Authors: Ashley Blake
“She won’t be able to
volunteer anymore, it apparently doesn’t fit into her schedule.”
I almost smiled but I
caught myself because I didn’t want to look catty in front of Jack and Mary.
The
witch is gone!!!
My mood instantly improved when I heard that news.
Caleb looked serious as
he got ready to ask me out. “Emma, would you like to go out with me for a cup
of coffee this afternoon?”
I looked at Jack and
Mary who were grinning from ear to ear, waiting to hear my answer and there was
no way I would crush their spirit. I tried to put on as genuine a smile as
possible, as I answered Caleb. “I would love to.”
He smiled at me and I
felt butterflies dancing in my belly as he held my gaze and mouthed, “thank
you.” Jack and Mary were so excited for us.
“You kids have a nice
time this afternoon and be sure to tell us all about it when we see you in two
weeks.” Mary was firm in her instructions and it was very sweet to see how
concerned she was.
“We’re not leaving just
yet Mary.”
“I know but I wanted to
tell you that just in case we didn’t see you again when you start cleaning up.”
I gently grabbed her
hand and her skin felt so soft. I gave her a quick wink. “Don’t you worry,
I’ll fill you in on all the details. Oh, it looks like everyone is gathering
around the piano. What do you say we all go enjoy some music?”
We all moved over to the
piano to give Leo song requests and all of the seniors had a nice time swaying
back and forth to the music. I saw Jack reach out and hold Mary’s hand and it
almost made me cry it was so sweet.
I hope when I’m their age I will have
someone that I care about the way they care about each other.
Caleb was
sitting right next to me and I really wanted him to reach out and hold my hand
or put his arm around me, but since we weren’t in a good place that wouldn’t
happen. Based on the way he was acting toward me and the way he was pursuing
me, I was starting to believe him that nothing was going on with Carrie. I
decided that we would get to the bottom of everything later that afternoon.
After the festivities,
it was time for our seniors to go back home and time for us to clean up. I was
in the kitchen putting away dishes when Caleb came in and closed the door, both
us finally alone together.
“Emma, do I repulse you
so much that you cannot even stand to be in the same room with me? The way you
nearly ran into the kitchen as I was walking over to you earlier today makes me
feel as if you cannot even stand the sight of me. Is that how you feel?”
I could hear the hurt in
his voice and when my eyes met his, I could also see it and I felt terrible.
“No, of course not. I
just wasn’t prepared to see you at that moment.”
“Well, how about now?
Are you more prepared? Because I meant it when I asked you to go out for
coffee this afternoon.”
“I didn’t want to upset
Mary and Jack, so I said yes. I think we can just talk things out here, well
not in here, but outside after we’re done, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t, Emma.”
His face was serious and I could see that he was not ready to take no for
answer. He asked me out, I said yes, and I think he fully expected me to hold
up my end of that deal.
“Caleb, let’s just talk
about this outside.” As I reached for the doorknob, Caleb grabbed my wrist and
I looked up at him, my skin was tingling from his touch.
“Have dinner with me
next Saturday night.” His eyes searched mine and I saw a hint of a smile in
them.
I snatched my wrist out
of his grip and pursed my lips. “I don’t think that is such a good idea.”
I reached for the door
again and this time he stood directly in front of it, blocking me, and stared
down at me looking exasperated.
“Emma, I have feelings
for you and I want to explore those feelings and I want to get to know you. Do
you have feelings for me? Because if you don’t then I will leave and I will
never bother you again. I know we’ll see each other when we volunteer but I
will just keep it cordial, even though that is going to be very difficult for
me. So I need to know your answer.”
I was caught off guard
by his candid admission of feelings for me. Yes, of course I had feelings for
him, and I wanted to get to know him, but I was scared. What if he was just
playing me? I thought about how much fun we’d had last time at the center and
how easy it was to be around him and I didn’t want that to be the end of it, so
I decided to give him another chance.
I looked at him very
hesitantly and quietly admitted what I had wanted to shout at the top of my
lungs for the past few weeks. “Yes, I have feelings for you.” I looked down
at the floor because I felt very exposed and vulnerable.
He put a finger under my
chin and gently lifted my face so that my eyes met his and his smile
illuminated his face. “Good, no games.”
I couldn’t help but
smile at him, he was so damned gorgeous. “No games.”
He leaned down to kiss
me and as I felt his soft lips touch mine, I was in heaven. He pulled back a
bit and gently touched the tip of my nose with his and smiled at me. “Boy,
you’re a feisty one Ms. Blakely, I like it. You’re definitely going to keep me
on my toes.”
“You have no idea Mr.
Morgan.” I gave him a little smirk and he looked so sexy when he looked back
at me, that all I wanted was to have him throw me down on the counter and have
his way with me right there in the kitchen.
“We should probably get
out of here because if you keep looking at me like that I won’t be able to
control myself with all the things I want to do to you.” His eyes smoldered as
they roamed my body.
“Promises, promises.” I
was coy as I opened the door and he followed behind me.
We wrapped up everything
at the center and then we went to Starbucks.
“So do you believe me
now about Carrie, that she isn’t my girlfriend?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry it
took so long but if you had heard the way she said those things to me. She
sounded like a jealous girlfriend who was staking her claim. I believed her
when I should have believed you.”
“Look, it’s all behind
us now. We’ll just look forward from now on. Sound good?”
“Yep, cool.”
We were there for about
an hour and then Caleb drove me home. When we got to my front door he turned
off the car, put his arm across the back of my seat and casually played with my
hair.
“I’ll call you.”
I gave him a demure
smile. “Okay, I’m looking forward to it.”
He leaned in for a kiss
and entwined his fingers in my hair pulling me toward him. His lips kissed mine,
softly at first, and then they became more urgent, the need more intense. Our
tongues explored each other and I let out a soft moan as he gently sucked on my
bottom lip. My fingers raked through his hair and I wanted to pull him closer
to me but it was awkward in the front seat of the car.
Caleb pulled away. “We
better stop Emma because I won’t be able to control myself in a minute and your
bed is right upstairs.”
My breath came in soft
pants as I pulled myself together. “You’re right, I’d better get going. Thanks
for the ride home. I’ll see you next week?”
His eyes were filled
with lust as they held mine. “Definitely.”
I got out of the jeep
and smiled and waved at him as I let myself into my building. He waved back
and then he took off. When I was inside my place I jumped up and down like a
five year old, so happy, and then I had a mini panic even though I had a full
week to decide.
What am I going to wear?
Kelly slept at her boyfriend’s place
that night and the next morning, when I heard her keys in the door I raced to
open it to tell her what had happened.
“Oh my gosh, Emma! I
knew
that he was into you. I am sure Carrie said that stuff to you because she was
jealous!”
“I’m pretty happy right now, Kel. I
didn’t want to admit it before, but I really like him.”
“This is just so cool, I am really
happy for you. Now, the big question, what are you going to wear?”
“I have no idea, you have to help
me!”
“Okay, let’s look in your closet and
then my closet to see what we can find.”
Kelly and I pulled out eight dresses
between the two of us and I tried all of them on. When I got to the last
dress, which was one of Kelly’s, I knew that was the one. It was a draped one
shoulder, dark violet dress, and it fit my hourglass figure perfectly. I had a
pair of strappy heels that looked perfect with it.
“That’s it Emma. You look so
pretty! You’re all set for next week. What time is he picking you up?”
“He’s picking me up at 7:00.”
“He is going to be so surprised when
he sees you, you look so gorgeous.”
“Thanks Kel and thanks for lending
me this dress!”
Kelly and I both had homework to do
so that’s what we did for the rest of the afternoon.
The following week went
by in a complete blur and I was loaded down with a ton of work for school. I
talked on the phone with Caleb every day and that really helped me be able to
remain patient about seeing him. Finally Saturday came, and at around 5:00 I called
down to my doorman Tom and told him he could just let Caleb up when he arrived,
and I started to leisurely get ready for my date. I was showered, dressed,
makeup was done and I was curling my hair when the telephone rang at about
6:40.
Oh no, he’s early!
“Hello?”
“Ms. Blakely? Jordan Miller is here
to see you.”
I was literally frozen in place and
I could not speak.
What??
“Ms. Blakely, are you there?”
“Yes, I’m sorry Tom, did you say
Jordan Miller?”
I had no idea what
Jordan was doing at my place and this was
not
a good time.
“Yes ma’am.”
“May I speak to him for a second?”
Tom gave Jordan the
phone.
“Hello?’”
“Jordan? What in the world are you
doing here?”
“Emma, I only need a few minutes of
your time please. I just need to talk to you for a few minutes.”
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
“Jordan, I am getting
ready to go out so this is not a good time for me. Can you come back
tomorrow?”
“Please Emma, I came all this way
and it will only take a few minutes, I promise.”
He sounded desperate so I agreed to
talk to him for just a few minutes and told Tom he could let him up.
When I opened the door, there stood
Jordan, the same as I remembered him and I felt absolutely nothing. His eyes
nearly popped out of his head when he saw me.
“Wow Emma, you look amazing!”
I’d forgotten that Jordan had not
seen my transformation.
“Thanks, you know you’re actually
the catalyst that kick started me getting fit. Those things you said to me
when we broke up really stuck and I decided to do something about it, so in a
way I should thank you Jordan.”
He closed his eyes and grimaced and
I could see the remorse on his face.
“Emma, I really want to apologize
for what I said to you the day we broke up. I made those comments because I was
hurt, and I didn't mean a word of it, and I feel just awful about that.”
“Follow me into the bathroom, I have
to finish doing my hair. Don’t worry about what happened with us, it’s in the
past and I have moved on.” I then looked at him with a curious stare. “Um,
Jordan, what are you doing here, and how did you know where to find me?”
“I talked with your dad and he gave
me your address.”
I’ll have to
remember to thank my dad for meddling in my life.
“Emma, I miss you so much
and I can’t stop thinking about you. I thought that when a few months had
passed I would get over you but I have not been able to stop thinking about
you. I screwed things up so badly between us and I really want a second chance
with you. You are the woman that I want to be with and I really miss you.”
“Jordan…”
He cut me off before I
could finish my sentence.
“Emma, please hear me
out. I traveled all the way to Chicago to show you how much I care about you
and I would travel to the end of the earth for you. I know we left on a really
bad note but we had something really special, at least to me it was special. I
miss it and I miss you. I really want to try again, is there anyway you’ll
give me a second chance?”