Shadows (2 page)

"That's shitty. Why can't he go back and fix
his own mistake? Why do you have to do it?"

"Well, I'm trying to get a promotion, so I
took the initiative to look into why his accounts were off. If I
would have known it was this bad, I wouldn't have
volunteered."

"That would explain the pajamas, then. It's
only a little after five and you never wear pajamas this
early."

"That explains the pants, and why I opened the
wine. Anyways, so enough about my shitty day, how was
work?"

"Meh. It was rather boring. I finished all of
my work before noon, so I mostly killed time on Facebook. I managed
to piss of Ben before I left though.'

"What did you do this time?"

"I may have accidently tossed a crumpled piece
of paper into his cubicle."

Matt laughs shaking his head at me. "His aunt
didn't come out to save him?"

"No, she was already gone for the day. Kayla
and I were cracking up, but Anne came out of her office to lecture
us."

"I'm sure that did a lot of good. One day Ben
is going to realize you are all friends."

"So, there's nothing in our handbook about not
being friends. We just can't socialize at work." Shrugging my
shoulders, I pop a piece of chicken into my mouth. I start thinking
about my day and then I remember the weird feeling I
got.

"Hey, have you ever had déjà vu
before?"

"I don't know, maybe once or twice. Why, what
were you doing?"

"I was watching a couple of teens race around
on grocery carts." I see Matt cock his head just a little. "Please
don’t look at me like that." I lean back on the couch as he starts
to randomly flip through channels. Deciding I'm too tired to wait
and see what he picks, I put my plate in the sink, then head to bed
with my glass of wine. Opening one of my new books, I flop down on
my bed. My finger swipes open the Pandora app on my phone and I
just let it play.

I'm sitting on a park bench with
my mom near the lake. I'm drawing pictures in the sand with my
toes, while eating an ice cream cone. I laugh as I watch a boy try
to ride one of the handrails with a skateboard. A DNR officer pulls
ups next to him and lectures him, clearly pointing to a no
skateboarding sign. The boy looks up and smiles at me. He's got
such dark sunglasses on, I wish I could see his eyes. I feel like I
know him. I'm assuming it's his dad that walks up behind him. He's
starts screaming at the boy and pulls him away, dragging him by his
ear. Looking up at my mom I start crying. I don't know why, but I'm
really hurt he took the boy away. My mom rubs my back. "Don't
worry. He will be back another day."

"No, he won't! He told me he won't
be back again." Clinging to my mom, I sob into her
shoulder.

Opening my eyes, I find myself back in the
comfort of my bedroom. My book is lying on the floor. Ellie
Goulding's voice fills my room. Not being able to stomach any
music, I turn off my phone. I'm sitting in the middle of my bed and
I can't shake the feeling of how real that dream felt. It's not the
first time I’ve had that exact dream, and I doubt it will be the
last. Gathering a change of clothes, I head to the bathroom. The
hot shower definitely helps relax my muscles. I slip into some
comfy pajamas and pull my wet hair up into a knot on top of my
head. Double checking to make sure my alarm is set, I slip into
bed, pull my covers up around me, and drift back to
sleep.

I’m in a dreamlike state, but a loud noise is
pulling me out of it. I smack at my alarm a couple of times before
I actually make contact with it. Since I work from home on
Thursday's, I don't need to log in online until nine. It's about
ten till so I have time to make a cup of coffee, set up my laptop
on the couch and get comfy. I love not having to wear business
clothes. I wish yoga pants were acceptable for casual Fridays, but
since they aren't, I make a note to hit the laundry mat
later.

At eleven, I shoot Kayla a text asking her how
work at the office is going and if she will be home tonight. It
only takes her a few minutes to respond. She lets me know that Ben
took a personal day and she will be home right after work. This
most likely means Sharon is going to send out another email about
team work. Honestly he's not even a team player, but I can't
complain since he's her nephew. I log out of my work program and
decide it's time for lunch. Most days when I work from home I skip
my morning break. This way I get a two hour lunch break. It's just
enough time to wash and dry a couple loads of laundry.

I'm sitting on one of the washing machines
reading a book. When I hear the bells ring on the door, I take a
second to check the time on my phone. There's still an hour or so
before I need to get back home. Turning the page I get lost in my
book.

"Are you using that washer?"

I look up to see the man the voice belongs to.
He stands just a little over six feet. His dark hair combed back
out his face. It's long enough to grab on to, just passing his
ears. Dark stubble lines his perfectly squared jaw. He’s wearing a
blue t-shirt which is tight across his broad chest. As my gaze
drifts south, I notice his dark blue jeans that are sitting
perfectly on his hips. I bet if I lifted his shirt I would find the
band to his underwear exposed, as well as amazingly sexy defined
abs. Drawing my gaze back up to his face, I notice his eyes. One
eye is green. The other is a deep chocolate brown. How is this even
possible? It’s like his eyes are swirling with sexiness. I’m
distracted. I have no idea how long I have been sitting here, just
staring at him. It must have been past the amount of comfortable
time for him, because he clears his throat.

“
So...the washer, are you using
it?” Wait, he’s speaking to me.

“
Right. Sorry. Um, no. Let me move
my stuff. It’ll be just a second.” He laughs, but I don’t find any
of this funny. I hope he's not laughing at me. "The machines here
work great. My clothes always come out clean." Oh my god. I need to
shut up. I mentally slap myself.

“
I should hope so.” He laughs
again. Great, now I know he's laughing at me. I grab my basket and
take my clothes out of the dryer. Setting my basket back on one of
the washers, I watch him as he sits down at one of the tables. I
keep having thoughts of his lips brushing against mine. What's the
matter with me? I glance over at him and he’s staring straight at
me. Shit! He caught me looking at him. I start folding my laundry
to make myself look busy. I hear his chair scrape across the tile
floor, but I refuse to look up. "I think it's done
washing."

Looking up at him confused, I notice my other
basket is on his washer again. He places his hand on mine to stop
me when I try to move the basket. My breath hitches and he quickly
pulls his hand away. His touch brands me. My nerves are
electrified. What was that? He looks at me confused and possibly
hurt. I don't understand what happened. Static, maybe? He shakes
his head and a piece of hair falls on to his forehead. I want to
put it back into place. I want to run my fingers through his hair
and feel his breath on my neck. Thinking better of it I laugh at
myself for being so ridiculous. People don’t just randomly run
their hands through a stranger’s hair. This isn't one of my
books.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just…um…it was nothing." I
grab my baskets and place them by the door. It will take two trips
to get everything back into the car. I grab a basket and start to
open the door when I realize I forgot my purse. Looking up, I see
it on top of the machine right next to him. He looks at my purse
and raise his eyebrows.

"Do you need your luggage?"

"It's not luggage. It's my purse."

"Purse? This thing is huge. You could fit a
body in here."

"I might be trying with yours, if you don't
hand it over."

"Oh, are you going to take me home with
you?"

"Is that how you pick up a girl at a laundry
mat?" I laugh and my cheeks flush.

"No, if I wanted to pick up a girl at a
laundry mat, I'd start with asking her name."

"Oh."

"Your name is 'Oh'?"

I look at him confused. He shakes his head at
me. I roll my eyes, realizing what he meant. "No, my name is
Evelyn. My friends call me Eve."

He hands me my purse and shakes my hand. My
skin burns hot. I see him look at me in shock. It's not just me. He
definitely feels it too. I swear I hear him mumble the word 'odd',
but I'm not sure. Dropping my hand he heads towards the door. He
grabs my other basket and opens the door motioning for me. He
follows me and places the baskets in my trunk.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did. It was the gentlemanly thing to
do."

"So you're a gentleman now?"

"I never said I wasn't." Reaching for my hand
he places a soft kiss on the back of it. "I'm so glad I was able to
talk to you, Eve." He lets go of my hand and my heart is racing.
Leaving me completely speechless, I watch him jog across the street
to the laundromat.

I want to ask to see him again, but all I can
muster is one small question. "Why were you glad?" I hold my breath
and wait for a response. I'm chewing on my bottom lip.

To my surprise he stops when he opens the
door. "Because, beautiful, I would never have seen your smile." He
shakes his head. I don't know if it is directed towards him or me,
but that lock of hair has fallen perfectly on his forehead. My
cheeks reddening, I give him a soft smile. The door closes and I
take a deep breath. What the hell was that? I can’t believe that
just happened. Sliding into my car I turn the ignition.

"Shit." I let out a deep sigh. I didn't even
catch his name. I wonder what he smells like. I wonder what he
tastes likes. I definitely need to stop thinking about him.
Distracting myself with music, I turn the radio up on the way
home.

Carrying both baskets into the apartment, I
throw the mail on the counter. I think I might be the only one
home. The benefits of having roommates that work during the day are
amazing. I can lounge around braless and wear yoga pants all day
without being judged. I log back into work program and finish
inputting the last few account transactions for today. I grab a
blanket and crash on the couch. Exhaustion overcomes me and it
doesn't take long for me to fall asleep.

Hearing our apartment door open and slam shut,
I jolt awake. Kayla is normally in good mood, so something is
definitely bothering her.

"Did you have a bad day?"

She throws her keys on the counter and grabs a
soda from the fridge. "You have no idea. I wore my favorite yellow
pumps today. I was thinking a warm spring vibe would totally help
me focus at work. Well, I was totally wrong. Not only did I get a
lecture about teamwork from Sharon, but my pumps got sopping wet.
Too many puddles. Ugh. I hate snow. Like I really hate it!" I can't
help but chuckle to myself. Kayla never pays attention at work.
It's why she's always rushing at the end of the week to get
everything in. I can hear her messing around in the kitchen. "Hey,
have you heard from Matt? He texted me earlier about us meeting him
for dinner. I told him I'm up for whatever." Shrugging her
shoulders, she pops a piece of fruit in her mouth as she walks into
her room.

"No, but I haven't checked my phone either. I
put it on vibrate when I came home from the laundromat. I should
probably check it. Do you know where he wanted to meet?"

Kayla peeks her head out of her room and gives
me a roll of her eyes. "Why do you have a phone anyways? What's the
point if you never have it on?"

"It's not off. I have it on vibrate. I like
the quiet and Pandora is currently my bestie."

Kayla looks at me and grabs her chest with a
pained expression. "I'm seriously hurt that I have been replaced by
an app on your phone." She is so dramatic.

I head to my room to change my clothes and put
a bra on. I’m not sure where we are going, but in our town I know
it's going to be casual. I have on my favorite dark blue jeans,
black flats, and a cream silk blouse that's tight across my chest
but not too tight around my stomach. My hair is up in a bun and I'm
wearing very little makeup. Grabbing my black jacket, I head to the
kitchen.

Kayla shuts her door as she yells to me, "He
said he wants to meet at Ricci's and to turn your ringer back on.
He's been trying to get a hold of you all day. You had him
worried."

"Okay, I turned it back on. Is Paul coming
tonight?" I only ask because I don't want to be sitting by myself
tonight babysitting Matt and Kayla. I adore Paul. They have been
dating for a while now. I wish someone would look at me the way he
looks at Kayla when she's not paying any attention. It's clear how
much he loves her.

"No, since he's made partner he has been
really swamped. He's promised me his undivided attention this
weekend. You might not see me for a couple days. I don't plan on
leaving his bed." She give me a sly grin and I smack her shoulder
as we head to the car.

"That has just made it onto my list of ‘Things
I didn't want to know.' So thanks for that."