Page 7 of The Luck of Finding You
The guy who has been in way too many of my dreams than I’d like to admit over the past five years. He wasn’t supposed to come back. He was supposed to just stay in the little box in my mind that I kept him in. Away from reality, a fantasy, a nice daydream for bad days. But there he was, in flesh and blood. Plus, seeing him threw me back in time and made me miss Mom, and I don't need all of those emotions happening today. I try to think about Noah instead of my mom. It may not be the distraction I want, but it is a distraction.
He’s become a man since I last saw him, with his shoulders filled out and his jaw somehow more defined than before. He was also sporting a five-o’clock shadow that I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make my stomach flutter just like his laugh did all those years ago.
I pause on the sidewalk, closing my eyes, and let myself picture his smooth, almost wavy brown hair. And his lips.Oh, his lips. What I wouldn’t give to feel them against mine again…
My eyes snap open and I grab my phone. I cannot think about his lips. Or kissing those lips. I hit Holly’s name and press call, even though I know she’s at school. I still hope she’ll answer.
“Pick up, pick up, pick up…” I take two steps as I wait for Holly to answer my call. By some miracle, she answers the phone.
“I’ve got three minutes until the bell rings and class starts,” she says by way of hello. I can picture her sitting at her desk, watching as students filter into her classroom. “This better be important.”
“I saw Noah,” I blurt.
Holly starts to laugh.
“It’s not funny, Holls.” Frustration bubbles up inside of me. She clearly doesn’t understand what he’s doing to my brain, what he’s done to my brain already, why I wish he was just someone I’d dreamt up and wasn’t real. He is the bad idea that makes me want to be impulsive and carefree. He is not someone I can get mixed up with again.
“It’s kind of funny.” Her laughter is only growing. This really isn’t that funny. Terrible, maybe? The worst timing? Absolutely. But not funny. “You just so happen to run into the guy whose kiss made you swear off all men forever? That’s funny. What happened?”
Holly might be my big sister and one of my closest friends, but I never told her the whole story. I told her the part about being in the café, about Noah coming in and Peter showing up. I didn’t tell her that Noah and I spent the rest of the afternoon together. Mostly because she would have completely freaked out. She doesn’t get why his kiss made me swear off all men, because it was so much more than just a kiss. But I left that part out because his leaving still makes my heart sting at random times. I wasn’t about to talk about it.
I quickly tell her about the café. I hear a bell chime from her end of the call.
“Oh, fudge, I’ve gotta go.”
Normally, I’d smile at her creative lack of swearing, but not today. “Holly, what am I supposed to do?” I nearly yell into the phone. She can’t leave me like this.I need answers. I need help.
“Go tell him you’ve been pining for him for years and that you want to marry him and have his babies. Okay, love you, bye.”
She hangs up before I can say anything else.
“UGH!” I look at the time on my phone. “Oh, shoot.”
I half jog three blocks before I force myself to walk. I don’t want to show up out of breath.
The courthouse looms large as I approach. Though I’ve never been inside, I’ve driven by a thousand times. Stopping to catch my breath, I stand in the shadow of the tall building and realize that I’ve already started to sweat. So much for the cool temperatures my phone’s Weather app promised me this morning. It was supposed to be cooler until at least three, which is why I wore a sweater, but I’m already dying of heat. I can’t take it off though because I didn’t wear a shirt underneath, and I can’t exactly go to a meeting in only a bra.
Once I enter the building, a massive board across from the elevators tells me that I need to head up to floor three, where Thorne & Ferguson Law Firm is located. The elevator is empty, and I fidget while I wait to get to the third level.
I pull out my phone. There’s not a new message from Mo, but I send one to him.
TheNoraReview:I really wish I could read for a living and not have to go to work or other meetings. I’m about to have my meeting, and I feel like I’m about to lose my job.
He responds almost immediately, which is good because I’m freaking out a bit about what I’m going to learn in this meeting. Will this be my last day at The Book Shop?
MoReads:Wait, WHAT!? I didn’t realize your meeting was that kind of meeting. I hope that’s not the case. Don’t you like your job?
TheNoraReview:I love it. Wish me luck.
The elevator doors open and the smell of coffee makes my stomach roll. Or maybe it’s my nerves and the fact that I didn’t actually eat lunch. Either way, I have no choice but to step out into the well-lit lobby waiting for me. The receptionist smiles at me. “How can I help you?”
“I have a meeting with Jason Thorne. I’m Tally Nelson,” I tell her, and she looks at her computer. I glance down out my phone.
MoReads:Best of luck.
His words don’t bring the comfort I hoped they would.
“He’s meeting you in the conference room.” She stands. “I’ll take you there.” I follow her down a narrow hallway that opens up to a room surrounded by glass on nearly all sides.
