What was it about Faith that made him like this?
He knew exactly what it was. He had feelings for her, plain and simple. Feelings he knew weren’t reciprocated. It was too soon for him to be this fond of her, and yet every interaction only made her more intriguing, more enigmatic. Even the awkward, strained ones.
Today had been interesting with a classroom of students refusing to cut him any slack. Well, namely one student, but it had made for a memorable experience, nonetheless. Mitch wanted to tell someone all about it. He longed to sit down and recount the details of his day over a glass of wine or cup of coffee. He wanted the camaraderie of sharing his evening, a laugh, and maybe even a sympathetic ear.
He wanted a partner.
He could call his parents. That was always an option. They would listen, if only to put in their required time. It tended to be that way. His parents had many varied interests ranging from attending Broadway shows together to playing rounds of pickleball with other couples in their active, fifty-five and up community. Every interest imaginable, really, except an actual interest in their children.
Mitch’s younger sister, Deedee, had long since given up on trying to get their attention. In their youth, she’d done everything from dyeing her hair a putrid green to purposefullyfailing out of gym class by refusing to run the mile. The tattoo of her then-boyfriend’s name on her lower back was the pinnacle of her attention seeking attempts. Even then, they’d barely batted an eye. And now, as a grown woman with a family of her own, Deedee had learned to look for her validation elsewhere.
Mitch hadn’t.
He had his thumb on his phone, hovering right over his dad’s cell phone number when something blipped in his periphery.
The lights in Faith’s apartment went out.
Could it be the power?
His exterior light mounted right by the door was still illuminated. If the power had gone out in the building, then that bulb would be out, too.
Maybe Faith was headed to bed. Shutting down her apartment for the evening.
Mitch was about to turn on his heel toward his own place when the swish of a ponytail flipped into the window frame and a set of stunned green eyes locked in on his.
Faith disappeared completely, flattening to the ground.
“What is going on?” Mitch muttered under a breath.
Was she okay? Had she fallen, or worse, passed out?
Chalking it up as his neighborly duty, Mitch strode the short distance to her door and rapped on it with the back of his knuckles. “Faith? Everything alright in there?”
There was a muted commotion behind the door before he heard the click of the lock turning over.
That ponytail he’d momentarily glimpsed high atop her head now swung wildly as she shuddered and spat out all in one breath, “Yep! Everything’s totally good, thanks for asking!”
Mitch scratched the back of his neck. “You sure about that? You seem…frazzled.”
“Nope, not frazzled. Totally unfrazzled.”
“Yeah, that’s not a word.”
“I’m super good here, Mitch. You can be on your merry way.”
It didn’t go unnoticed that in each conversation they’d had so far, she’d attempted to rush him out of it.
Faith studied him. “Why were you just acting so strange out there on the porch?”
“I wasn’t acting strange.”
“You’re not acting normal.”
He let out a punctuated laugh. “Andyouare?”
“You were looking in my window.”
“I wasn’t. I mean, yes, I did briefly when I saw the lights go out. And then when you looked atmefrom the other side of your window.”
