Page 47 of Unmasking Love
Are you headed to bed?
I watch the text go from sent, to read, and wait with baited breath for her reply. Rereading my question gives my subconscious a chance to picture her in bed. Surrounded by plush pillows and rumpled sheets. That multidimensional hair flowing around her.
The question was innocent enough but I shift a little in my seat as my imagination takes over.
Scrolling back up through our messages I smile because of the text she sent me at the end of the game. Then further back to our exchange at lunch. The quote from this morning and our texts about the delivery last night. Then it transitions to links to homes she sent.
Besides my parents, she’s the only person I talk to every day. Well, my teammates too but they’re paid to hang out with me and we all know that doesn’t count.
I think what I’m feeling is longing. I missher. More than I’ve ever missed my parents. We’ve known each other for a month but I forget what it was like before I knew her.
I miss talking to Harper in person, hearing her laugh. I miss seeing her eyes as they process information. I miss her wit and her charm and her sensitivity.
My thumb hovers over the FaceTime app but I quickly lock my screen to avoid calling her by mistake.
Plus on a dark bus is not where I want to have my first FaceTime with her. The visual of her in bed flashes again but I shake it away. I want totalkto her about Cody coming up to me at the end of the game. How a part of me felt bad for not keeping in touch. But another part of me felt glad he wanted to talk to me in the first place.
I look out the window as we pull away from the arena. My ears are full of a podcast about European road cycling but my mind is full of Harper.
It isn’t until I’m boarding the plane for D.C. twenty minutes later that she responds.
Not yet. I am absolutely captivated by this Heartmark show.
The goofy love story channel?
Mypodcast is interrupted by my phone ringing. I sit up a little straighter and answer the call. “Hello?”
“I can’t text and watch the show at the same time so I’m calling.”
“Hi Harper,” I almost whisper. The sound of her voice warming my entire being.
“So, they’re doing this reality show competition. It is twelve hunky actors that are trying to get the starring role in the channel’s major Christmas movie.”
“For real?” I laugh.
“Yes, and it is amazing. Tonight they had to make their own ugly Christmas sweaters and then model them in a room full of grannies.”
I chuckle at her excitement and she goes quiet. I assume she’s watching the show so I just wait quietly too. I hear little sounds. Maybe she’s shifting around, pulling a blanket up to her chin. Maybe it’s just her breath. But it makes me feel close to her. Like I’m in the same room.
What would she say if I asked to come over tonight?
No, that’s ridiculous. We’ve only been texting for a week and she can’t possibly be ready for a new relationship.
“Okay, commercial.” She says. “How’d it feel to be back in New York?”
“A little weird, the arena is always different when you’re coming from the visitor’s locker room. But, at this point I’ve been on a third of the teams in the league so I’ve been on both sides of the ice.”
“Did it feel good to win there?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “It did.” Cody comes to mind so I add. “I got to say hi to an old teammate after the game and that felt good, too.”
“That’s really nice Aiden.” Her voice is soft. Would we speak like this if we were together on the sofa at the end of the day? Would she let me rub her feet? Would she comb her fingers through my hair if I rested on her legs?
“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” I stop breathing when she takes a deep inhale. What if she asks to see me right now? Shouldn’t I be the one to ask her out? But then again, after a breakup I want her to be in charge of how fast we move. “I haven’t found another house to show you yet.”
My eyes fall closed as I lean my head against the window. It feels hopeless to dream of these things with Harper because, to her, I’m just a client, nothing more.
“That’s okay Harper,” I tell her as the plane starts to get going. “What does your day look like tomorrow?”
