Page 55 of Petals and Plot Twists
Archer tiltshis water bottle up and takes a long drink, sweat dripping down his forehead. We’re sitting side by side against the wall in the back of the racquetball court at a nearby gym, and Archer just cleaned the floor with me three games in a row.
I’m at least getting better. We’ve played three mornings this week, and it’s become my favorite way to work out, so I can’t be mad at the guy for beating me so soundly.
“So let me get this straight,” Archer says when he lowers his water bottle. “You’ve technically been offeredtwopromotions.”
“The second one was unofficial, but yeah.”
“But you don’t really want that one,” he says, a statement more than a question. “The unofficial one.”
“I do. It’s the promotion IthoughtI was getting. I just want the one in Charlotte more.”
“Because it pays more?”
“Yeah, but it’s more than that. It’s an incredible opportunity. It would give me access to the other side of data science. Right now, I do the research, but I’m not a part of interpreting it. In Charlotte, I would be. I would be presenting findings, making suggestions to the people who do the actual problem-solving. It would be much more challenging.”
“So why are you hesitating? If it’s a better job, and the pay is good and you want to do it, there are worse places to live than Charlotte. It’s a great city.”
“I like the city,” I say. “I just—I don’t know. Hard to leave a place that’s always been home, you know?”
Archer nods. “But isn’t your family moving to the South anyway? What will you still have in Serendipity Springs?”
“Sophie,” I say without hesitation.
Archer lifts an eyebrow. “I thought she might be at the root of your hesitation.”
“She matters,” I say. “A lot.”
“All right, let’s say you turn down the job in Charlotte so you can stay in Serendipity Springs with Sophie. Then her dating scheme works, and she falls in love with someone else.”
I shoot him a look. “This is some pep talk you’re giving.”
He lifts his hands. “What do you want me to say? You showed up on my doorstep a week ago and admitted you’re in love with her. And she’s taken how many guys up to the roof since then? Seems like you’d be anxious to let her know how you feel.”
Archer isn’t wrong.
I’ve had multiple opportunities to come clean, and I keep finding reasons to delay. To put off the conversation just a little bit longer. I might as well be right back in high school, planning and plotting a prom proposal until it’s too late.
“I guess a part of me thinks if she felt the same way I did,” I say, “she wouldn’t need to go to all this trouble to meet other men. She wouldn’t want to date anyone else.”
“But how can she really make that call if she doesn’t know you’re an option?”
“I think it’s the promotion that’s making me hesitate,” I say. “I don’t want it to factor into her decision about me—us.”
“How would it?” Archer asks.
“I don’t know. Maybe it would make her feel pressured to date me because she knows I’ll move if she doesn’t? At the same time, I don’t want her to think that if I do give the job up, that I’m doing it for her.”
“But you would be,” Archer says.
“But I don’t want her to know that.That feels like a lot of pressure, too.”
“Come on,” Archer says. He stands up and offers me a hand. “Sophie deserves more credit than that. If she’s factoring into your decision at all, she deserves to be a part of the conversation.”
I take his hand and let him haul me to my feet.
He reaches for his racket. “One more game?”
“Are you serious right now? I can barely stand up.”
