Uninvolved (3 page)

They went to a local burri
to place and ate on the patio
.
It was
December
,
but in Phoenix
winter
seemed to be the onl
y pleasant time to be outside
during the day
.
Lucy did her best to keep the conversation going
as
Becka
seemed
dumbstruck silent that
Nate
was actu
ally with her outside of work
.
All the while
,
Becka kicked herself for not being more vocal, almost jealous that Lucy
was
being more interesting. Becka was at a loss
.
Normally,
she had no problem talking to a guy. What was going on here?

Becka Sherwood
, she told herself,
you buck up and talk to this guy.

Her personal pep talk didn’t work
.
Instead,
B
ecka
spent
lunch nervously taking the smallest bites possible of her burrito
,
inwardly kicking herself for su
ggesting this place for lunch
.
Why
she hadn't
chosen a meal she could ha
ve eaten with a fork and knife
,
Becka
wondered to herself
as she
dab
bed her chin with her napkin
.
Nate
seemed to be getting along great with Lucy, and Lucy tried to pull Becka into the conversation more than once. It didn’t work though
.
Becka mainly just nodded and smiled like an idiot.

Once back
at
the office
,
it was
Nate
's turn to work at
the c
omputer while Becka watched. Becka
would
find
herself mesmerized by his hand on her mouse and
his
fingers on her keyboard,
imagining them on her instead. It was
taking every ounce of free will to force the thoughts of them from her mind.
Since Becka was at work
,
she
felt
pretty
guilty for the mental sexual harassment going on in her head.
Becka
started to focus
instead
on the random threadbare spot of the carpet worn down from the
wheels of the
cart used to distribute their daily allotment of paperwork to file.

Not that it helped
.
Becka was not
immune to his nea
rness
.
What
made it worse was Becka
could just barely smell his cologne from where she sat.
What was wrong with her? She was physically forcing herself not to sniff him.
Just before quitting time
,
her desk phone rang
.
Caller
id showed it as an incoming call from Lucy's desk. Becka excused her reach as she leaned over
Nate
to answer it, feeling his breath on her cheek.

"Lucy?"

"That guy still with you?"

"Yep
,
" Becka cringed
,
hoping
Nate
did not hear what Lucy had said.

"Oh, just checking. I'll call you later."

Becka waited
until
she heard the dial tone before handing the handset to
Nate
and asking him to hang it up for her. Their fingers brushed during the exchange. Becka held back a sigh and the urge to grab his face and kiss him. When their work was complete
,
Nate
thanked her for all of her help and got up to go check in with her manager before being released for the day.

Becka saw this as an opportunity to flee, thankful she had made it through the day without embarrassing herself.
On her drive home
,
Becka obsessed about him. She did not know how or when
,
but she knew she wanted him and would some way or another have
to
figure out how she
was going to make that happen.

The
house
she shared with Dave
was in a neighborhood off
of Greenway Boulevard. It was a
ranch
-
style stucco home that they rented from a guy who used to work with her roommate
,
Dave. When she got home
,
Dave was just waking up. He
had worked the night before
stocking shelves a
t a local grocery store. Dave had been
Becka's
next door neighbor from preschool and her
first real boyfriend ever. They went out in midd
le school for an entire week before
d
eciding
they were better as friends.

Becka had always thought Dave was good looking
.
He
was tall and lanky with shaggy blonde hair, but he was such a tool most of the time.
Dave was like a brother to her, the only guy she felt safe loving.
Becka had no clue how he got laid
,
but Dave seemed happy to spend his days sleeping with all of Becka's girlfriends.
He
was in the kitchen
getting a snack
when she walked in. H
e was eating
a slice of bologna wrapped around a
string cheese.

"You are the healthiest person I know."

"I know
.
My
body is a temple. So
how was work?"

"Same ol
d.
Training
a new guy
.
He’s
pretty hot."

"You think everyone is hot."

"I do not."

"What happened to what's
-
his
-
face?"

"He was boring."

"You have commitment issues."

"That's funny
,
coming from you."

"I speak the truth."

"Guess what
,
kettle? We're both black."

"So tell me about this guy."

"What? Really?"

"I'm bored
.
Your
love life amuses me."

"It was weird
.
It
was like I couldn’t speak."

"Marry him."

"Screw you
.
You’re
the one who asked
.
I wouldn’t be talking right now otherwise."

"About this topic
,
true
.
But
I highly doubt you would have an issue with talking about something else."

Becka rolled her eyes and went on telling Dave about her lunch with
Nate
and Lucy.

"How is Lucy?" Dave interrupted.

"Don’t start
.
You
know she hates you."

#

O
ver the next week
,
Becka
seized every oppor
tunity to spend time with
Nate
.
Becka
hoarded her files on her desk
,
waiting until
Nate
got up
to file hi
s to do her
s at the same time
.
She was
also
meticulous about her appearance, waking up early every morning to either curl her shoulder
-
length brown hair or agonize over clothes
,
changing her mind multiple times
each morning on what to wear
.
At night
,
Becka
would replay their moments in her m
ind before going to bed
,
desperately hoping that she would dream about him.

Whenever Becka found herself needing advice
,
she would always call
her big sister Lilly
.
They didn’t talk as much as Becka would have liked
with Lilly still living on the
E
ast
C
oast
,
but they made a point of trying to talk a couple of times a month
.
Lilly was six years older than Becka and
was
already married
and had had
a baby boy
.
His name was
Mason, the cutest nephew a girl could ask for
, e
ven though Mason
wasn’t sleeping very well
currently
and
that
was cutting into their chats
.
Luck was on Becka's
side
,
though
,
when she managed to get a hold of Lilly during one of Mason's
late
naps
.
Becka told Lilly all about
Nate
and her attraction to him.

"
So you like him? That's weird for you.
Did you ask Dave for advice too?"

Not only was
Dave Becka's roommate
, he was also her
built
-
in guy dictionary.

"No
.
H
e's on his man period and
has
been a total pain in my ass."

"What'd you do?"

"Why are
you
so sure it's my fault?
Where's the loyalty?"

"I know you too well."

"Fine
.
I accidently backed into his car and knocked one of his side mirrors off."

"Becka!"

"It was an accident
.
Anyways
I offered to pay to have it fixed
,
but he swears he can do it himself."

"Yeah
,
right
.
What
with bubble gum?
"

"He would!
So that's why I need your help
,
Lil
.
What should I do?"

"Why don't you ask him to lunch again?"

"That might work, but I feel like a dork eating in front of people."

"Why?
Still
eating like a horse?"

"At least I close my mouth."

"I close my mouth."

"Sure you do."

"Anyway, back to this guy
.
Why not just ask him out?"

"Could that be
,
like, sexual harassment because we work together?"

"Um, I don’t think so
.
I think you would have to
,
like
,
feel him up or something
.
You are too funny
,
Becka."

"I wasn’t trying to be funny."

"That’s the point, but hey
,
babe, I gotta hop and try to do something productive while Mason sleeps
. Let me know what happens,
‘kay
?
I love you."

"Love you more
!"

#

I
t was
Nate
's last day
working in her department
,
so Becka took
even
more
time getting ready that morning and had the perfect outfit picked out
.
On Fridays
,
they could wear jeans
,
so she paired some
fitted black ones with a
snug
sapphire blue sweater
.
Becka made a point to be extra chatty with
Nate
,
and they talked more than they had ever before
.
Nate
told her how he
had a roommate
and lived in Scottsdale
,
where they shared a house
.
Becka
explained
how she also had a roommate and they
shared a house
as well
but lived on the opposite side of town
.
Nate
played soccer in his free time
.
Becka told him how
she ha
d played when she was younger
.
Finally, knowing that this may be her last opportunity
,
Becka
gave
Nate
her telephone number.