Page 44 of A First Sight

“Okay is a pretty accurate word,” I conceded. “Not great, but not bad either.”

He flipped the ‘toasties’ and didn’t ask me to elaborate. That didn’t surprise me. He was good about not pushing me to tell him things, letting me decide if to say more.

Surprising myself, I wanted to keep going. “Talking to my family was difficult, but good.” Nervously, I raked a hand through my hair. “The bad part of the day was work.”

“You went to work?”

The edge to his question surprised me. “I needed a face-to-face with Nehemiah. I appreciate that you talked to him yesterday, but I wanted to have him hear the facts from me.”

Drake nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“I won’t be going back this week, though.” I took the silverware out of the drawer and placed it next to the plates with a frustrated sigh. “Dale filed a police report, saying that I hit him first, and he was just defending himself.”

“What the hell?!” Drake turned to stare at me.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I said.” I went to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of juice. “At least Nehemiah is on my side, but I’m suspended for a week, until their lawyers figure out their liability.”

As Drake slid the toasties onto a plate, I filled him in on the basic gist of my conversation with Nehemiah.

However, the moment I bit into my sandwich, all thoughts of everything but food fled. I never had a more delicious grilled cheese sandwich in my life. This wasn’t some simple bread-cheese-bread.

“This is amazing,” I said around a mouthful.

“Thank you.” A hint of color in his cheeks made me think Drake was blushing. “I don’t consider myself a food snob, but I am picky about the type of cheese I use in my sandwiches.”

“Well, you’ve converted me.”

We ate in silence, which was as welcomed today as yesterday. Sometimes it was nice enjoying the food without feeling the need to find a topic…or be compelled to listen to someone talk about themselves.

“Do you have anything going on this afternoon?” I asked.

“Not at all. Do you need me for something?”

“Would you be able to drive me home…I mean, to Dale’s place? I want to get a few things, and Dale should be with his friends for a few more hours.”

“Of course. We can go as soon as you’re ready.” He finished his sandwich and stood to clear the table.

“Thank you. You are my hero,” I said, picking up my plate. “If we go now, we should be able to make it before he gets back.”

We made it to Murray Hill, and it relieved me to see that Dale's car wasn't in its usual spot.

Drake followed me up the walk after I asked him to come in and didn’t say a word when I asked him to stay in the living room while I went to the bedroom.

Gritting my teeth, I stepped inside, going straight to the closet to get my suitcases. I hadn’t thought about specific things I wanted to get, but clothes were the most obvious. I grabbed my favorites; first, the comfortable things Dale never liked me wearing, and a few cute outfits he hated because they ‘attracted attention from men.’ Anything with bad memories stayed where it was.

Once I packed those and my basic toiletries, I turned my attention to anything else I didn’t want to leave behind. This would be my only trip.

I wore little jewelry, and that was in the small box I had already packed. The fact that my things weren’t thrown away or destroyed made me wonder if Dale had been home yet since the incident. It was good I’d come now rather than wait.

I retrieved my laptop, Kindle, as well as my phone charger.

I made my way down the hall to the living room. I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted.

Drake was at the front window when I stepped into the living room, his posture deceptively casual. If I didn’t see how intently he was looking outside, I might’ve thought he was simply enjoying the view.

“I’m ready to go,” I said.

When he turned, a flash of surprise crossed his features. “That was fast.”

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