Page 15 of No One Else

The first face to pop into my head is Evan’s. Where’d that come from? “I- no, there’s no one.” I probably only thought of him because I’m about to meet him. “Listen, I have to go. I’m almost late.”

“Okay, I love you, honey.”

“Love you too.”

I hang up and head into the bookstore, the delicious warmth of heated air greeting me. I unwrap my scarf from around my neck and tuck it into my bag, searching for Evan’s tall frame.

The door opens behind me and I automatically glance back, doing a double take when I realize it’s him. His cheeks are flushed from the cold, hands stuffed into the front pocket of his faded black hoodie.

“Hey,” he greets me, his familiar grin sending a burst of warmth through me. Wait, that’s not right. I must just be standing under a vent. “What’s up with this cold snap?”

“I know, it’s crazy. It was a good twenty degrees warmer this time yesterday.” I burrow further into my peacoat, the wool scratchy against my neck without my scarf there. “Did you leave your coat at home?”

“Uh, yeah.” He glances away, taking his hands out of his pocket to cup them together and blow on them.

I peer at him more closely. Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen him wear a coat. Does he have one? I mean, how can he not? It’s Florida, but it still gets cold. It’s the middle of the day and in the 40’s outside. Maybe that’s not chilly for people up north, but for a native Floridian, it’s freaking freezing.

“Are you ready to get started?” he asks, interrupting my thought process.

I shake my head to clear it. Ever since that night, I’ve been second guessing a lot. “Yeah, I’d love to.” I clamp my mouth shut. Poor choice of words mentioning love, Natalie. Jesus.

I walk over to one of the tables at the cafe area of the bookstore and pull my Marketing class folder out of my bag. I search through until I find the sheet that has our next assignment on it, looking it over. “Okay, so we have to pick out something that attracts our attention, then the other person has to take what they’ve learned about you and your buying style and explain why you’re drawn to it. It also saysspecifically apply the concepts of color psychology from chapter three to aid in your reasoning.”

I pull out the pages that I scanned from the textbook about the meanings of different colors and how they’re used in marketing to evoke specific reactions in consumers. “I have those right here.”

“Always prepared,” he smiles. “All right,” he claps his hands together, looking around.

“Hey, should we guess about the other person again?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Okay, you go first.” I’m insanely curious about what he’ll pick for me. I obviously never realized how much he’s paid attention to me. Maybe what he admitted to remembering during our last assignment should have been concerning, but it wasn’t. I’d just been astounded. And a little flattered if I was being honest with myself. And to be fair... I noticed a lot about him too.

We walk around the store for a minute, wandering over into the stationery aisle. Oh, yeah. This section is my jam.

He stands still while he peruses the merchandise, his fingers idly stroking his jaw. I gaze at his profile, his actions mesmerizing. Those big hands, the clean-shaven face. I’ve had those hands on me. I’ve stroked that jaw.

“This,” he says triumphantly, grabbing an item off the shelf. I come out of my reverie, hoping he didn’t notice my staring. In his hand is a twelve-month planner with a gorgeous cover, a swirl of bold and cheerful colors across the front.

“I love it.” I grab it out of his hands, opening it up to flip through the pages. Week at a glance style, monthly to-do lists, inspirational quotes along the bottom of every page. Yes, yes, and yes please.

I look up at him, his eyes dancing with glee. “I’m guessing that’s a win then?”

“You still have to explain why,” I tell him, hugging the planner to my chest. I’m totally buying this.

“Organization is practically your religion.”

A burst of laughter escapes me. “I think you might be right.”

“The colors are bright and upbeat, just like you.” He takes the sheet of color explanations from our textbook and skims it. “Red for energy, yellow for optimism, and a hint of teal that balances out the other two and adds sophistication. It’s you,” he says simply, his eyes locked with mine.

I get caught up in his gaze for a minute. He sees me like that?

He rubs the back of his neck, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “All right, your turn.”

“Yeah, okay.” Well geez, how am I going to top that?

I stride through the rest of the aisles and then over to the open clothing section, searching for anything that screamsEvan, but nothing jumps out at me as something he’d use. He follows behind, content to let me take my time.

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