Chapter 9 #2
I smile softly, unable to break my gaze away from his. He smiles back and leans his head against the wall, running a hand through his hair. “Do you?”
Mulling over that question, I can’t stop myself as my mind drifts to Travis.
Was it really fate leading him down his path?
Was it his destiny to become an addict who can’t beat his addiction?
Do I really believe that it was in my cards to be with him for as long as I was?
It’s a hard concept to wrap my head around.
But as I stare at Levi, I can’t help but feel like things are finally looking up for me, no matter how bleak my days have gotten.
Because isn’t this, everything leading me to this moment, what made me who I am?
If I hadn’t gotten with Travis, I never would’ve had Claire.
And if I hadn’t gone through everything that I had, I wouldn’t have ever let Kirstin talk me into giving my heart a chance.
“The jury is still out,” I answer finally, not missing the way his smile falls slightly before I continue. “But I think I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”
“In a closet with a man you barely know?” His eyes crinkle.
“Among other things.”
Levi leans forward and starts sifting through his box again, causing me to do the same. I can feel his gaze on me though, his task quickly forgotten as I restart counting the name plates.
“I’m normally not like this,” Levi states, his eyebrows furrowing.
“Easily distracted?”
His laughter fills the space, causing me to smile. “Can blame yourself for that, but no. I normally don’t get that deep right out the gate. I think my best friend might be wearing off on me.”
“Then let’s get past the deep stuff.” I close the box and officially give up on what I had come in here to do. “Tell me something no one knows about you. Or very few people know, at least.”
Levi hums as he brings his knuckles up to his chin and brushes his bottom lip with his thumb. “I paint.”
“You paint?” I’m unable to contain my surprise. “What things do you paint?”
“Landscapes, mostly.” He shrugs. “Sometimes portraits if I’m struck by inspiration.”
He winks at me, and before I can stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth, I say, “Maybe one day you can paint me like one of your French girls.”
Levi bursts out laughing, his loud, booming laughter filling the space where I can’t help but laugh along. He wipes under his eyes, his face scrunched up as he tries to stop himself.
“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting,” Leanne says from the doorway, startling me as I turn to look at her while Levi’s laughter finally dies down. “But can you two be a little quieter? I’m trying to get some work done.”
“Sorry, Leanne,” I apologize as I hold up a hand. “We’ll keep it down.”
Levi’s laughter finally subsides as he looks between the two of us. “It’s my fault, I’m sorry.”
Leanne’s eyes flit over to Levi before settling back on me, her brows furrowing. Without another word, she spins on her heel and walks back to her desk.
Levi crawls over to the door and takes out the doorstop, setting it in the doorframe so we aren’t completely locked in, the door only open a crack to keep our conversation more private.
He settles back against the wall, his head tilted toward his shoulder as he looks at me again. I self consciously tuck my hair behind my ear before I fidget with my ring.
“Your turn,” he says, picking up our conversation as if we hadn’t been interrupted.
“I learned how to rebind books so I could create and design my own covers for my favorite novels.”
His eyes widen. “Wow. How long does that normally take?”
“Depends on if I mess up along the way.” I chuckle as I slip out of my heels, gripping the bottom of my skirt and slowly sliding to the floor. Once I’m seated, I mimic his posture, crossing my ankles together.
“So, you enjoy reading,” he states. “What kind of books?”
“I haven’t had much time to read lately,” I answer with a shrug, keeping my genre preferences to myself. “How often do you find yourself painting?”
Levi’s phone rings, and he pulls it out of his pocket. He puts it on silent and sets it on the floor, ignoring the call. “Same as you. Haven’t had much time lately. But whenever I can’t sleep, I normally find myself in my studio.”
“You have your own studio?”
“When I moved, I got a place with rooms instead of a studio high rise for that very reason.” He readjusts, his attention never leaving me.
“I learned the hard way that the more cluttered my space was, the more stressed I’d get and that would pour into other aspects of my life.
And when I had to designate a corner of my old place to my makeshift studio, things got a little out of control.
So, when I moved, I built my own studio in one of the spare rooms.”
“I get that. I always feel better and more at peace in my space when it’s clean and tidy. Everything has its place.”
Levi nods in agreement, glancing down at his watch for a moment before lifting his blue eyes to mine. “I’m glad that we have that in common. Time to figure out the ninety-three other things that we agree on.”
“Percentage doesn’t equal commonalities.” I laugh gently. “We might only have thirty things in common that got us to that percentage.”
“Well,” he says, crossing his legs now as he rests his elbows on his knees and leans closer to me. “I want to know everything there is to know about you.”
“Everything?” A smile tugs at my lips. “I don’t know if you can handle knowing everything.”
“Try me.”
I only shrug in response, raising an eyebrow in challenge. His own eyes narrow, a playful grin covering his thin lips as he twirls his thumbs together.
“All right, let’s start easy.” He runs his tongue along his bottom lip. “Rapid fire question and answer, but you can’t ask the same question that I ask you. Think you can handle that?”
I nod. “Sure.”
“Okay.” He sits a little more upright. “Favorite color?”
“Yellow.” I answer. “Favorite movie?”
“Tommy Boy.” I smile and point at myself, holding up two of my fingers and his grin intensifies. “Really? Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever had someone else agree. All right. Favorite television show.”
“Friends. If you could only have one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
“Tacos. You want to watch a game on TV. What sport are you watching?”
“I’m supposed to say soccer since my best friend’s boyfriend is a professional soccer player, but I’d rather watch hockey.” He chuckles. “You finally get to go on your dream vacation. Where are you going?”
“Iceland. You look at your calendar and realize your favorite holiday is approaching. Which holiday is it?”
Thinking of Claire, I respond, “Christmas. Who is your favorite television show duo?”
“Nick and Schmidt from New Girl,” he replies without hesitation. “You find yourself in a sticky situation. Who is the first person you call?”
I’m about to say my sister but stop myself as that all too familiar pang of grief hits me. My face must give me away because Levi’s smile fades as he studies me. Before he can inquire about the sudden change, I say, “Blue. My best friend.”
“Ah, Blue’s Clues,” Levi nods, thankfully choosing not to ask about my hesitation. “I remember. Quick pause. How’d that nickname come to be?”
“Well,” I start, but once again, it was Neve who came up with that moniker for my best friend and I scramble to come up with an answer, not wanting to talk about her or my father. Not yet. “Honestly? I don’t remember. Sorry that there’s not a more exciting story there.”
“Some of the best nicknames are the most random,” he says simply, and I give him a small, grateful smile. “It’s your turn.”
“If you could have dinner with one celebrity, who would it be?”
“Truthfully? No judgement?” I nod. “It wouldn’t so much be the celebrity I’d be interested in—it’s the food they’d provide, and from what I’ve read, The Rock has some really amazing cheat meals.”
I can’t help it as I laugh. “Fair enough.”
We go back and forth for quite a while longer, learning the most random things about one another.
I discover he doesn’t like cheese but really loves cheeseburgers, only watches horror movies if they have a good plotline, had five dogs growing up until he moved to New York when he was eleven years old, he played football until his junior year of high school, and he hasn’t had any alcohol or smoked a cigarette since the night he met me on the roof.
I tell him about how I had named all of my childhood pets after Disney characters, that I broke my ankle when I was younger playing keep away with one of the dogs, I prefer to dip my pizza in ranch, played softball until I graduated high school, tried writing a book a few years ago, and that I always make it a point to have fresh flowers in the house because they bring me joy.
By the time we finally get the inventory done and emerge from the closet, the sun has already set in the sky. When we reach my desk, I grab my phone and notice a text from Heather saying that she’d stay with Claire until I get home from work.
I hastily pack my bag, shoving the loose folders and my laptop inside before slinging it over my shoulder. Turning, I startle slightly when I see Levi standing a couple feet away, staring at me.
“Let me walk you out,” he says, extending his hand toward the main doors. “I need to make sure you find the lobby okay.”
I laugh and shake my head, walking past him as he keeps a stride behind me. “Those elevators sure can be tricky sometimes, I suppose.”
Levi holds the main doors open for me and I walk by, my heels clicking on the tile floor as I approach the elevator. He puts a hand on my shoulder and reaches around me, pushing the down arrow before I can.
Once the elevator doors open, I step inside with him following behind me, three other people in the space as we ride down to the lobby. Stepping off the elevator, Levi falls into step beside me, but I slow down to wave at Russell as we pass the front desk.
Making our way out into the cooling May air, I turn to look up at Levi with a small smile. He’s already looking at me, his hands shoved in his pockets and his suit jacket tucked under one arm. He had loosened his tie while we were chatting earlier and hadn’t bothered to fix it.
“Thank you for your help,” I tell him, breaking the comfortable silence that has settled between us. “Even if it took twice as long.”
“Of course.” He shrugs, and for the first time, he looks nervous. “Thank you for allowing me to help. I never knew that sitting in a closet could be so fun.”
“It’s because you’ve never sat in one with me before.”
Levi smiles, but a small furrow appears between his brows. My left eyebrow raises in silent question, and I watch as he shifts his weight between his feet.
“I’m going to be out of town for the next few days,” he informs me before he pulls out his wallet and slips a small white card out of it. “But I don’t want to wait until I see you next to talk to you. Would you be okay if I texted you? Or even called you?”
“I’d love that.” I rest a hand on his forearm. “But I don’t need your card. I still have the one you left me. I’ll text you when I get home so you have my number, okay?”
“You promise I’ll hear from you this time?”
I nod, a genuine smile covering my face. “I promise.”