Before You: Standalone Contemporary Romance (6 page)

“Make sure you take care of yourself, Will. I know this is a big ask. And if it’s stressing you, just say so...”

“It’s fine, really. How is everything with you anyway? Are you safe?”

“Ah, I’m OK. I’m in Johannesburg at the moment. We’re moving out tomorrow with a guide to get footage for a documentary on Animal poachers.”

I let out a sigh as I closed my eyes and focused in the steadiness of my breath and the beating of my head. Dave’s job scared the life out of me. I honestly wondered if my brother cared whether he lived or died. He willingly put himself in these situations were he could be mauled by a lion or shot by a poacher, or caught up in some sort of violence associated with the work he was doing. I knew he loved it. I knew he couldn’t handle a job that didn’t satisfy that need for danger inside him. But I still struggled with it, and I found myself digging through my bag to find my prescription.

“Please be careful, Dave. You’re the only family I have left.”

“Relax little sister. I always come back don’t I?”

I closed my eyes and slid the small oval pill past my lips and swallowed it dry. “Just...just call me when you can – let me know you’re safe.” I struggled to get the words out. My chest felt tight. I just needed to breathe.

“I will, I promise.” I heard someone speak to him in the background with a thick South African accent. “Listen, I’ve got to get going, but Willa, try to give André a chance. Don’t let the whole German brashness get in the way. He really is a good guy at heart, and he’s had my back more than once, so I trust him. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t.”

Pressing my lips together, I nodded. “Everything’s fine, Dave,” I said quietly. Then we disconnected and suddenly the apartment felt incredibly lonely as I sat in it with nothing but my phone, an anxious mind, and a bunch of boxes to keep me company.

***

O
nce I was feeling up to it, I remade Dave’s bed. I was being an idiot. I was an adult, which meant I was mature enough to be around someone I was attracted to without having things go any further. André had given his word to Dave that he would keep his hands to himself, and it was really crappy of me to fight him on that when it could cost him their friendship. I could see this through for the sake of my brother. After all, family was way more important than a complicated lust.

After I’d finished making the bed, I swept up the pile of laundry that I’d been meaning to do and went down to the laundry room with coins in hand. There was only so much Candy Crush I could handle playing while I waited for the machines to do their thing, and I spent a huge amount of time thinking about everything that happened in the last forty-eight hours. It really was ridiculous, the sequence of events felt more like a romantic novel than it did real life, and I found myself laughing at the absurdity of it all.

That's why when I took the washing back upstairs and found André stacking boxes in the living area, I immediately said, “I'm really sorry about the I way acted earlier.”

Placing his hand on the pile of boxes that were stacked up to his waist height, he met my eyes and nodded. “I am too.”

A smile slowly spread itself across my lips. “Do you think that maybe we could wipe the slate clean and try for this whole friendship thing again?”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Third time’s the charm, right?”

I let out a small laugh and bit my lip as I continued to smile. “Yeah. That's what they say.” Turning from him, I walked back into Dave’s room to finish packing the last of his clothes away in a suitcase.

Shortly after, André appeared in the doorway and nodded toward the remade bed. “You planning to stay?”

I looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah. I think I can handle two more nights. Besides, I think you and I need to practice being friends.”

A grin spread across his face, lighting up his green eyes in a way that made them seem to shimmer. I took a quick breath to combat the butterflies that took flight in my chest and kept my face even.

“I’ll let you get back to packing.” He turned away, before pausing again and turning back. “I forgot to tell you. If you’re looking for your phone, I put it on charge for you last night.”

I reached down on the bed and lifted it. “I already found it. Thank you.”

“That’s what friends do, right?”

I nodded, feeling a sad longing bloom inside me. “Right,” I whispered, returning my attention to packing up Dave’s clothes. When I looked up again, André was gone. For the rest of the day, we simply packed.

––––––––

“H
ey chica! It’s Friday and you know what that means?” A smile spread across my lips as I listened to the exuberance of my good friend, Milagros – Milly for short – on the other end of my cell.

Stretching a length of packing tape along my arm, I held my cell between my cheek and my shoulder as I sealed the box I just finished packing. “It means I’m still in Chicago,” I told her, smoothing my hand over the tape as I stood up and threw the roll on the closest surface. We were almost done. Once the last box was sealed, all that would be left was cleaning up the apartment, ready to hand over the keys after the movers loaded truck.

“What? No! I thought you’d be back by now,” she whined. “How am I supposed to go out without my wingwoman?

“Take Jasper. Sometimes it works better to have a wingman.”

She scoffed. “Jasper won’t come out if you’re not there. He only comes out
because
of you.”

It was my turn to scoff. “Don't be ridiculous. He just likes the group. He’s probably waiting until Catherine decides he’s worthy.”

Milly started laughing, her warm throaty sound setting a pang of homesickness off in my stomach. “Oh sweetie, you have no idea.”

The ‘group’ was all made up of employees from Vibe and consisted of me, Milly who was also a junior editor, Jasper, who was in the design team, Sara, who was a columnist, and Catherine who worked in the fashion department and would always let us know when something fabulous went ‘missing’ so we could dress well above our pay grade. There was also whichever male model Catherine was dating for the next five minutes. That month, it was some guy called Wayne. He had dimples in his cheeks and an ass that looked great in jeans. She went through men faster than most women went through Chapstick. Really, she was exactly what most of us wish we were – beautiful, confident, and not shy to say what she wanted.

I walked out into the living room and grabbed another box, sighing because I was so over packing and wished I were going out with my friends tonight instead of standing in a half empty apartment, pretending that André’s presence didn’t affect me the way it did. We could be friends. Jasper was a good-looking guy, and we were just friends. I was pretty sure Jasper was gay, but still, he was just my friend. André and I could be friends. We could...

“Willa?” Milly’s voice cut down the line and I realized she'd been talking, and I wasn't listening.

“What? Sorry, I was just trying to grab a new box,” I told her quickly, not really lying as much as I was just neglecting to tell the whole truth.

“I asked when you were back.”

“Oh, I’ll be back Monday. So I’ll see you at work on Tuesday.”

“OK, baby, I’ll miss you tonight.”

“Me too,” I smiled, telling her to say hi to everyone for me and to have twice as much fun to make up for my absence.

“Of course. And I’ll let you know if Jasper turns up. Has he checked in with you yet?”

“No. Not yet. Although, I kinda thought he was...you know, gay?”

Milly erupted in fits of laughter on the other end. “Oh honey, you are too funny. I’ll see you Monday,” she said before hanging up. I could still hear her laughter as it disconnected.

“No, Tuesday. And why was that so funny?” I said to myself, frowning at my cell before I shoved it back into my jeans pocket. It was at that moment that it chirped with a message. I pulled it out, seeing it was from Jasper.

“Great timing, Jasp,” I said to myself as I opened his message and responded.

Him: You going tonight?

Me: In Chicago. Be back on Tuesday.

Then I switched my phone to silent and tucked it back into my pocket, feeling kind of strange about the way Milly insinuated that there was something more to Jasper’s and my friendship than there really was.

“You’re popular tonight.”

I didn’t know if it was his accent or just him, but his voice seemed to curl itself around my body in the most intimate way.

I lifted the box and carried it over to the kitchen. “Not really. My friend just forgot I was out of town. Normally we go out on Fridays.” I opened the cupboard and began to pull out everything that wasn’t breakable to put in the box.

“Your friend? Do just the two of you go out on your own?”

His question sounded layered, like he was fishing for information about my life.

“No. Milly and I work together, and we go out with a group from work around our age.”

“They work at the magazine with you?”

“Yeah. There’s generally five of us. If you stick around until next Friday, I can take you to meet them if you like.”

He smiled. It was small, but it was there. “Perhaps,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and rocking back on his heels. “I actually have some people I should see before I go.” He slipped the comment in so quickly, as if he thought perhaps it might start a fight.

So I put a broad smile on my face and said, “Sure. Go and have fun. I’m fine finishing up here.”

“You sure? I mean, I guess you could come with if you wanted. Have a night out in Chicago before going back to LA?”

I looked away. “I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You won’t. There’ll be a bunch of us. You’ll fit right in.”

I met his eyes. “If you’re sure...”

“I’m sure.”

My heart fluttered in my chest.

“Do I have time to get cleaned up?”

His eyes moved over my body. “Yeah. You have time to get cleaned up.”

As I headed toward the shower, my chest felt so incredibly tight. This friends thing was going to be a little harder than I’d anticipated.

***

“S
o, how do you know André?” A girl with cascading blonde hair asked me as she chewed on the end of her straw. Her name was Amanda, and I had this strange feeling I’d met her somewhere before. She was dressed in this fitted black dress that showed more cleavage and thigh than it hid, while I sat beside her feeling inadequate in a pair of jeans and a button up shirt that I'd tied at the waist Daisy Duke style. I hadn't really planned on going out to a club, so I hadn't come prepared with the appropriate attire. This was the best I could do.

We were at a bar called
Daylight
that had table service and a band scheduled to play later in the night. There were pool tables and currently a jukebox was playing Hozier, which could just be heard over the sound of happy voices as patrons talked and laughed over their meals.

“Oh, I really don’t know André. I’m his roommate’s sister. I’m just here to help them move.” I glanced over to where André was standing at the bar with a friend, ordering another round of drinks for the table. He was looking as amazing as always in a well worn chambray shirt that he'd rolled up to his elbows and a pair of black skinny jeans that hugged his...I didn’t get the chance to finish the thought before Amanda’s shrill voice cut through the air.

“What? Dave has a
sister
? He never told me that.” She pushed me on the shoulder to illustrate her surprise.

I gave her a tight smile. “Well, he has one, and I'm it.”

“Wow. Who knew?” She grinned at me then took another sip of her drink. Something about the expression on her face told me that she didn’t think much of me at all. She was dismissing me as someone unimportant. How nice... “Where is Dave anyway?”

“He’s on assignment.”

“Really?” She scrunched up her button nose. “He didn’t mention anything about it last week.”

“ It was kind of last minute. That’s why I’m here. André was away and Dave got called out, so they needed someone to organize the move.”

“And they chose little ole you.” I didn’t like the way her perfectly made up eyes took in my presence.

“I don’t think they chose, so much as Dave didn’t feel as though he had any other option.”

“Don’t listen to her,” a guy called Abbot said on my other side. He was an attractive guy who had dark blond hair, styled in that messy way that guys liked these days. His eyes were brown, and he had a nice shaped face. If I had to describe him quickly, I’d say he was handsome – manly looking – he didn’t have much of a tan so he was probably an office worker, but he had good muscle tone, so he obviously went to the gym. And he had a kind voice, and I liked that.

We were sandwiched in a booth from eating dinner together with four on either side. In total, there had been three girls and five guys. Most of the conversation had been questions about André’s early return as well as Dave’s and his move to LA. As the night went on, I was slowly learning everyone’s names.

I turned to Abbot with a raised brow expression, curious as to what he meant about not listening to Amanda.

“She’s a little pissed André didn’t call her to let her know he was moving.”

“Were they dating?” I asked quietly so only he could hear me. Amanda had started chatting to the girl next to her anyway. They were whispering and giggling, and I wanted to pinch them because I was pretty sure they were saying something about me.

“André doesn’t date.”

I nodded. “Of course he doesn’t. I don’t know what I was thinking,” I laughed.

“And he also doesn’t bring girls with him here. So your arrival raised a few questions.” He shifted his eyes to the girls beside me to explain where their hostility was coming from.

“Well, there’s nothing going on between André and me. Like I said, I’m Dave’s sister and I’m helping them move. End of story.”

He laughed. “There’s always more to the story where André’s involved.”

At that moment, André and his friend returned to the table and handed out drinks. He hadn’t even asked what I wanted, he just got me the same as him. Beer.