7. Daphne
7
DAPHNE
I glance at the text conversation we had while I walk in. Awesome. My car does autocorrect on crack too. Incontinent? Nexium? I need a blow job? New job! I need a new job!
But his reply…Me too?! He needs a blow job?
Or did he know I meant a new job, and he’s me too-ing that? Why would he want a new job? His job is incredible. He gets to go to so many places and have new experiences.
“You could have them too, if you’d stop being a wuss and go with him,” I mutter to myself. Ugh. I need to get to my desk. I hope this isn’t a very Monday-like Friday.
It is. It is the Monday-est Friday ever.
“Damn it!” The scanner chews up the documents I need to email to a client who is bugging me for them. My coworker, Mallory, took the day off so my misery has no company. I open the doors, following the copier instructions on the screen, my frustration mounting as I go through each step.
I slam the door after completing Step E when I hear a deep voice behind me. “Easy, Daph. What did this copy machine ever do to you?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I see Liam, Logan’s cousin. “Hey, Liam, what are you doing here?”
Putting his hands on my shoulders and easing me aside, he says, “Move out of the way, and let me help so you don’t assault the office equipment.” He sweet-talks the copier. I swear he tells it what a wonderful machine it is and how hard it works and he’s sorry it’s not appreciated. He calls it Gabrielle, no lie.
“So, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Colorado or Arizona, checking out the outlets there. Are there hidden cameras I should pretend to not be aware of?”
“No, no cameras. I’m not doing an ‘undercover boss’ type of thing.” He fiddles with a knob. “I’m not here to spy. I’m home for a couple of days and am taking care of some maintenance things in the office. No reason to call the management company when I can change lightbulbs myself. Your area needs a revamp.”
Nodding enthusiastically, I plead, “Please tell me technology is getting an upgrade! What we have is functional, but I feel like down here is where the tech and furniture comes to die. It’s fine getting cast-offs from upstairs, but I would love to edit a pdf without using an electric typewriter and Wite-Out.”
“Wow.” He laughs. “That’s old school!”
“I know! It’s crazy.” I successfully run my document through the scanner. “Well, this was fun, but I have to send this.”
He follows me and leans against Mallory’s desk. “Is Logan in town?”
“He’s in Prague. I’m not sure where he’s going next.”
“Are you two dating yet?”
I sigh. I’m so tired of this question. “We’re friends.”
He grins. “Do you have plans for this weekend?”
A blush rises in my cheeks. Liam is a flirt. He was flirting with the copier five minutes ago! But it’s nice to have the attention. If I wasn’t so hung up on Logan, I could easily crush on Liam. My head says Liam is the safe choice. He’s here more than Logan. He doesn’t tie my emotions into knots like Logan does. Liam travels for his job too, but I don’t worry like I do when Logan is gone.
But my heart belongs to Logan, and if anything happened between me and Liam, that would end any hope of romance with Logan—and possibly our friendship too.
“I’m running errands,” I say too quickly, hoping to hide my embarrassment. “What about you?”
“I’m going to the hockey game Saturday and meeting friends at Devil’s Den tonight. You want to come along? Either? Both?”
“Nope, but thanks. And thank you for rescuing me from temperamental office equipment.”
“Glad I was here to help. Seriously, call me if you want to hang out or if you ever give up on him.”
Liam and Logan are close friends and cousins, but they’re competitive too. I’m not a prize to be won.
“Are you around for the rest of the afternoon?” I ask.
“Nope. I’m checking out a property in Atlantic City. I’m going to head out now. Take care.”
After he leaves, I sit down to work on filing for the rest of the afternoon. That’s mindless. I need mindless.
Ooh, bonus, I got tedious and frustrating too. Yay. Nothing makes a Friday more fun than playing 52 Card Pickup with the huge paper stack you had meticulously put in alphabetical order so you could get some much-needed filing done. We won’t mention the paper cut I got from the file jacket. I swear, my pinky needed a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
“Home sweet home,” I moan as I let myself into the house after work. Flopping onto the sofa, I decide I’m going to meld with it, become one with it. At least for the weekend. No reason to leave the house until work on Monday, right? The lighthouses aren’t going anywhere. They’ve been there over a hundred years already. No rush. I can do the challenge next year. Yeah, good plan.
My phone signals a new text.
Logan: You are not backing out of doing the challenge this weekend.
Me: What makes you think I was even considering it??
I glance around to see if there are hidden cameras I’m not aware of. Maybe he’s psychic? I hope not. If he knew the thoughts I had the other night, I’d never be able to look him in the eye again. Not that his eyes were the parts of his anatomy my fantasies focused on.
I write “batteries” on the grocery list hanging on my fridge. I should check into a BOB that charges with USB…
Logan: Years of friendship.
Me: What?
Logan: Years of friendship tell me you’re searching for reasons to skip doing the challenge this weekend and stay home. You probably told yourself the lighthouses aren’t going anywhere and there’s always next year.
Me: Lol, well, I’m feeling called out. Fine, I’ll go. But for the record, I had a rotten day at work. I have an injury.
My phone rings. Logan. Who else would it be?
“Logan?” I ask quizzically.
His deep voice is hard to hear over the crowd around him, but he sounds frantic.
“Are you okay? Did you go to the hospital? I’m so sorry for teasing you. Do you need anything?”
“I’m fine, Logan. It was just a paper cut. Just me being melodramatic. Sorry I worried you.” I rest my forehead against the cool surface of the refrigerator.
I hear him let out a deep breath and say a quiet, “Thank God.”
My heart does a funny little stutter step. “Hey, everything is okay. I’m being silly. Everything’s fine. Why are you so upset?”
The crowd noise fades a bit. Where is he? Maybe a train station? I thought I heard a loudspeaker making announcements.
“I worry about something happening to you when I’m so far away,” he says.
Forget a stutter step. My heart is doing a full-on cha-cha now because of the worry in his voice.
“Right back atcha, dude,” I whisper softly.
My brain knows he’s strong and competent. He isn’t reckless, but some places he’s gone and things he’s done through the years have kept me up nights. Logan doesn’t tell me about the sketchy situations he’s encountered until after he comes home. That way I don’t worry, but I’m petrified that someday I’m going to get the call that something has happened—he’s been mugged in a dark alley or fallen off a mountain or been in an accident, and he’s gone. Then I’d truly be all alone in the world. I don’t know if I’d survive that.
“Daphne, I gotta go. Promise you’ll do the lighthouse challenge this weekend. Even if you don’t do the whole thing, do some of it each day. Go to Cape May on Sunday. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
“Where are you going? Are you at a train station? I’ll do it and text you the selfies I take. Be careful.” My turn to be the concerned friend.
Logan calls out to someone that he’s coming. “I will. You be careful too. Talk to you soon. Watch out for deer and wet leaves. Bye.”
I let out a shaky laugh. Gran used to say, “Bye, love ya, be careful. Watch out for deer and wet leaves,” when we would leave her house after a visit. I hadn’t thought about that in a while. Wet leaves and deer aren’t all I need to watch out for. When he’s concerned and protective of me like this, I can almost convince myself he feels more for me than friendship. I stop those thoughts though because the crash will hurt too much when it turns out we’re still only friends.