“What!?”
“Women love a man in a Henley and a decent pair of jeans that hug—"
“Stop right there! I get it!”
Mable laughed and carried a tray of rolled silverware out to the dining room.
Chapter Five
NICOLE
Nicole stared at her face in the mirror. She’d applied concealer to the dark circles under her eyes, but it wasn’t concealing anything. She’d tossed and turned all night, trying to decide what she was going to say to Sean. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to start dating again. Wait, is that what she was doing? Her eyes were wide; the whites of her brown eyes overtaking her irises. She’d only gone out once since Duncan had broken their engagement, and that had been a complete and total drunken disaster.
But she had pinky promised, and she didn’t think Zaina would understand if she didn’t go through with making that phone call. Was she ready to lose a friendship over one phone call? Maybe Sean would tell her, "No thank you." She took out her eyeshadow and began doing her eyes. She hadn’t even considered that Sean probably hadn’t thought twice about her saying no to him. For all he knew, she might have a boyfriend, or girlfriend, for thatmatter. The prospect of him no longer being interested in her should have flooded her with relief and it mostly did, but deep down a spark of ‘what if’ resided.
She brushed mascara on to her lashes and thought about those dimples. He had a lovely smile. She’d like to see that smile again and maybe kiss his full lips, however unlikely that might be. If she could find a way to reach deep down and hold on to that spark, she could make the phone call. She checked her phone for the time. It wasn't even seven-thirty yet. Too bad she couldn’t call right now and get it over with since she had talked herself into it.
She put on her ID lanyard and walked out the front door, checking to make sure it locked behind her. As she walked around the corner to Ida B. Wells Elementary, she listened to her favorite autumn playlist. The opening notes of “this is what autumn feels like” by JVKE immediately slowed her racing thoughts. The orchestral production and the plaintive singing voice always moved her. She tapped the repeat button on her phone. This was the only song she wanted in her ears this morning. A public works truck was loaded with pumpkins and cornstalks; they were decorating the space around the town sign. One of the many things she loved about her hometown was that they really did it up for the holidays. The only celebration that outshined the fall festivities was the annual Mistletoe Market that was held the first weekend in December.
Nicole smiled. She loved Christmas. As far as she was concerned, the Christmas season could start October first.Zaina would hate that, Nicole thought, just as her phone pinged.Speak of the Devil,Nicole thought as she read the text from Zaina that was followed quickly by a text from Devin.
Z: You got this!
DEV: Z is right, you can do this beautiful friend.
Nicole sent back a heart hands emoji and walked into work.
***
SEAN
Sean placed the notecard in its envelope and affixed it to the top of the takeout box with a piece of tape. He ripped up the nine other attempts at the notecard and paused over the recycling bin before deciding that the only place he wanted those notecards was in the trash. He started to tuck in his Henley before he remembered Mable’s strict instructions for it to remain untucked. He looked at the clock on his stove and was surprised to see that it was already quarter to eleven. “Time to go,” he said to his betta fish Hermie.
Sean got in his ancient Jeep Wrangler and drove to the school. He parked in a visitor space and then checked his phone. He’d made it to the school with seven minutes to spare. He realized he hadn’t considered what he was going to say when he dropped off Nicole’s lunch. Should he stay while she read the card? Maybe he should have had it delivered. He didn’t want to make Nicole feel uncomfortable or like she had to say yes to him.
He turned off the car, and reminded himself what he was good at: hoping for the best, winging it, and cooking fantastic food. “Sean, you got this! It’s gonna work out.” With pep in his step, he made his way to the entrance door of the school and pressed the doorbell. A moment later, the outer door buzzed and he walked into the vestibule.
“How can we help you?” a voice said through a speaker.
“I have a delivery for Nicole…”Crap, Sean thought.I should have googled and tried to find out her last name, but man, I don’t want to seem like a stalker.His palms were sweating. “It’s from Jesse’s Pub.”
BUZZ
And he was in.
A smiling woman wearing glasses sat at the front desk. “Nicole never orders out,” she said and reached out for the bag.
“Is she not here?”
“Do you need payment or something? I hope she tipped on the app.” Her brow furrowed.
“No, no, nothing like that. This is actually a gift.”
“Oh, how wonderful! I’ll make sure she gets it right away!”
Sean attempted to surreptitiously look around the office for any sign of Nicole.
The woman at the front desk leaned to the side and made eye contact with Sean.
