Emily Calls It (The Emily Series) (14 page)

I took extra time lathering up my hair and letting bubbles follow the warm water down my back. I stepped out, wrapping myself in my favorite white fluffy towel. I blew my hair out; straight this time.

With more effort than it appeared, I put
on the right amount of makeup and
let my full, straight hair fall down my back. The silk top and skirt looked nice together. I was glad I hadn’t worn this particular outfit to work before. I looked in the mirror again, checking the skirt to make sure it looked good from the side as well as the front. I adjusted
the
wrap tie and looked for some shoes: it was a toss up between black strappy sandals and black open-toe pumps. I decided on the pumps and slid them on. One more quick look in the mirror, and I was ready, almost. A dot of Chanel No. 5 on my wrists and behind my
hoop
earrings. One final step: I swept light red lipstick across my lips and blotted with a tissue. As if he knew I was ready, I heard a knock at the door. He was a little early.

I opened the door.

“Graham.” I tried not to sound too surprised. “Hi.” I smiled nervously. Before I could stop myself the words slipped out. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s Friday night. I thought I’d surprise you.” He looked me up and down, obviously noticing I was not dressed for an evening in. His smile faded.

“You’re headed out.” He paused. Waiting in the doorway.

“Yeah.” I didn’t know what else to say. It was awkward to say the least. I looked at my feet for a moment, and then looked back up, wondering what to do.

“Well.” He looked uncomfortable for a few seconds. “Have fun tonight.” He smiled nervously, reached out and touched my hair. “And don’t forget.” He leaned in and whispered in my ear. “I love you.”

I sighed. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. “Graham.”

He touched my lips with his finger
to stop
me from speaking. “I’ll call you.” He turned around and walked to his car. I reached for the door handle and saw someone just a few fee
t
away. I looked again and recognized Kyle with a bag of groceries. He must’ve been heading from his car to his apartment, but something stopped him. I didn’t want to presume that something was me, but he was staring my way. He waved with one hand. I waved briefly and smiled. He went on his way, and I closed the door.

Leaning against the door, I tried to shake this stack of feelings I had about Graham. I tried to breathe but started to panic. What was I going to do? There was a time when I would have given anything to have him knock on my door. A time when I loved him without doubt or question. When I trusted him and wouldn’t have given a second thought about how he felt about me.

Then my breath steadied. There was also a time when I wouldn’t have questioned how
I
felt about
him
either. And considering I was expecting Colin in about ten minutes, that time was not now. I needed to do some serious thinking, but not this minute. I took a breath and steadied myself, pushed away from the door and went back to my bedroom. I rubbed my temples and smelled a hint of my perfume. The soft notes were just what I needed to calm down. No more Graham-thoughts tonight. I wanted to enjoy my evening with Colin. Tomorrow I would do my hard thinking.

Resolved to put off the inevitable, I heard a second knock at the door. The truth was that although my heart was heavy with Graham’s recent visit, I really did want to go out with Colin. I opened the door without hesitation. And there he stood. I felt warmth flood over me.

“Hi, you look lovely.
”
And straight out of an old movie he brought his hand from behind his back holding a bunch of wildflowers. I smiled bigger at the sight of them.

“Oh. Thank you.” I took them and brought them up to my nose. They smelled delightful. I realized I still had him waiting on my doorstep. “Come in.” Moving out of the way, I let him pass. I couldn’t help but take in an eyeful. Every time I saw him, he looked a little better. He wore dark pants that happen
ed
to really compliment certain parts of him. (I couldn’t help but notice.) His shirt was unbuttoned a couple of buttons, no tie, and his sleeves were rolled tight against his forearms. When he passed in front of me the light hit his hazel eyes, making them look a little greener than usual. I could smell a hint of soap and maybe a little hair gel mixed in. In the office his shirts were always crisp and tucked neatly. His hair was combed to the side and in place. But tonight with the buttons undone and just the slightest tousle to his hair; almost as if he’d just run his fingers through it, he looked…I don’t know. HOT.

“Nice place
,
Emily.” He looked around my living room, waiting for me to join him. In the kitchen, I pulled a vase from the cupboard.

“Thanks.” I filled it with water and the flowers, and centered it on my kitchen counter.

“When I was in college, I had this ridiculous old apartment with three roommates.” I joined him in the living room.

“No roommates for me.” I couldn’t imagine living with a bunch of people. “My brother and I are really fortunate. Our grandparents help us with tuition and living expenses. We both work for spending money, but everything else is covered.”

“Wow! That’s really cool. Your grandparents sound like fine people. So
you’re close to
them?
”

“Yeah. Growing up, my brother and I spent summers with them. My grandmother is just the sweetest and my grandpa, he’s the
jokester. They’re great.”
I thought back to how wonderful they really were and how nice it was to have their help. Colin looked content to hear me go on about my family but I thought that was about enough for the first date.

“Thank you for the flowers. That was thoughtful.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, and then there was a pause in our conversation
.
We both smiled nervously: it was one of those awkward moments when you don’t really know what do to. Do we hug, kiss on the cheek or shake hands. We did none of the above, and I found myself nervously grasping for something to say. Then I remembered my manners.

“Would you like to sit down? Should we head out?” I didn’t know what our plans were, aside from having dinner.

“You know?” He shifted on his feet and appeared a little more nervous. “I know I’m not your teacher anymore…obviously.” He looked directly at me, acknowledging our date. “But can I see what you’re working on over there?” He gestured toward the kitchen table. I had a piece of vellum unrolled with pencils all over the top of it; a work in progress. I relaxed and moved over to the table, motioning him to come and take a look. He moved next to me.

He rested his hands on either side of the drawing leaning into the table. “This is really good Emily. I especially like your use of color.” He ran his fingers across the office building lobby perspective drawing that I’d almost finished. “Usually, I like the effect of markers, but the pencils have a softer feel.” He stood up. “Kind of like you.”

I didn’t expect him to say something like that. I could feel myself blush, and I felt a shy smile sneak across my lips. His
smile was more confident than I was
.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked. I nodded and reached for my purse on the counter. He gestured for me to go ahead of him. I didn’t remember what he drove so I paused before I entered the parking area.

“Over there.” He pointed. “The white coupe.” As we approached, I noticed the car seemed to fit him. It was a white, new, two-door Honda, but not fancy; sensible and clean. I always defaulted to my brother’s car habit when meeting new guys. Ethan only cleaned his car when he had a date. Otherwise there were books, miscellaneous clothes and other odd assortments of stuff everywhere. I wondered if Colin was like that.

He opened the door for me. I saw no wrappers littering the floor-boards or strange beads hanging from the rearview mirror. There was only one thing in the back seat; a rolled set of architectural drawings. No surprise there. I guess he was perfectly normal. I fastened my seatbelt and reached across in conscientious date fashion to unlock his door. As I looked through the window, someone was walking in our direction holding a laundry basket. Then he paused and met my eyes. Kyle. Unbelievable. His smirk faded quickly. Before I could see what expression would be next, Colin opened his door and blocked my view. I leaned back and Colin took his spot behind the wheel. When I looked out the window again, Kyle was gone. I felt strange and kind of judged. What must he think? First Graham then Colin, all in the space of about twenty minutes.

I had no idea where we were going for dinner. So when we parked by the pier, I was intrigued. Where was he taking me? I almost asked, but it really didn’t matter. I was enjoying his company.

“There’s this amazing little restaurant at the end of the pier. I thought you might like it.” We walked along, side by side with the rush of waves under us and the chatter of kids on skateboards around us. It felt strange, having been in a relationship recently to find this newness again so appealing, and so soon. When we reached the restaurant, I was even more intrigued. It was a small place. Some might refer to it as a shack. We were overlooking the water at a tiny table with a red vinyl tablecloth and a flickering candle in a hurricane lamp. The menu was on a huge chalkboard on the far wall. There were about eight different types of clam chowder, and a few other things. I took it all in.

“I’m thinking the chowder.” I joked.

He looked up from what must have been the wine list, and let out a relieved laugh. I think he must’ve been worried if I would like it. “Have you ever had the
Manhattan
?” he asked.

I stared at him blankly. I hadn’t, but I wasn’t afraid of trying new things either. “No. Is it good here?”

“The best.” He tapped the drink menu. “What would you like to drink?”

I was sure he knew I wasn’t drinking age, but I didn’t bring it up. As he asked, the breeze kicked up the edges of my skirt. I reached down, pasting them to my legs with my hands. The breeze was quick and strong, but it wasn’t cold. Typical, I thought. “Iced tea, please.” I said it to Colin, but the waiter stepped up to our table at the same time.

“Hey Colin, what’s up?” The waiter addressed Colin, but smiled at me. “We haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, I’ve been out of town.” He looked over at me. “This is Emily.” Colin reached toward me and I thought he might take my hand, but stopped about an inch short of my fingers and set his hand down on the table.

“Hey, what’s up, Emily?”

“Hi,” I said, realizing he probably didn’t want to know what was up with me.

“So what’ll it be, Bro?” The waiter glanced at the drink menu Colin was holding.

“I’ll have the same. Iced tea.” Then he looked back at me. “Oh and do you want to try the calamari?” He seemed excited to share this special little place with me.

“Sure.” I said and shrugged. The waiter promptly brought back our tea, quietly this time. “This place,” I rested my hands on the table next to my drink, “is really cute. Thanks for bringing me here.” His eyes widened, and I swear I think I saw them sparkle. He rested his fingers on mine. “Thanks for coming with me.” The combination of the touch of his fingers and the soft sentiment in his voice caused a new feeling to bubble. I recognized it, but it seemed too soon to be butterflies.

Our evening drew to a close far too fast. When he walked me to my door, I didn’t know what to expect. He had been less forward than Graham and even a little more shy than Christian; my only two relationships and points of reference so far. And although we once had a student-teacher relationship, it was already far different. I almost couldn’t remember what it was like before. We were colleagues and friends. And maybe more. All this ran through my head as I fumbled to unlock my door.

With a click and a turn I had it. Before I opened the door, I turned back to him and leaned toward the living room, extending a silent invitation. I took one step in…which turned out to be quite the assumption.

“You know.” He paused looking almost as if he was having a conflicted conversation with himself. “I had a really nice evening with you. It was…” He took a moment appearing to contemplate his next move. I waited to hear him finish his sentence, but instead he leaned in. With his hand on my cheek he kissed me. Soft and quick. Then he paused, our noses almost touching. I felt his thumb glide across my cheekbone. I rested my hand on his chest and kissed him back. Gently, and short again. He backed a few inches away and lifted my hand from his chest, kissing my fingertips. It was sensual, sweet, and unexpected. Like everything else about our evening
.

“Can I see you again?” He asked shyly.

“Yes.” It was only one word, but all I needed to say. He kissed my fingertips again then guided my hand back to my side before letting it go.

“
Great. I look forward to it. Have
a nice night.”

“Good night.” I said quietly. Then he turned and slid his fingers into his front pockets.

“Hey!” I had one more thing to say. He turned back around and waited.

“The chowder was amazing.” I said with a ‘ooh yum” kind of look.

He looked even more proud of himself, laughed and walked to his car. I waited in my doorway and waved as he drove away. I felt good. Really good.