First Sight (15 page)

“Hey
Marissa
,” I said into my phone.
  “What are you up to?”

“Ugh, I just woke up,”
Marissa
moaned.

She sounded sleepy, so I didn’t doubt it.  I glanced down at my watch.
 
“It’s almost
1:00
!” I said
,
laughing
.

“I know; I stayed out way too late. 
We went out dancing. 
I tried calling you yesterday afternoon
to see if you wanted to come
, but you weren’t answering your cell phone.”

“Oh, yeah, I left it at home
b
y mistake,” I said distractedly.
 
I pushed my cart along, grabbing some skim milk from the shelf.  I decided that I wanted cheese on my fajitas, so I picked out a pack of shredded cheddar while I was still in the dairy section.

“What are you doing?”
Marissa
asked.

“Grocery shopping
; good times,
”
I joked.

“I need to do that
,
too
. 
T
hat was fun hanging out Friday night.  What
’d
you
end up
do
ing
yesterday?”

“I went into DC because I really wanted to see this
new
exhibit
at the National Gallery of Art—”

“Oh that’s right,”
Marissa
said, interrupting me.  “I remember you mentioned that the other night.  How was it?”

“Good.  I ran into Travis, actually.”

“Travis? 
Really?”

“Yeah, I was walking around the sculpture garden
by the National Gallery,
and he saw me.
  We ended up walking around
the museum all day
together.  Then we grabbed dinner at that tapas place we like.”

“You had dinner together?”
Marissa
asked breathlessly. 
“
Sweet
.
  He is so hot.”

I laughed as I walked through the aisles, and a few people turned to look at me.  Maybe I was talking too loudly.
 
“Yes,”
I
said in a low voice.  “He certainly is.”

Marissa
laughed
,
too.  “
Hmmm, sounds like you’re finally coming to your senses. 
Well, I was actually calling to see if you wanted to get
brunch
, but it sounds like you’ve
probably
eaten
already
.”

“
Yeah,
I ate hours ago,” I said, smiling to myself
, still lost in thought about my day
yesterday.

“All right, I’ll let you finish your shopping.  Tell me if you have any more hot dates with Travis.”

“It wasn’t a date!” I
protested
.

“
Whatever.  I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Okay, bye
.”

I finished my shopping
and after loading the bags into my car,
head
ed
back to my apartment. 
The parking lot was half empty when I returned to my building. 
I waved to my next-door neighbor
Matt
as I pulled into my parking space. 
He was pulling out—probably heading to a bar to watch some
hockey
. 
Too bad
Emily
wasn’t with me today—she’d be sorry that she missed seeing Matt alone.
  Then again, maybe
he was headed out to see his girlfriend
.

I opened
the
trunk and gathered
up
my things. 
As I carried my groceries inside, I realized that I was happy it was already Sunday afternoon. 
Although I hated to admit it, I was actually
looking forward to the end of the weekend.  Monday meant that I would be at work, and work meant that I would get to see Travis.
 
My phone was ringing when I walked in the door, and I picked it up, dropping my grocery bags on the counter.

“Hi, Mom,” I said,
glancing down
at
the caller ID screen
.

“H
i Sweetie, I was just calling to see if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight.”

“Oh—I actually just picked up some food from the grocery store for dinner. 
Maybe next weekend?”

“
Sure, that sounds good
.  Your brother
’
s coming over, so I just wanted to check.”

“Okay, say hi to him and
D
ad for me. 
I’d love to chat, but
I need to put my groceries away.”

“All right, bye Sweetheart.”

“Bye
.
”  I clicked off my phone and turned my attention back to the kitchen
, starting to unload the groceries.
  My brother, Brian, was a couple of years older than me and lived in Baltimore, MD.
  I wondered why he would randomly stop by my parents’ house for dinner, which was a
couple of
hours from where he lived,
and
then
I
decided that he’d probably made plans with them earlier in the week, and my mom had simply forgotten to mention it to me. 
Oh well
,
I thought.  I’d see them all again soon enough.

***

“Good morning
!
” Travis
called out the next morning
, smiling at me
as I walked into the lobby
of our office building
.
He had just come from the elevators and seemed to be heading out.

“Hey,” I said, giving him a big smile
back.
 
Luckily I was holding my coffee cup, lunch, and purse, because at that moment I wanted nothing more than to run over and throw my arms around him
in
a big hug. 
What a strange urge
, I thought.  It was just a coincidence that I ran into him over the weekend—it wasn’t like he’d taken me out on a date or something.  But I couldn’t deny that I was more than a little happy to see him.

As he walked closer, I admired his dark navy suit and noticed that his ha
ir still looked slightly damp.
 
“You got all that?” Travis asked politely
,
nodding
toward my things
.  A
s he leaned closer,
I also noticed that he smelled incredible
—
a
soap
y scent mixed in
with his aftershave.

“Yeah,
I got it
,” I answered, hitching my purse onto my shoulder
to free one hand
.
 
“
So where are you off to this morning?”

“
It looks like I’m following in your footsteps,” he replied, gesturing to my cup of coffee.

“Ah,” I said, nodding.  “You can’t start Monday morning off without a little caffeine fix.”

“I completely agree,” Travis said with a laugh. 
“I’v
e got a meeting with HR later on though—
thirty
-
day review or something like that.”

“Oh, right.  Think they’ll let you stay?” I joked.

“I sure hope so.  I just extended the
lease on my apartment.”

“
Maddy
, Travis!”
Marissa
called out from behind us
.

I turned to see
her
coming into the building
in
a navy
peacoat
,
her blonde hair swinging behind her in a ponytail.  Somehow she managed to make even a ponytail look
chic
—it must’ve had something to do with the way
her hair
was smoothed back.
  I doubted I could wear a ponytail to the office and somehow make it look professional.
 
“God, I totally overslept!” she exclaimed as she came closer.

I glanced down at my watch.  “You made it here
o
n time.”

“Barely!”

“Big night out?”
Travis asked.

“Right,”
Marissa
said.  “I was actually up late on the phone with my sister—that girl can talk.”

I laughed, remembering the one time I’d met
Marissa
’s sister.  She was exactly like
Marissa
—always in a good mood,
up for an adventure,
and full of nonstop chatter.  I wondered how the two of them could actually carry on a conversation together.  They were probably constantly interrupting one another.

“Come on, let’s get upstairs,”
Marissa
said, grabbing my a
rm.

“In
a hurry
?” Travis asked,
smiling
.
  He looked over at me, and I wondered if he also found it funny that
Marissa
was in such a
rush
to get to the office
this morning
.

“I want to check my
email
.
”

Travis and I both looked at her, confused.
 
“Your
email
?”
I asked.

Marissa
looked pointedly at me.  “
Gym Guy
is supposed to
email
me back this morning.
  I only gave him my office
email
address.
”

“Oh, well you better not keep him waiting,” Travis joked.  “I’ll let you ladies be on your way.  I’m going to grab some coffee.”

We said goodbye and
headed
over to the elevator bank
. 
Marissa and I walked into an empty car, and as soon as the
elevator doors closed,
Marissa
squealed in excitement.  “Now, I want you to tell me all about your date with Travis.”

***

We
sat around
the conference room at
our weekly meeting
later that
morning
, wondering what
our boss
Jennifer’s big announcement was.
 
Jennifer
was single, in her
late
-thirties, and
actually quite
easy to work for.  Organized and fair about everything, I enjoyed working in her group.  She
was sitting at the head of the table, wearing a dark
grey
suit
and
black
cat-eye glasses
that were a stark contrast against her
fair skin and
baby-fine, light brown hair.
  She flipped through her papers as she organized the materials for our meeting. 
Elizabeth
sat to her right
,
wearing a floral dress
and oversized cardigan
.  It was slightly frumpy, but then again, that was her usual style.
 
I think she preferred comfort above all else. 
Travis was next to her, looking unbelievably handsome
.  He’d taken off his suit jacket and was wearing
a maroon button-down shirt
that looked great on him
.
 
I tried not to stare, but it was awkward since he was directly across from me. 
Marissa
was sitting
beside
me, flipping through
her yellow legal pad
.
 
We’d already been there when Travis and
Elizabeth
had walked in a few minutes ago, and Travis had selected
the seat right across mine.

“
He
y
,” he said
as he
pulled out his chair
.  His deep voice
sounded slightly gruff, and I wondered if he was out of breath from
rushing around all morning
.

“Hi,”
I
replied with a smile.
 
As I watched him,
I noticed that he held my gaze as he sat down.
  He
set down his notes and cup of
c
offee
, and t
he warm aroma drifted across the table.