Page 53 of One Night

"Mail," Van says, dropping it on the kitchen table where I'm sitting with my laptop.

"Guess I forgot to get it yesterday." I glance at the stack of envelopes. The one on top is from a hospital I interviewed with for an internship. I'm not interested in health care marketing, but like I said, I can't be picky. If I get it, I'm taking it.

I rip open the envelope and take out the sheet of paper. The first line reads, We are pleased to offer you an internship for the spring semester.

"Got an internship," I say holding the letter up to Van, who's standing at the open fridge.

"Did you drink my beer?"

"No." I pause to think. "Maybe I did. I don't know. Who cares? Did you hear me? I got an internship."

"Yeah? So? Where is it?"

"The hospital, which is the last place I wanted to work but at least it pays and gives me experience."

I finish reading the letter. It says I can start next week if I want to help out with the holiday fundraiser. Why not? It'll give me extra cash as well as the experience I need.

"That girl wrote you a letter," Van says, shoving some chips in his mouth. "It's in the stack."

Sorting through the mail, I find a cream colored envelope with her fancy handwriting. She couldn't have mailed it. She must've dropped it off. Why didn't she knock on the door? She could've at least said hello before leaving. She's going to drive me crazy with this letters only thing. I want to be able to talk to her, and I definitely want to see her.

"You gonna open it?" Van asks as he sees me staring at it.

"Yeah, but not in front of you." I get up, the letter in my hand.

"You can stay there. I'm leaving to go buy some beer. You want anything?"

"No, I'm good."

As he goes out the back door, I sit down and open the envelope and take out the sheet of paper. I smell something. A hint of perfume. I bring the paper to my nose and inhale. It's a sweet, flowery smell. Girly. Romantic. Just like Amber.

Here's what she wrote.

My dearest Dylan,

It was a pleasure seeing you today. Although your unexpected visit took me by surprise, I appreciated the gesture. And the cranberry muffin.

But...I do think we need time apart. As we both know, being together without "being together" is nearly impossible and makes it hard to take things slow. So for now, let's stick with letters, and maybe I'll call you to discuss the biographical information that's not suitable for letters.

That was the unromantic part of the letter. Here's the romantic part.

I find your eyes bewitching. Beguiling. Perhaps that's why I'm so drawn to you. You beguile me with your eyes. They're the color of chocolate, dark chocolate, the kind that's supposed to be good for you. I like dark chocolate. I also like milk chocolate. I basically like any kind of chocolate.

I'm getting off track. Back to the romance. I love your eyes. I'd like to see them again but it'll have to wait. We need to take time to let our romance blossom, to become a beautiful flower that won't wilt over time but will remain strong, even in the strongest wind and times of drought.

For now, I'll simply dream of your dark chocolate eyes, and the soulful look they give me whenever we're together.

Love, Amber

I'm smiling as I read it. It seems that she decided to go the humorous route. From our brief encounters, I can tell she's not comfortable expressing her feelings, despite claiming to be a romantic. But I think she's serious when she says she likes my eyes. She's always staring at them. I like her eyes too. I'll have to write about them in my next letter.

As I told Van, I have no problem writing these letters but I am annoyed she won't let me see her. It's true our attraction makes it hard not to act on our impulses when we're together, but that shouldn't matter. After all those months apart, we need to see each other, even if it's just for coffee.

Fate brought us together, first at the party, then through Austin and Kira. If that's not a sign we should be together, I don't know what is. But maybe Amber needs yet another sign.

But how many times can fate intervene?

Chapter Thirteen

---