Page 29 of Reclaiming Love

“That’s what I thought.” That, and because he wanted to make the move happen before the one year anniversary.

They were making small talk, polite talk. But he wanted to ask if she had a boyfriend, to probe around the outer edge of those relationship boundaries. He wanted to know if she was single and interested. Because he was. And all things being equal, if she was single and interested, then they could make plans of some sort.

But he didn’t want to push too much, too soon. It was different from knowing Bree. They’d had history from high school and added to their history by getting together a second time.

This thing with Melissa was completely new to him. It wasn’t even as if they knew a mutual third party whom they could each consult for updates on the other’s current relationship status.

This was new territory for him, and the only way to not blow it would be to take it slow, let things unfold. If he had a chance, he’d get to find out in due course.

“I’m looking forward to being in the city, bright lights and all that.”

“Yeah. We love it. There’s so many great bars and restaurants close by, and you can pretty much walk to most places, as you know.”

His breath had hitched on the “we.” She’s taken.

“Heather and I usually go out once a week.” He relaxed a little at this. The faint ringtone of a cell phone sounded close by. Melissa continued, “There’s a cool new bar called Zoot that’s opened not far from here.” She reached into her bag and drew out the cell phone.

“I’ve heard of it,” he said. Paul had mentioned something about a Zoot recently. “Go ahead,” he said, when she looked up at him, almost apologetically, then with a hardened expression on her face, she cut the call off.

“It can wait.”

A sound tinged again before she’d had the chance to put the phone out of sight.

“You recommend Zoot?” he asked her, but her attention diverted to the cell phone.

“Ignore that. Sometimes I get texts about work.” He watched her flick a few buttons before she shoved the cell phone into her bag. “Zoot, you should try it.” She attempted to continue with the conversation, but he could tell that something had shaken her. Maybe the real pressure was work related. The good news for the day was that she lived with a girlfriend. And so far she hadn’t mentioned a guy.

The signs were looking good.

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