Bossman(88)
“Do you want to come in? Have a glass of wine?” she asked.
“I’d love to. But another day, maybe?”
She nodded. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“You won’t have to. I’m going to keep in touch whatever happens.”
We hugged each other like long-lost friends.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I need to give it some thought. It’s so much to take in right now.”
“I understand.”
“Could you…do me a favor? When you talk to your brother, don’t let him know you told me? I’m still holding out hope that he’ll tell me himself. I think I’ve just been going about it the wrong way to get him to open up.”
“Of course. I hope everything works out for you two. I really do.”
“Thank you, Anna. For everything.”
I walked away finally understanding why Chase thought he wasn’t the man for me. Now I just needed him to realize he was.
***
Chase arrived at nine that night. I wondered if he was even going to work anymore. He was spending all night guarding my apartment building. He couldn’t possibly be working all day.
I left him out there for an hour while I got things ready and then went downstairs without warning.
When I approached him, he stood. “Everything okay?”
“I…just wasn’t having a good night. Mind if I join you for a while?” I held up the plate I carried. “I made cookies.”
He searched my face, clearly unsure what I was up to. Finding sincerity—I was having a bad night—he nodded. “Of course.”
Our conversation was slow at first, neither of us knowing what to say. I asked him about work, and he asked me about job prospects. I gave some vague responses about considering my options, and eventually, I brought the subject around to what I’d come out to share. There was a lull in the conversation, and I took a deep breath and exhaled audibly.
“I don’t know if I locked the door.”
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“Tonight?”
I shook my head. “No. When our apartment was broken into. The key was on a long, red ribbon I liked to wear around my neck. I was the last one out, and I was supposed to lock the door. But I can’t remember if I did. That’s why I always check it three times before I leave.”
“You were a kid.”
“I know. And the neighborhood had a dozen break-ins in the weeks leading up to ours. Some had no signs of forced entry. Others had windows and doors broken. It probably wouldn’t have mattered either way. They still would’ve been inside when we came home. The police said if they wanted to get in, they’d have gotten in one way or another.” I shrugged. “But tonight I was trying to remember if I’d locked it again. I used to replay that day over and over in my head, trying to remember.”
Chase put his arm around me and squeezed. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. Just talking to you made me feel better, actually.”
His grip around me tightened. “Come on down anytime. I’m here between sundown and sunup.”
I heard the smile in his voice, and I turned, wanting to see it. I’d missed it so much. For a brief second, the way he looked at me, I could see that everything he felt for me was still there. He’d just buried it so damn deep, I could only catch distant glimpses of it before it was out of reach again.
Figuring I’d pushed as much for one night as I probably should, I forced myself to get up. “I’m going to head to bed. Thanks for listening, Chase.”
“Anytime.”
“I’ll leave you the plate. I figure cops get free donuts, the least I could do was give my bodyguard some cookies.”
I started on my way and then turned back. I was so thrilled to catch his eyes on my ass, I almost forgot what I wanted to say.
“Why aren’t you the man for me, Chase?”
Some day, I’d get him to tell me. Today just wasn’t that day.
***
We went on that way for another week. I’d bring him a snack, and we’d sit and talk for an hour or two on the steps of some random apartment building across the street from my place. Each morning when I woke, the plate I’d left behind was sitting outside my apartment door.
While it was great for my sleep—I’d never slept better, knowing someone was watching over me like a hawk—I began to think he’d never come around. Chase seemed content with our newfound friendship. Me, not so much. So I decided to push a little harder.
It was a misty night, and I’d made him cupcakes. I went outside to offer him his daily snack. He was wearing a windbreaker with a hood, and the craziness of him sitting outside in the rain provided the perfect opportunity.