Page 39 of Fall I Want
“Well?”
“He gifted me this.” I point at it, shocked because no one has ever given me anything so expensive.
She glances inside.
“Wow.” Julie pulls out the brand-new iPhone box. “Rose gold. Largest storage. Did you give him a handy we don’t know about?”
“Hell no. I treated him like shit and then apologized the best I could. I don’t think I can accept this,” I tell her.
She places her hand on my shoulder. “Why not?”
“I don’t want him to think he needs to buy my friendship. I also don’t want to be love bombed.”
“He can slap my butt and call me Pumpkin.” Julie snickers. “Look. Maybe gifting expensive things is his love language, just like how baking pumpkin bread is yours.” She shoots me a wink.
“You have a point.” I shake my head and groan.
“Wait,didyou make him pumpkin bread?”
“Ugh.” I won’t be able to deny it to her face. I thought I’d have more time to spill the news. “Yes.”
“I knew it!”
“What’s wrong with me?” I whine.
“Nothing. You’re just really predictable. I seriously told Blaire yesterday that you were gonna bake that man a love loaf.” Julie chuckles and sets a screen protector, extra-long charging cord, and a pumpkin case on the desk. “Mr. Dreamy is totally into you and he has a sense of humor,Pumpkin,” she teases.
Hearing him say it gave my heart palpitations. I wished for and wanted him to exist. And he does.
“He’s being nice,” I explain. “Too nice.”
“And recently, he was a total dickhead.”
“Exactly. That’s proof things between us are escalating. We went from annoyed strangers to friends,” I mutter. He’s been buried under my skin since the moment our eyes met.
“First comes love,” she singsongs.
“What do you think about him? Your honest opinion.”
Julie is never wrong about anyone I’ve ever befriended or dated. She was dead-on about Sebastian, and the jerk I was with in college.
“I think deep down Alex is a good guy and has a good heart. But it’s clear to me that he’s going through some shit,” she says. “We just have to figure out what that is.”
I sigh. “I can’t fix him.”
“Maybe he can fix you.” She waggles her brows. “And you’ll be writing in no time.”
“I’ve kept up with my daily haikus. All love themed as assigned.”
A wide smile fills her face and she squeals. “Heisyour inspo. Oh my fucking God!”
“Hello? Are you kidding me?” Blaire yells from the doorway to the storage area. “Want me to handle it all alone? We’re getting majorly backed up.”
Julie pops her head out of the office. “Sorry! We’re coming. Just crisis avoiding.”
We jog to the front where the line quickly moves. Half the dining room waits for their order, but no one seems upset.
“I need to tell you both something,” Blaire says behind Julie as we work the hell out of the espresso machines. “Alex gave me five hundred bucks to pay for everyone’s order who walked in and then he tipped us the same amount.”
