“I'll take it," I say, handing it to the lady behind the counter.
She tells me it's one dollar, and I laugh. Such an inexpensive symbol for something so priceless.
I pay her and slip it into one of my bags. I have fifteen minutes until Natalie gets home.
Natalie's building is four blocks away, and I jog the entire distance. Two old women watch in amazement as I go by, but for the most part, nobody notices me. Such is life in a bustling city.
When I get to Natalie's door, I set everything up. Then I sit down, lean my head against the wall and wait. One minute passes, then two, and then after a while, it's twenty. I grab my phone to look at the time, ignoring the urge to text Natalie. My plan is to surprise her, and my text message might tip her off.
Fifteen more minutes go by, and although I've been waiting for it, the ding of the elevator startles me.
Please be Natalie.
It's not. A man in scrubs steps off. He's talking to somebody else, but I can't see who because of the way his body is angled. I hear the response, and I would know that voice anywhere.
I get to my feet just as Natalie's eyes meet mine. She walks toward me, confusion in her eyes.
“Aidan?”
The man in scrubs is still walking beside her, so I stay quiet and wait for him to break off and go into his own apartment. Natalie reaches me, and the guy in scrubs stops alongside her. Instead of looking at me, he's looking at the array of items at our feet.
What the hell is going on?
I point to the guy and look at Natalie, the question plain on my face.
“Aidan, this is Grady. He's the doctor who stitched me up.”
Natalie told me about her trip to urgent care, but she didn't tell me she and the doctor had…. had… I can't even finish the sentence. The thought makes me ill.
“What's all this?” she asks, looking down at the ground.
“Just some stuff,” I mumble, feeling like an idiot.
Her expression softens. She knows thatit’s not juststuff.
“Natalie, I'm going to take off,” Grady says, turning to look at Natalie.
“But what about—”
“Don't worry about it. I’ll call Brad."
Grady doesn't touch her. He doesn't run a hand along her arm, hug her goodbye, and thank fuck he doesn't kiss her in front of me. He retreats to the elevator and steps on when it arrives.
“He’s locked out of his apartment,” Natalie explains, her face guilty. “He needed a place to hang out while he waited for the building manager to let him in.”
I nod and stick my hands in my pocket. Now that I’m here, my tongue feels twisted up.
Natalie glances at the ground. “Why are my favorite things on the ground outside my apartment?"
“Because I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to do something grand and amazing for you, but I don't know what that looks like. I'm not good at this, Natalie.”
She watches me. I’ve memorized her face, and now I'm watching her absorb my words, trying to make sense of what is happening.
“Come inside,” she tells me, pulling her keys from her purse and opening the door.
I pick everything up and put it back in the bags, except for the heart-shaped rock, which I stow in my pocket. I walk in behind Natalie and set the bag down on the table beside her purse. She hangs her coat on the rack and kicks off her shoes.
Sighing deeply, she turns to where I stand just a few feet inside the door. It's almost the exact spot I stood in when I told her Allison was expecting.
