“Yep, I’m unapologetically daddy’s little princess,” she says.
“Okay, princess.”
She smiles. We finish eating and I pay the bills. I don’t want to leave. I want to keep talking to her.
“I’m going to walk for a few minutes. I think I ate too much,” she says, rubbing her stomach as we walk outside.
“How about I walk with you?”
“Not in those shoes,” she says, staring at my polished leather dress shoes. “I walk a lot, and I don’t want to be the reason the eligible bachelor has aching feet.” She teases.
I laugh.
“I’m sure we can get a new pair somewhere.”
“You don’t have to come with me.”“I want to,” I say. I want to be with her as much as I possibly can.
“Okay. There’s a shoe store about a block away; we can get you a comfortable pair.”
“Lead the way,” I say. I text Zack that I’m walking and will be back. We walk and talk. When we get to the store, she steps in, we are greeted by a jovial guy. “How can I help you, beautiful?” he says with a wide grin.
“I’m the one that needs help,” I sternly say behind her.
“Sure, what do you need?” he says, his grin is wiped.
“Anything comfortable for long distance walking.”
“Over here,” he says. We look through and I pick one that’s an easy fit. I pay for it, and we leave with my Tom Ford patent leather in the box. I take the bag and follow her lead. We keep talking and I spend most of the time watching her breezy laughs. I must admit, I enjoy watching her.
We make a stop for ice cream on the way, and I find out how much of a daddy’s girl she is when she starts to talk about how she misses going for ice cream with her dad. She starts to scoop the non-existent last drops of ice cream in the cup.
“We can always get more, Princess,” I say.
Her brows lift. “Is my name now Princess?”
“Pretty much.”
She smiles and I smile back.
We leave the ice cream shop and step back onto the street.
“Can I ask why you don’t drive in the rain?” I notice her face goes stoic. “I’m going to be your roommate and fake boyfriend,” I say to ease whatever is going on in her head because her pace has slowed.
She stops walking and turns to me. “When I was twelve, my mom and I were returning from a birthday party outside London. It was raining heavily with thunder and lightning. We got in an accident when lightning struck a tree that fell.” Her voice chokes, I remain quiet. “We were stuck for a while. My mom’s legs were trapped, and I was in a lot of pain from theaccident and the cold. It was a long time before we were found. The thunder and lightning became something I feared after that. I was in a coma for a few weeks and hospital for months because of my condition. Everyone says it’s a miracle I survived because I was barely breathing by the time they found us.” It’s clear, the memory still hunts her.
“Since then, I don’t drive in the rain and live close to where I can walk home with my noise canceling headphones when it rains. The excitement of the program and teaching your niece made me forget my routine the other day.” I see her glassy eyes.
“Anything, I can help with when the weather is that way?” A slight smile curves her lips.
“You need not worry about me. I have my noise canceling headphones, so I don’t hear it, and I just stay in a dark corner.”
“Anything else?” I ask.
“Nope,” she says in finality, but something tells me there’s more, but I leave it for now.
She turns and starts to walk back towards the restaurant, and I follow. I want to ask about her mom but I remain quiet.
“So, awesome Lawyer, what do you do when you are not in court or getting photographed with pretty ladies?” she teases.
