Page 75 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
This time she laughs, which hopefully means she’s no longer mad at me. “If it helps, I always tell Chad about my dates, and there’s a reason I always meet them at the restaurant and never give them my number.”
It helps a little, but it’s not necessarily making me feel any better. Seriously, how is her brother okay with her process?
“You okay there, Fischer?” She puts her hand on my arm, which means she now knows exactly how tense I am thanks to this topic of conversation.
“I watched a lot ofParks and Recyesterday,” I say instead of answering her conversation. “You know the part where Ben and Leslie get found out that they’re secretly dating, and Leslie goes to trial?” The episodes leading up to that part didn’t help my anxiety levels, and despite what I claim about not believing in love, those two characters really had me questioning that because they were clearly meant to be together. Maybe that’s why I argued so much with Micah tonight? It feels like my whole world is changing and I don’t know how to shift my perspectives to match.
“I hate that part,” Micah says. “Although, I do love that Ben quits his job so he isn’t her boss anymore and they can date without any rules getting in the way.”
I didn’t fully understand why he would do that when I was watching yesterday, but now that I’m with Micah again, it makes more sense. If the way I feel about her is anything like the way Ben Wyatt feels about Leslie Knope, maybe it’s not as crazy as I thought.
I’m not saying Micah and I are under any sort of laws that would prevent us from dating, nor am I above her in any way. But there’s something holding me back from really accepting how I feel about her, and I’m getting sick of it.
Maybe I want to give up my goals and realign myself with her. Just like Ben did in the show.
“Take a right,” Micah says. “Then it’ll be the building on the left.”
She directs me to the right entrance, and I pull into one of the visitor spots, memorizing the location in case I am ever lucky enough to come back. She’s on the other side of town from me, but that wouldn’t stop me from making the drive over here every day if she let me.
“Do you want to come in?”
My hand slips, honking the horn right as an old woman passes in front of my car with her little dog on a leash. She startles at the same time her fluffy dog jumps into a barking frenzy, and I want to sink into my seat when the woman shouts some colorful words at me.
Breaking into a fit of giggles, Micah reaches over and pats my head. “You’re hopeless, Fischer. Are you coming in to eat dinner with me or not?”
“Yeah.” I grab both food containers from her lap and slip out of the car after making sure the woman is far enough away to not pose any threat. “Thanks for helping me avoid Kale.”
Micah slips her arm through mine and leads me to the stairs. “I want to meet Kale.”
“Uh, I think you already have.”
“When? I don’t remember anyone named after a superfood.”
Why did I bring it up? I don’t even have any of the details. “He said you went on a date a couple of weeks ago. Met you at the grocery store.”
She gasps and nearly trips on the steps. Her tug as she falls almost knocks the food out of my hands, and I’m so glad I’ve built up enough arm strength that I can hold her up. I’m too hungry to lose my dinner. “Brock is Kale?” she says. Then she snorts. “Oh my gosh. Like broccoli! ’Cause they’re related!”
That gets a groan out of me, but I have to laugh too. It’s actually pretty clever. “Apparently he wanted to know whose texts were making me smile.”
Micah gasps again, and thankfully we’ve reached the landing so there’s less risk of our food going flying. “You’ve been smilingthis whole time?”
I can’t help it. I grin at her, and the gesture seems to take a weight off my shoulders. Especially because of the way it makes her smile right on back. “You can work miracles, Micah.”
When her hands find my cheeks, the air around us stills, like the world has paused for this moment so I pay attention. “Maybe you just needed someone to remind you how,” she whispers.
I could kiss her. She’s right in front of me, and she’s looking at me in a way that seems to be begging me to kiss her. But instead, I squeeze the food containers in my hands so the Styrofoam crinkles and distracts her.
“My door is this way,” she says, moving to the first apartment on the left.
As she lets me inside, I take it all in quickly. Everything is clean and looks fairly new, with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops above hardwood floors. A sewing mannequin sits in the corner with a half-finished dress pinned to it, while a massive bookcase dominates the far wall with more books than Micah could possibly read. Plants are everywhere—windowsills, the bookshelf, above the kitchen cabinets—and the whole place feels so very alive. It’s very Micah.
Based on the size, I’m guessing it’s a two bedroom, and this part of the city is nicer than where I live. I can’t imagine the rent is cheap.
“How can you afford this?” I ask, even if that question might be rude. “I doubt Lila pays you any better than Grant pays me.”
Micah giggles and takes the food from me, setting it on the coffee table in her living room. “Okay, so when I said I don’t ask for help from people, that’s true. But I also lived with my dad until he and his wife moved to Diamond Springs just a few years ago. So I had a lot saved up.”
“I used to live in a penthouse downtown.” As soon as those words leave my mouth, I want to take them back. She doesn’t need to know about my life before Bradley Properties.
