Page 32 of Hiding for the Holidays
Thinking of you.Yeah, right…
What are you doing right now?
That would inevitably lead to her asking what I was doing, and I’m not sure staking out her apartment to make sure she’s okay would be an answer that wouldn’t send her running. Not that we were stalking her; it was just that her building was fullof meth-heads and junkies. She didn’t belong there. She was too kind and pure to be in a place like that. It was clear she’d never touched drugs in her life.
I rest my head back in my seat and change my car radio to another station. I like Christmas music and all, but after three hours, I need a break.
The snow continues to fall outside, and I think about her lack of appropriate outerwear. I glance at my passenger seat, where a brand new red snow jacket waits for her. I picked it up on my way here tonight.
I’ve been wanting to do it for days, but I was afraid of how she would react. However, today’s snowfall pushed me into action. She’ll get sick being outside in a denim jacket in this weather.
I think about the gloves that Asher bought her, and my hands tighten on the steering wheel in frustration. I know he likes her, and considering the fact that he barely dates, I should step back, but I can’t. There is something tangible between Clara and I, something I’ve never felt before, and I don’t want to let it go.
Of course, I had to figure out a way to get Asher and Leo to back off. Leo flirts with a lot of girls, but I can tell it’s different with her. The way he looks at her tells me he wants her.
They are my best friends, and I couldn’t lose them over a girl. But I also didn’t want to lose Clara. Is there a way to convince them to back off? What they are feeling can’t be nearly as strong as the way I feel about her. And I think she feels it too; I see the way she looks at me. She’s afraid, but I think she likes me.
The door to her building opens, and she steps out, pulling her jacket tightly around her as she shivers.
“What the hell?” I glance at the time, nine p.m. “Where is she going at this time of night?” I watch as she walks down thestreet, and when she’s far enough away I start my car and follow behind her, making sure to keep enough of a distance that she doesn’t see me.
After twenty minutes, my phone rings. I put it on speakerphone as I keep my eyes glued to her. The snow is coming down a little harder now, and I don’t want to lose her out here.
“Hey.”
“Hey, what’s going on? You coming back soon or what?” Asher asks, sounding annoyed. He wanted to come out here, but I made the argument that we should rotate shifts. He didn’t like it, but he agreed.
“She’s on the move.”
“What? What do you mean? Isn’t it snowing?”
“Yeah, she’s walking somewhere. I’m following her in my car.”
“Don’t lose her.”
“I won’t.”
“Which way is she heading?”
“I’m not sure, she—wait. She just turned down Leslie Street.”
“Leslie? There’s nothing down there, just the train yard.”
I stay silent as I think about what business she could have in a train yard this late at night.
“You don’t think she—” Leo starts, but Asher and I both cut him off.
“No.”
“Hey, I doubt she’s selling drugs, but why else would she be going there right now?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” I tell them.
“Hang tight, we’re coming,” Asher says, as rustling comes through the phone.
“You don’t need to?—”
“We’re coming,” he says, more adamantly this time. “We don’t know what kind of people are there or how many.”
