Picturing Perfect (4 page)

Lucy bit her lip and moved her finger to the quarter.

"That's right. Now, try to remember what we talked about. We're looking at a nickel and a quarter. Are nickels bigger than quarters?"

"I don't remember." She shook her head violently.

"Shh, Luce, I know you can do this." I reassured her, patting her gently on the hand.

"Quarter is bigger?" she asked. Her eyes were glassy and pleading.

"That's right." I smiled wide, clasping my hands together with pride. "So, we know quarters are bigger. Now, which one is the quarter?"

A satisfied look crossed Lucy's face as she picked up the quarter and placed it into my open palm.

"You got it," I said, patting her on the back. She smiled with a sigh.

"You take a little break. Take these two quarters," I said, emphasizing the words as I placed two quarters in her hand, "and get yourself a can of Coke."

"Really?" she asked. This was a first. I'd never treated her to a soda before.

"You earned it," I replied. Lucy jumped out of her chair and ran to the cafeteria. Her laughter filled the hallway as she ran.

"No running in the hallways, Luce," Pamela yelled.

I worked with my other two clients as Lucy happily slurped her can of Coke. Before we knew it, the clock struck 9:30 and it was time for them to get back to their work. Money class had ended.

Several hours later, Nick and the clients climbed on the bus for the field trip. After a confident breath and a glance in my rearview mirror, I put the bus into reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. I learned how to drive the buses my first week on the job. Since I took clients to the library on a weekly basis, and weekly field trips on Fridays, it was an important part of my job. It was intimidating at first, but I got pretty comfortable with it.

"I'll let you drive back," I said to Nick, raising an eyebrow.

"Gee, thanks." His words dripped with sarcasm. Nick hated driving the bus…with a passion.

"Don't worry, Princess," I teased him. "I'll drive."

"Nice," he said with a chuckle. "Wake me when we get there."

The smell of roasting coffee filled the air in the small cafe named "Beans." Classical music played softly in the background. A handful of patrons sat at small wooden tables, many typing on their laptops.

"Come on, everyone. Let's go look at the menu."

"Hadley," Riley said, pushing a mass of curls from her eyes, "I don't like coffee."

"You don't have to drink coffee. They have tea and hot chocolate. Probably apple cider, too."

"Mmmmm," said Violet, a towheaded sweetheart who loved junk food more than anyone I'd ever encountered. "Hot chocolate!"

Chuckling, I led Violet to the counter and helped her as she ordered her drink. One by one, each client made their way to the counter, ordered and paid. It took quite a bit of time and I was grateful that the people behind us seemed to be patient. That didn't always happen. When I first began my job, I'd offer to let others go ahead of us. But, I stopped doing that after a few short weeks. We may have taken a little longer at the register, but we were polite patrons who waited our turn and treated the employees with respect. There was no reason why we should take a step back so that impatient customers could get their mocha latte just a few minutes earlier.

"I would love a medium chai tea, please," I said to the redheaded barista with tiny freckles on her cheeks. She smiled and entered my order into the computer. When I handed her my money, though, she just shook her head.

"I don't understand," I said, puzzled.

"It's on us," she said with warm eyes.

"Um, thank you," I replied.

"You're doing important work. And you're so patient. It's my pleasure." My heart swelled as she said those words. I'd never thought of my work as important. I'd only thought of how happy it made me.

I joined the others at a large table in the corner. Just as I was pulling my chair out, I heard a familiar voice say a name I hadn't heard in years.

"Haddie?"
He
called me Haddie
. He
was the only person I'd ever allowed to call me by that nickname. And there was a very special reason for that.
He
was my world, my obsession, my everything. The boy who captured my heart when I was only eight years old.

Jason Kelly. My very first crush and my best friend's older brother. The boy who made my pulse race so incredibly fast, it was sometimes hard to breathe around him. I felt my palms sweating as I turned to him.

He looked just as I remembered. Sandy brown hair, a little spiky in the front. Hipster glasses sat on the bridge of his nose and tiny dimples indented his pale cheeks. His eyes were wide as he approached.

"I thought that was you," he said.

"Jason…wow, hi." I replied, clearing my throat to help the words along. He wrapped me into a tight hug and I smelled the familiar scent of
Jason
.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, looking concerned as his fingers grazed my arm. My skin tingled with that simple touch.

"Much better now." I smiled, softly gesturing towards the group, "You guys, this is an old friend of mine. His name is Jason."

"Hi Jason," Violet said with a chocolate mustache above her lip. "You're handsome."

"Well, thanks," Jason said with ease.

He was always good at taking compliments. Humble and friendly, smart and witty. The list went on and on—with so many positive qualities it was impossible to name them all. I took in the sight of him. I had to chuckle when my eyes were greeted by the gray t-shirt underneath his plaid flannel button-down.

"867-5309?" I asked with a laugh. Jason had been wearing crazy t-shirts for years. And he was just about as obsessed with the 80s as me. I wondered if he knew that we still shared an affinity for that decade. I wondered if he remembered much about me at all.

"Jenny, Jenny." He nodded. "It's a classic. Unfortunately, sometimes girls think I'm trying to pick them up with it."

"Those girls need to listen to better music."

Jason threw his head back with a hearty laugh.

"I agree," he said.

"Would you like to join us? We can pull up a chair."

"Sure, I can do that for a few minutes. I'm writing, but I could use a break."

He quickly grabbed a wooden chair from a neighboring table, flipping it around effortlessly so that he faced the back of his chair as he straddled it. His knee bumped my thigh and goose bumps ran down my arms. I was desperately trying to get my heart rate under control, but I felt like I was on autopilot.
Tucker. Tucker. Tucker.
I said to myself. Nope, didn't help. Even Tucker couldn't push the redness from my cheeks. Even Tucker couldn't stop the adrenaline pulsing through my veins.
Tucker? Tucker who?

"So, how's everyone doing this morning?" Jason asked. His knee brushed mine again. This time it was a slower movement, more deliberate. I felt a chill run down my spine. The most delicious chill I'd ever felt.
What is happening to me?

Riley wrapped one of her silky curls around her fingers as she stared at our new companion. Riley was boy-crazy and not afraid to show it. She took a sip of her drink, never breaking eye contact. I glanced at Jason, wondering if her forward behavior was making him uncomfortable. But, if it was, you'd never know it. He was calm and collected, flashing a grin at her pale face.

"Congrats on the new job," he said to me before glancing around the table. "Do you all work together?"

"No, silly," Riley said in her high-pitched voice, "Hadley works
for
us."

Brian cackled, slapping his knee as he threw his head back in laughter. Riley loved making others laugh, so she began to chuckle loudly to spur Brian on further. It worked. The table was in hysterics.

"Not exactly," I said, smirking. "But, she's kind of right. These are my clients. This is Riley, Brian, Violet, Tina and Sam."

"Well, it's great to meet Hadley's bosses," Jason said with a grin. Riley chuckled again.

"I like you," she said, her smile wide.

"Well, thank you. I like all of you, too."

Jason turned his attention back to me. I could feel his gaze burning my cheeks. I attempted to keep my breath steady as I turned my attention his way.

"How's the writing?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck.

Jason cracked his knuckles before he spoke. He always did that when he was uncomfortable. I was surprised to see he was still doing it. I guess some things never change.

"I'm in kind of a slump," he said, shrugging.

"Writer's block?" I asked, taking a sip of my tea. Jason nodded as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Auden said your books have really taken off. You even made it to the top 100 on Amazon?" I asked, trying to sound casual. What Jason didn't know was that all three of his books were on my Kindle. I'd read them all and loved them. Usually I was a contemporary romance reader, but his words sucked me in and I got all wrapped up in the suspense of his stories. He was so talented.

"Yeah. I got lucky, I guess."

"I'm sure it's not luck. You're just being modest."

"Maybe, yeah." He tilted his head to the side and grinned. His dimples reappeared and I practically choked on my tea.
Get ahold of yourself, Hadley.

"So, how's Tucker?" he asked, hesitating at his name. That simple question jerked me back to reality and the fact that I'd had the same boyfriend for
six years
. The boyfriend I assumed I would marry. The boyfriend who had been my world for so long.

"Oh, he…he's fine." I smiled politely, not offering any other information. The table was quiet as we sipped our drinks.

"Well, I should get back to my writing," Jason said, standing.

"Of course." I smile.

"It was wonderful to meet all of you," he said as he shook each of my clients' hands one by one. He was always so friendly and warm. It killed me in the best possible way.

"Hope to see you around, Haddie." He smiled, patting me lightly on my shoulder before placing his chair back where it came from and walking back to his waiting table.

Glancing at my watch, I saw it was time to meet Nick and the other clients.
Thank God
. I needed to get my head on straight, and there was no way that would happen with Jason Kelly sitting just five feet away from me. I gave him a quick wave as we walked out of Beans. Back to Sunnyside. Back to a place where I could think, where I could focus, where I could remember what it was like before Jason Kelly walked back into my world.

Madeline Kramer was a royal pain in my ass. No one else's. Just mine.

She wouldn't cooperate. She wouldn't do the things I wanted her to do or say the things I wanted her to say. And she was driving me
insane
. She was a product of my imagination, and yet, I couldn't control her.

I'd been stuck on Chapter 18 of this book for two weeks and it was driving me nuts. Madeline had been the
one
character I could count on with my writing. The
one
character who led the way and spoke to me, the one who guided my books towards a suspenseful plot and a satisfying ending. She was the one who made people want to read my work. In the three books I'd written, she'd never let me down.