Chapter 13

I hope everyone's holidays have gone and are continuing to go well! This chapter's kind of filler, so stick with me please!










I walked back into my office after lunch with Patrick and dropped my stuff on a chair. I double checked to make sure I didn’t have an appointment coming up. I didn’t and I knew that Paige had a free period. I picked up the phone and called her, telling her to come down to my office.

“Want to talk about Saturday night?” she asked with a wink and a smile. I really didn’t, having other things on my mind, but I obliged. “How did it go?”

“It was a disaster,” I told her truthfully. Her smile faded and she sat down. I took a seat across from her, mostly because I didn’t know if my legs could hold me up any longer.

“What did you do?” she questioned accusingly.

“I don’t drink so I felt ostracized, and I didn’t know anyone. Getting to know people was basically impossible with as loud as it was in there, and then I got really sick and bailed without telling Patrick, but he came to check on me and then watched me throw up,” I explained. She looked stunned.

“Have you talked to him since then?”

“Yeah, I made him breakfast the next morning, and he called me-"

“You made him breakfast?” she asked cutting me off. I nodded. “He came back?”

“No, he was still there for breakfast,” I told her. Her eyes went wide.

“He slept on the couch?”

“No.”

“You cleaned off the futon in the studio for him?”

“No.”

“You made him sleep on the floor?”

“No.”

“You slut!” I sighed and cringed all at once.

“Nothing happened! He stayed because I was sick and I was too delirious to know what was going on,” I defended myself.

“You didn’t even kiss?”

“I’d just thrown up. Not exactly the ideal lead in to a kiss, Paige.” She looked disappointed. “The kiss came later,” I added quietly.

“What?!” she squealed. “During breakfast?” I shook my head and took a deep breath.

“Today, during lunch,” I confessed. The smile was back on her face.

“Tell me all about it,” she demanded.

“He called today and asked me to lunch because they are headed out of town on a road trip. I went, we talked and laughed, then we went outside to say goodbye. I told him to have a safe flight, turned to walk away and then he grabbed my arm to stop me, and kissed me. Then without a word he just smiled and walked away,” I told her.

“What kind of kiss?” I looked at her like she was crazy.

“Uh, normal?” She rolled her eyes at me.

“Was there tongue?” It was my turn to roll my eyes.

“No, there was no tongue. We were in the middle of the sidewalk.” She thought for a moment and then smiled.

“It left you wanting more, didn’t it?” Well, she was dead on there and I told her that. “He did it on purpose. He wanted to give you enough that you enjoyed it, but not so much that you were satisfied. He wanted you to spend the whole road trip thinking about that kiss and what it could lead to.”

“I think you’re giving him too much credit,” I argued. She shook her head.

“No way. Harding told me he used to do that to me on purpose so I’d be thrilled to see him when he got home from a business trip. It was definitely on purpose.” I thought about that for a minute.

“If he did that, then it would mean he’s really interested,” I concluded. She grinned and nodded.

“He saw you puking, stayed overnight to make sure you were okay, and then gave you that kind of kiss? Oh yeah, he’s interested.”

Paige left a little while later and I leaned back in my chair thinking about the kiss. I couldn’t contain the goofy smile on my face every time I thought about it. I felt a strange fluttery feeling in my stomach that I’d never felt before when I replayed it in my mind. In fact, I had that feeling every time I even thought of Patrick. This must be what people mean when they talk about butterflies.

Patrick called me that night like he said he would. Neither of us brought up the kiss. A couple of days passed of more of the same. I went to work like usual and at some point in the evening Patrick would call and we’d talk until we ran out of things to say. When they had a game I’d sit down and watch and smile every time they showed Patrick or mentioned his name.

Soon it was the day he’d be flying home. They’d be getting in late after their game so I wouldn’t see him today, but I hoped maybe I’d see him tomorrow. It was a strange feeling, getting giddy and excited to see a guy, but there I was wasting time in my office thinking about him. I left my office for lunch and returned early to get some work done.

“Aw, someone sent you flowers,” I commented to Kristen, my secretary, as I noticed the bouquet of purple roses on her desk.

“No, actually, these are for you,” she returned. I froze mid-step and looked at her in surprise.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” She laughed and stood up, carrying the roses into my office.

“I said they were for you,” she repeated.

“Who sent them?” She shrugged.

“There’s a card,” she told me. I found it and opened the envelope.

I saw all the purple at your place and thought maybe it was a favorite color. Dinner at my place tomorrow? Patrick

I felt my cheeks flush as a smile crossed my face at the card. Kristen made some comment about having a boyfriend that I didn’t really hear. I leaned over and inhaled the scent of the roses. He’d been observant and right about the purple in my apartment. It was my favorite color.

“Gabby, do you want to grab coffee after…..whoa. From Patrick?” Paige asked walking into my office. I turned to her with a grin on my face.

“He wants to have dinner tomorrow,” I told her.

“You are saying yes, right?” she wondered.

“Of course I am.”

“Maybe you can finish that kiss.” I laughed along with her.

“I guess we’ll see.”

“It’s good to see you happy, Gabrielle,” she said seriously.

My smile faltered for a minute. I’d never thought I’d given off the vibe of being unhappy. I always thought I’d done a pretty good job of hiding that, but I guess not. As I thought about it I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been truly happy. This was probably the first time since I was a child.

“I am happy,” I replied, returning the smile to my face.

“So you realize that purple roses mean love at first sight and magic, right?” she asked, lightening the subject. I handed over the card for her to read so she could see the reason behind the color choice. “Nice cover story.” I laughed along with her as I began to anticipate tomorrow night.