit at the table when I start going over my rewrites.” I look down at her hand resting on mine and she quickly pulls it away.

“Yeah…yeah, that’s fine. We’ll just work around one another,” I agree.

“Good.” She stands, heading in the direction of the kitchen. Just before she reaches it, she turns back. “Oh and Pax, it’s strange hearing you sound so professional when I know what an inappropriate jackass you can be.” She giggles then disappears into the kitchen.

“Ha-ha!” I call out after her, shaking my head with a huge grin on my face.

Turning my attention back to the design plans for the new building, I begin making notes on the various papers in front of me.

I get a little lost in my work, and it feels good. I’m good—no, I’m great at my job, and it’s nice to feel in my element again because I’ve felt a little lost since I moved back home. At some point, I hear Cass on the phone in her room, but then I easily get caught back up in my own calls and work.

I’m not sure how much time has gone by when a plate of food suddenly appears in my view on the coffee table in front of me.

Looking up, my eyes land on the back of Cass as she walks away. “Hey, what’s this?”

Twisting back around, she shrugs her shoulders. “I made some food and knew you couldn’t possibly have eaten because you’ve been sitting there all morning. I thought you might be hungry. No biggie.” When she starts to walk away I jump up and reach for arm, pull her around, and hug her.

She stiffens and then relaxes, her arms gradually returning my embrace.

“Thank you, Cass.” When I release her, confusion and shock are written across her face.

“Uh, you’re welcome.” She tilts her head to the side like she’s trying to work out a puzzle. “Really, Pax, it was nothing,” Cass assures me.

Looking down into her eyes, I’m overcome with the urge to apologize. “I know, but I wanted to say thank you anyway.” This feeling isn’t something I’ve felt in a long time. I never apologize, because I do everything with purpose. “Cass, I understand this living situation isn’t ideal. I get that we’re trying to get to know one another again as friends, but there has been this wall between us for years, one I helped build. You always seem to pull me into this overwhelming need to push you because I can see you don’t really like me.” She begins to say something but I keep going. “Let me finish. I’m not sure when things changed between us. Sure, you are Laney’s friend, but I always thought we were friends in a weird way too. So…shit, what I’m saying is I’m going to work hard on not being an asshole and trying to make sharing an apartment with me as easy as possible for you.”

A small smile begins to spread slowly across her face.

“Damn Pax, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard you say so much at one time.” A giggle escapes and it hits me right in the chest. “I think we can definitely work on being friends. I’m working hard on letting go of my past annoyances with you.” She grins. “This situation isn’t what you expected either, so don’t worry about it. Things are going to be fine between us. Now eat, the food is actually a ploy to keep your mouth closed because I’m going to start working on my manuscript since my editor sent it back to me.”

Now her grin covers her entire face and laughter dances in her clear blue eyes. It’s contagious and before I know it, I’m smiling too.

“Fine, but I’ll take care of dinner.”

“Yes! My evil plan is a success. I was counting on you saying that because I don’t think I’ll be moving for a while.”

Without another word, she saunters over to where she has her computer and notebooks all laid out on the table and gets to work.

My lips tip up at one corner. Yeah, this may not be so bad after all.

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