Page 26 of Too Much In Common
* * *
ZoElle: 3 p.m. Don’t be late.
Chris: I thought I had the day off.
ZoElle: You do. Helping with class doesn’t count.
Chris switched his laundry. Apparently, his appeal to ignore Dr. Linn’s advice had fallen upon deaf ears. He wasn’t sure spending more time around Tian was a good idea. He’d spent way too much time thinking about her over the weekend, wondering if he’d overstepped arranging her room. Independent women didn’t like men taking over for them—or at least that was what his sisters told him. Although he’d do it again in the same situation. That wasn’t the reason he’d been avoiding Tian. The problem was he was attracted to her in a way he hadn’t been attracted to a woman in a very long time. Earlier, when he noticed she was in the secure gym, he’d gone downstairs to the larger one.
The chances of getting through the self-defense class without talking to her was zero. The more he talked to her, the more he wanted to, and why was he fighting it?
If he was a gentleman, he’d offer her a ride over to Hastings, so she didn’t have to take a taxi.
He may or may not have used Javier’s login to see if she was in the common areas of the building before going to the store that morning. The computer told him she didn’t have an assigned parking space or a car. He logged out and texted Javier to change his password to something harder to break than Que$o4D1nn3r.
He hadn’t crossed the ethical line and looked at her personal information leaving him two choices if he wanted to offer Tian a ride to the Tuesday night class. Either he could knock on the door or ask the front desk to call her. He should have stayed logged in to Javier’s account for another minute. If he used the security desk to call, every Hastings employee in the greater Chicago area would know before the Tuesday night news aired. Knock on her door won.
No answer. Not even a shuffling of feet behind the door. Of course, if she’d remembered to use her building app, she would have seen him on the video feed. If he rang the buzzer, her roommates would receive alerts on their phones... nope.
As he walked back down the hall, the elevator pinged. Chris slowed his steps. Mrs. Whipple from 40C stepped out with her cat carrier. In a movie, Tian would have stepped off the elevator. Chris said his hellos and returned to his laundry.
A few moments later, the doorbell buzzed. He checked his app. Tian stood back from the door, tapping an envelope in her hand.
Chris opened the door. “Hey.”
She held out the mail. “I think it is only junk mail, but it clearly says 40H so—”
“Thanks. I haven’t seen anything for you.”
“I use a virtual mailbox. They send me photos of my junk mail and I tell them to shred it or open it. I only send packages to my physical address.”
“I’ll remember that next time I receive a package. I just stopped by your place. Would you like a ride to the class?”
“The defense class?”
“Yes. I got recruited to help.” Suddenly, he wasn’t so annoyed with Dr. Linn’s interference.
“No, thanks. I thought I’d walk. It is only 3/4 mile. I walk further than that at many airports, including O’Hare.”
He needed to justify driving. “Inside miles differ from outside miles, especially when it is below freezing.”
“Fair point. What if I hitchhike back?”
“I think part of the point of the class is to not hitchhike, but I’ll offer you a ride, anyway.”
“I am careful to only hitchhike with people I trust.” She waved as she turned away.
Chris arrived early at Hastings and stopped by ZoElle’s office. He tapped on the open door and waited for her to look up from one of several computer screens on her desk. “Anything I need to know before your class?”
“My class?” ZoElle removed her glasses. “Oh. I’m not teaching today. Abbie and Melanie are.”
“Melanie Hastings is teaching with her daughter?” Chris had only met Melanie once at last year’s company picnic. Of course, he’d seen and met Abbie Hastings Harmon since she was friends with MsO. Abbie was legendary in the personal security industry. Undoubtedly, some stories about her had been exaggerated in the five years since she left the industry after her marriage to media mogul Preston Harmon.
“Yes. They wanted a girls’ night out.”
“So they are teaching a self-defense class?” Teaching anything seemed an odd choice for a night out activity.
“They both taught some of the first classes I took when I started here as a receptionist. Melanie claims teaching is at the top of her fun list. And if you’ve ever met Abbie’s triplets, you know that a few hours of sparring with adults is relaxing.”
