Grabbing my cell phone from the nightstand, I scrolled through the numbers until I landed on the newest entry. Reading the digits aloud, they even sounded sexy. Leave it to my one-night-stand to have a phone number as attractive as the recipient.
My thumb hovered over the green button that would dial the number but I immediately tossed my phone aside and launched myself from the bed. Before I made a decision that could affect my future, I needed to clear my head, make sure that I had every bit of information that I could.
Grabbing a tank and shorts from my dresser, I suited up for a run around the campus, slipping my feet into my well-used running shoes on the way out the door.
There was a heavy fog in the air as I stepped out onto campus, following the common pathways a few other runners were using. After Jolee had been assaulted outside of the library last year, I was more inclined to stay near the more populated areas even though it left very little to be desired. I preferred running in the trails of the country. Something about being in nature calmed me in a way that not even a spa treatment could. But most people looked at me and assumed I was a city girl through and through. It was a trait that I couldn’t deny. I liked the nice things in life: mani-pedis, designer handbags, salon styled blowouts. They were luxuries that I indulged in quite frequently. But take her out to the middle of a wooded mountain with a hiking trail and a waterfall and I was tickled pink.
The run would usually ease my mind, instead, it left me more jumbled than before. I wanted some sort of clarity.
My run turned into a brisk jog as I neared my apartment, halfway expecting to find Eric sitting on the front steps waiting for me to arrive. I couldn’t even lie and say that I didn’t feel a sense of longing when I found the steps bare. And as I made my way up to the third-floor landing, that longing morphed into sadness to find no one waiting at my door.
“Get yourself together, Willow,” I murmured to myself as I twisted the key in the lock and let myself back inside the apartment. My lease was up in a month and I needed to figure out my next course of action. Or I was going to find myself jobless and probably homeless. And probably behind bars if I didn’t find a way to start paying those damn student loans that my parents had saddled me with.
Making my way to the kitchen, I grabbed a chilled bottle of water from the fridge and swallowed the contents in a few quick gulps, the icy goodness doing little to quench my thirst.
The phone called out to me, begging e to make the call I was dreading, but I ignored it. Instead, I headed for the shower hoping that the hot water would do what the run wasn’t able to accomplish.
Could I do it? Could I work for a man that I’d had an intimate relationship with? Could I separate a professional and personal connection?
There was a bond between the two of them that I couldn’t deny, but it was worth changing everything.
“Shit,” I whispered as I stepped out of the hot spray. “Stop being such a baby. Just give him a call and turn him down. You don’t need the complication. Another internship will come along.”
The pep talk did little to nothing as I threw on a sundress and stared at the offending item lying on my bed. I didn’t realize that I could feel such anger and animosity toward an inanimate object before.
There was no amount of cleaning, television watching, or fidgeting that could take my mind off the phone call that I needed to make.
Finally, when the small clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen chimed for noon, I knew that I had wasted enough time. There was a man with dark wavy hair and eight-pack abs that was waiting for me to call.
My thumb floated over the touch screen’s green button that would connect the call, fear slithering up my spine as I pressed down and brought the phone to my ear. Hope that he wouldn’t answer left my heart racing, but the other part of me yearned to hear his voice, that smooth timber reminding her of the softest leather rubbing against her skin.
The line rang long enough that I was certain there was no chance that he would answer, but just as I expected the voicemail to pick up, a deep voice rang through the other end.
“Willow?”
The voice sounded almost relieved as he repeated her name.
“Are you there?” he asked and I felt my lungs seize in my chest as I seemed to lose the ability to speak.
“I. . .I’ve been waiting for you to call. If you’re there, I just. . . I need to apologize for how strong I came on yesterday. I realize that I may have scared you with my confession and I. . .shit, this is coming out all wrong. I’ve just waited so long to see you again, to be near you again.”
“Why? Why me?” I asked in a whisper. I couldn’t comprehend how I had affected this man so thoroughly, so all-consumingly.
But then again, hadn’t he done the same to me? I had relived that night together over and over again in my mind. It haunted my dreams and my daily thoughts almost to the point that I wasn’t sure if I was remembering it correctly.
“Because. . .” he started and then paused, his breath heavy on a sigh. The weight of his breath sat intensely on my chest as I waited for his response. It seemed like a lifetime passed before he continued. “Because you’re all I’ve thought about for the last year. You’re all that’s been on my mind. Something about you resonated with my soul, Willow.”
“Oh.”
The silence grew on the line to the point that I was unsure if Eric remained on the line. He threw me for a loop, one that I hoped wouldn’t run repetitively.
The quiet became too much at once, and I needed to fill the space with an urgency that I couldn’t comprehend.. “I. . .um. . .I called for a reason. You mentioned an internship.”
“Yes,” he interrupted. “I co-own various clubs, restaurants, venues, pretty much you name it and I have a stake in something. If you need an internship, I certainly can find a space for you.”
“Yes, well, while I appreciate the offer, I can’t. . .”
“I have a new venture I think you’d be perfect for, Willow. It’s in a small town in North Carolina, a vineyard and event space. We’re gearing up for a grand opening at the end of the month. Having you on hand to assist the manager for the event coordination would be ideal.”
My heart raced as he described the internship. It sounded like a dream come true, even though events weren’t my specialty, but it was a field I was definitely interested in.
“Eric, I. . .I’m not sure that you and I working together would be ideal.”
“I understand, sweetheart. You wouldn’t be working under me directly, nor do we have a no fraternization policy.”
“It’s still not-” I continued, but he quickly interrupted. “I have arranged for a flight for you leaving next Friday to head toward the town of Carson. I think it would suit you, Willow. Give it a chance, give me a chance. I won’t steer you wrong.”
“I. . .ugh. . .need to think about it. I was set with turning down your offer, but now? It seems like I may need to reconsider seriously.”
“Whatever you decide, Willow, I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
He ended the call without the chance for me to reply. The temptation to up and leave was great, but so was the desire to start somewhere fresh and new.
Now I was more confused than ever and I had a decision to make, one that could change my life.