The happiness in her smile cracks before slowly fading completely. “It’s Cherie!”
Cherie? Do I know a Cherie?
And then it hits me.
The note left at my sister’s work.
“Cherie. Yes, of course.”
That makes her smile again. “I brought you this.” She carefully thrusts the box toward me. “They’re my famous chocolate brownies. You can share them with the others, if you want.”
“Umm, thanks. Appreciate it.” I have no idea what to say. This is awkward as fuck. “So, uh, Cherie. You dropped off a note at my sister’s work. Can I ask how you found her?”
She waves her hand, as if dismissing my concern. “Social media.”
“I don’t have social media,” I state, that same annoyance I had a couple weeks ago when she dropped off that note returning.
“No, but she does. Camden and Cade too. They all have photos of you. That’s how I found her.”
“Okay,” I reply, taking a deep breath. “But why?”
“Well, because I wanted to spend time with you. After you helped rescue my cat from a tree, I just kept thinking about you. I saw you come and go a few times here and after a while, I knew I had to make my move.” Her face sobers. “But you didn’t show up to the bistro where I thought we’d meet up.”
“Oh.”
“But I forgive you,” she beams, grinning from ear to ear. “I thought we could go get breakfast when you get off shift tomorrow morning.”
The fact she knows when I would be leaving work is a little unsettling. “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Again, her face falls, and I swear I see tears in her eyes. “Why?”
My mind reels as I scramble for a reason that lets her down easily and doesn’t send her in to a tizzy, because, frankly, I don’t know this woman or how she’s going to react. Then, it hits me. Honesty. “I’m seeing someone.”
“You are?” She looks completely despondent as my words sink in.
“I am. It happened right around the time of your note. I probably should have met up with you and told you then, but to be honest, I didn’t know you.”
She gives me a sad smile. “Safety first, right?”
I nod. “It’s been drilled into me,” I reply.
“I get it.” After a beat, she adds, “So, this woman? It’s serious?”
“Yes.” The answer is out before I even think about it. The truth is, yes, it’s serious, even if we haven’t officially had that conversation yet. I love hanging out with her, working with her, talking to her, but my favorite part is falling asleep with her in my arms. And since we jumped into our casual relationship, I’ve spent more nights outside of work with her than without her.Not to mention the line we firmly drew in the sand, keeping personal and professional separate, has been slowly blurring.
I just like her in my life.
It feels more enriched this way.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to hurt you.”
She sniffles, clearly upset by the news. “It’s okay. I mean, it sucks, but I get it. I just waited too long to make my move. Maybe if I had reached out to you sooner, things would be different, right?”
Her dark eyes are laced with hope, and even though it’s a little white lie, I go ahead and give her what she’s looking for. “Perhaps.”
She smiles and relaxes, rocking from heel to toe. “Okay, well, maybe now isn’t our time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen at all. Promise me, if you and the woman you’re dating break up, you’ll call me.”
I nod, refusing to say the words.
