But he didn’t. Instead, his eyes were filled with kindness. “You got the wrong address. It could happen to anyone.”
“No, it couldn’t,” she told him, still wild with embarrassment. “I can’t believe I told you all of that. I just sat there spewing out everything that’s wrong with my life. I must have made you so uncomfortable.”
He shook his head. “I was a little confused, but not uncomfortable.”
“And why didn’t I just ask you if you were Dr. Harris instead of just talking and talking and talking? It would have been so simple. Are you Dr. Harris? No? Wrong address. I’ll move along,” she said, furious with herself.
“It’s fine, really.”
Tears pricked the backs of her eyes. “That’s very kind of you, but I really am sorry to have disturbed you.”
“Don’t be,” he told her, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “Honestly, that’s the most interesting thing that’s happened to me in weeks.”
“Really?” she asked. “I always assumed lawyers would be constantly faced with drama.”
“I do contract law.”
“Oh, well then,” Jess said. “Okay, thank you. Do me one last favor and forget we ever met.”
“I’ll do my best,” he answered.
“Please do,” Jessica said, the rubber heel of her boot squeaking as she spun toward the door. She hurried toward it and yanked it open. “Take care. Sorry again.”
She paused in front of 106, but didn’t open the door. How could she show up half an hour late, her face streaked with tears? She just couldn’t make herself do it. Not after having unburdened her soul once already today. A moment later, she was back outside in the crisp fall air. The sky was even darker now, heavy with rain. She let out a huge sigh, realizing she had completely forgotten where she had parked.
“Hey, Jessica, you wouldn’t want to grab a quick bite of lunch, would you?”
She turned, only to see Aaron standing in front of her, dressed in a smart wool coat. He smiled at her. “You can buy. Since I did provide all that free therapy.”
Bursting out laughing, Jessica shook her head. “Fine. I’ll buy.”
“Great. There’s a coffee place a few doors down. They make great soup.”
8
"My life feels like a test I didn't study for.”
~ Unknown
“Wait. I don’t even know where to start,” Diana said, after a long pause.
Jessica called her the moment she got in the car to confess, letting the entire story rush out at once. She told her how she got the wrong office and had unburdened her soul to a lawyer who thought she was there to interview for a job, instead of to her therapist, then ended up at a little coffee shop that makes the world’s best wild mushroom and rice soup and cheese biscuits with him, and that now she was on the freeway back to Union Hill on her way to pick up Noah.
“He asked you for lunch?”
“Um-hm. I think he felt sorry for me,” she told her, glancing in the rearview mirror. That truck was still following too close. She tapped the brakes.Back off, asshole. “He said he wanted to make sure I was okay.”
Dammit. If anything, tapping the brakes only served to make the jackass driving the truck inch even closer to her. She looked at the lane to her right but it was every bit as jammed with vehicles as the one she was in.
“But you’re just some strange woman who wandered into his office and started bawling about your life,” Diana said, sounding irritated on Aaron’s behalf.
Jess stiffened at the word bawling even though that’s exactly what she had done. Diana could be harsh at times, and when she was, Jess generally didn’t respond. She just let the words hang in the air until her friend backpedaled or laughed about it. Diana would have hated to be interrupted like that by some random needy woman. There would have been no mistaking how inconvenienced she felt. To be fair, Jess wouldn’t have had the patience for it either. She was all stocked up on other people’s problems.Come on, buddy, get off my ass, already.
“You’re upset that I said bawling, aren’t you?” Diana asked.
“I’m not upset, but I wouldn’t say it’s a very generous description of what happened.” A quick glance in the mirror again made Jessica’s heart speed up. Back off! She hit the right signal, hoping someone would let her in. But would they even be able to see her flashing light around the big stupid pick-up? Who needed six wheels on a pick-up? What was he hauling? One bag of groceries?
“What are you going to tell Mike?”
