"I moved here in June, but it took me a couple months to settle in. Then I finally had the time to dedicate to being the creepster I had promised to be." I attempt a smile, hoping like hell to make her smile too. She looks so lost.
She offers me a small smile in return and stands up. I jump up next to her. She wipes her hands on her jean clad thighs and says quietly, "I'm sorry to hear about Leo. It doesn't sound like you know a lot about our history, but Leo is someone who… broke a promise to me. It happened a long time ago, and I don't think about him anymore. There was no reason for him to send you to check on me. If he wanted to know how my life turned out, he should have contacted me himself before… well, before.
"All the same, it was nice of you to keep your word to your friend. And now you've done your job. Here I am, fine and dandy. Mission accomplished. Dying wish fulfilled." She smiles a small smile but it looks forced. Her words gut me and I almost physically reel back. Her indifference, feigned or not, kills.
"By the way, who do I have the pleasure of calling my own personal, creepy stalker?" she asks.
I find it in myself to smile, even though I’m still hurting from her previous words. "Jake Madsen." I watch her face closely for any sign of recognition. I don’t think I ever mentioned my adoptive parent’s last name but I can’t remember for sure.
No sign of recognition appears on her face. "Well, Jake Madsen, a.k.a. creepy stalker, obviously you already know that I'm Evelyn Cruise. And you already know to call me Evie." She reaches her hand out to shake mine and when we touch, I feel the electricity jump to life against our touching skin. That same chemistry that we had when we were teenagers is still there. I want to grin with happiness at this undeniable proof of the connection between us, but I contain myself, simply staring at our clasped hands until she pulls away.
"Bye, Jake," she says, turning away.
"Evie!" I call, and she turns around. "You're gonna miss me, aren't you?" I’m smiling because there’s no way she’s going to miss me – I’m not going away. Annnnd… cue creepy stalker music. Fuck it. I don’t care.
"You know, Jake, I think I will." She smiles a small smile and turns around and walks away.
CHAPTER 6
I head back to my office and when I pull into my assigned parking spot in the underground garage, I realize that I don’t even recall any portion of the drive. My brain is going over every second of my run-in with Evie. So much of me feels intense guilt for lying, but part of me is on a high for the time I spent close to her, brief though it was. I’ve waited what feels like a lifetime for the moment when I could feel her and know her presence in my life again. I’ll have to tell her the truth, obviously, and, God I dread that. Just the thought of it chills my blood instantly. But if I’m going to explain why I never contacted her, I need to make sure that she cares enough to stay while I spew out my f**ked up story. And then I’ll just have to pray to God that she can find it in herself to forgive me. I bang my head against the seat back. After a few minutes, I sit up and get out of my car.
I pull my suit coat back on and head into the glass elevator that takes me to my office. I stop at the reception desk in the lobby on my floor, smiling at Christine, my receptionist.
Christine is in her forties, married with a son and a daughter in junior high school. She and I don’t know each other outside the office, but I can tell by the way she talks about her husband and her kids that they’re her world and that there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for them. She’s everything to them that I had hoped Lauren would be to me when I moved to San Diego.
"Hey, there," she greets me, smiling back, tucking her chin length auburn hair behind her ear.
"Hey. How are you? What’d I miss?"
"I’m great! Nothing exciting going on around here. You gonna tell me where you’ve been disappearing to so much lately or what? You’ve had a gleam in your eye for a week now. There’s a good story there. I can feel it." She rubs her manicured hands together and grins.
I lean forward on the counter above her and look around as if checking to make sure no one else is around. She leans in toward me, eyes wide. "Christine," I lower my voice and look around one more time for effect. "Can I have my messages?"
She stares at me for a beat and then her eyebrows snap down and she swipes the papers in her hand toward me. I laugh, leaning back to avoid being smacked in the face.
"Fine, have it your way. I don’t have time to listen to your boring story anyway. I need to finish up here so I can get to Michael’s game by five thirty."
I laugh at her boring story comment. "Why don’t you leave now? You were here all Saturday morning for Preston’s meeting. We owe you a couple hours. That way you can take your time."
She pauses. "You sure? That would actually be great because then I’d have time to stop by the house and change, too."
"Yup. Go." I smile and head into my office.
"Thanks! I’m just going to straighten up here and I’ll see you tomorrow."
"Okay. Oh," I say, stopping in my office doorway and turning back toward her, "I’ll be in a little late tomorrow. I have something to take care of in the morning. More secret espionage." I wink and walk into my office, closing the door behind me. I hear her harrumph.
I sit at my computer, going over the reports Preston sent me while I was gone. Surprisingly, I’m able to focus on them enough to make some necessary changes and send him a follow up email with my suggestions.