Page 10 of Secret Love

He throws his hands up in the air. "What? It's a good suggestion."

"Did you find out what she likes? What did you learn about her during the time you talked?" Bowie asks.

"I found out that she likes cinnamon rolls…and cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese.”

“What are you gonna do?” Weston asks. “I’ve never seen you excited about anyone like this…you need to fix it.”

“It wasn’t so much that I felt like I wanted to pursue her…more the feeling that I wish I could…which is new.”

“Well, why the hell wouldn’t you?” Rhodes asks. “If she liked you this morning, you can win her over again.”

“I don’t know. She looked excited to see me when I walked in and by the time I left, her iciness was…” I do a mock shudder. “And I don’t blame her. I walked in there like an entitled ass and didn’t even give her a chance to talk.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, Penn is right,” Bowie says.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Penn laughs.

“Flowers wouldn't hurt. Send her flowers,” Bowie says.

“I can't do that. Where would I send them? The only place I’ve seen her is at the grocery store and at school—and there’s no way I can send them to school.”

“Why not?” Rhodes says. “Grand gesture. Don’t women love the grand gesture?”

They all laugh and I give them a withering glare until they stop.

“Find out where she lives,” Penn says.

“Right, because that’s not creepy.” My head falls back and I groan.

“Okay, so you can't send her flowers. What else can you do? Let us help,” Rhodes says.

“No, the last thing I need is your help. What would you do, go in there and force her to go out with me?” I say, shaking my head.

“Yes,” Rhodes laughs. “Come on, we can be persuasive when we need to be.”

“I don't need your help. I need to just let it go. It just sucked because it was…” I trail off and they all wait expectantly. “Forget it. Not worth talking about. It's just been a crazy morning.”

“No, you don't need to let this go so easily,” Weston says. “Come on, let's figure this out. What else do you know about her? What’s her name?”

“Her name is Tru. And I hardly know anything…except, like I said, cinnamon rolls. And she's hot. And she had an upbeat, sexy personality too until I ruined it.”

“All right,” Rhodes says. “That's plenty to go on. Cinnamon rolls, hmm, well…what’s her last name? That doesn't seem hard to find out. We can call the school. I can pretend to be a parent…”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” I shake my head. “I don't want you getting involved. Her last name is Seymour…and let's talk about something else.”

“There's nothing to talk about that's as exciting as this,” Penn says.

“How's Sam doing?” I ask.

Sam is a kid that Penn has taken under his wing for a while now. He's in the foster care system and Penn started out tutoring him through one of our charity programs, but they've gotten close over the past year.

“Sam's good,” Penn says. “But he's moved into another house again. I’m supposed to see him tonight and hopefully I’ll find outmore about the new place.” He pauses for a second. “So Tru…I like that name, by the way.”

“Yeah, me too,” I say.

Clara walks in with my drink, and I’m happy for the interruption. I shouldn’t have brought up Tru with the guys—they’re not going to let this go easily.

“Thanks, Clara. This is exactly what I needed.”

---