“Bright, yeah. Like the opposite of dim. A far cry from the Brittanys and Jessicas of the world, I know.” She giggled, and the sound that had been so appealing only moments ago now grated on him.
He forced himself to take her hand and shake. He almost made a comment about her name. It felt like he should. She’d practically invited him to. But he didn’t have it in him. “Will.”
“Nice to meet you, Will. Do you have your car here?”
She was asking about the coins. He’d already forgotten about them. Strangely, there appeared to be a response waiting in his head. He felt it making its way from his brain to his mouth.Yeah, they’re working on it now. Mysterious car disease. How about I bring them by your shop later?Buthe didn’t want to say that. At the last second, right when he opened his mouth to say those words that did not feel right, he forced himself to say the first random thing that he could come up with.
“I ate a jellyfish for breakfast.”
“That would be great! Thank you!”
She was still smiling like they were having a pleasant, somewhat flirtatious conversation.
“I want you to eat a jellyfish.”
“Yep! I’ll be there. The shop’s open Monday through Friday, eight to five. But sometimes I stay past closing, so don’t rush.”
“I’m going to fill your house with jellyfish.”
“Perfect. Looking forward to it. See you, Will!”
She practically skipped away. Will’s chest was tight. Too tight. He couldn’t remember how to breathe. He’d just told the woman he’d fill her house with jellyfish, and she had reacted like he’d told her… if he was being honest, the words he’d wanted to say. Every time she’d spoken, there were words waiting in his head. She’d responded to those, the unspoken ones.
Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck.
He was in a fucking romance novel.
Eight
He didn’t go to work. Nassir, his supervisor, probably didn’t believe him when he said he was feeling sick, though he hadn’t been lying entirely. Hedidfeel sick, just not from any kind of virus. But it didn’t matter what his supervisor thought. Maybe Nassir was currently staring at a wall, wondering what to do now that Will wasn’t in his life when he was supposed to be. No, that would be crazy. This whole situation was insane. Will couldn’t believe he was even entertaining the idea that he was in a book. He kept trying to reason his way to a different conclusion, but he couldn’t think past the endless litany of “What the fucks” that filled his brain. He drove home in his freshly tuned up car with his body on autopilot. When he pulled into his driveway, he couldn’t truthfully say he remembered how he got there. He saw Emmy sitting on his front step, staring into space. Feeling numb all over, he got out of the car and approached her. She looked up at him and smiled sadly.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“I called in sick.”
She nodded, gestured behind her. “You locked the door. I’m sorry. I know you wanted me to leave your life forever, but I didn’t know where else to go. These guys kept…”
Despite himself, he felt a surge of dread. What had happened to her? Was he going to have to go cave some guy’s face in? “These guys kept what? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing like that.” She stood up, brushed off her yoga pants. Then she handed him a bundle of cloth. His brain was so scrambled, it took him a full ten seconds before he remembered he’d loaned her clothes that morning. “I kept having meet-cutes.”
“What?”
“Meet-cutes,” she repeated while he tucked the rolled-up sweatshirt under his arm and unlocked the front door. “Hot guys kept coming up to me and trying to flirt. No matter where I went. There were two at once in the park. Then a dog knocked me down and the owner tried to get me to come back to his place. I escaped because a cop showed up out of nowhere. He drove me back here, and then he asked me out.”
“What’d you say?”
She gave him a look. “I said ‘No need for a date, big boy. Go ahead and show me yournightstick.’ What do you think I said? I told him no and got the hell out of his car.” She ran her hands agitatedly through her hair. “He says hi, by the way. Norton Graff. Apparently you know him.”
“Yeah. He’s a dick.”
When they were both inside, he closed and locked the door. Then he just stood there and stared. He stared at his home and wondered if it was really his home. He’d inherited it from his grandfather, and now he was standing therewondering if he had fond memories of a man who’d never existed. Nothing he’d taken for granted yesterday could be trusted today.
“You alright?” Emmy asked quietly.
“I feel like I’m standing on a mountain of sand and it’s just… sliding away beneath my feet.”
