Chapter 8
EJ
"I'd love to come in for a second," he said.
She peered out of the windows. "There's a small lot behind the house that you can access by the alley, but right here on the street is probably easier.
" She gestured at the parking spots that were open further down, along the side of the street, near the front of her salon. EJ pulled into one of them.
"The house was brown when we bought it," she said after they got out of the truck and began to walk up.
"All this was overgrown. It was easy to see the potential, though.
They were all pretty easy fixes." He followed her around to the side of the house.
It was dark out, but she knew where she was going.
"There's a staircase inside the salon, but I was going to show you this way up.
Nico, what are you doing out here?" she said when she rounded the corner and saw a man waiting there.
He was standing outside, next to the air conditioning unit.
He was dressed nicely in slacks and a button-down shirt that was tucked in with a belt.
"Hello, Savannah. I'm waiting for my friends to pick me up. We're going to Randolph's for jazz at midnight. Carly's playing the bass guitar. Would you like to come with us?" He glanced at EJ with his eyebrows furrowed. "I guess your friend would be welcome to come, too, if he'd like."
"Oh, thank you, Nico, but my friend is just walking me to my apartment."
"Oh, that's no problem. I can walk you up to your apartment. Your friend can leave. I'm just waiting out here even though my ride won't be here for another six minutes."
"That's okay, but thank you. EJ was coming inside with me for a minute. Thank you, though, Nico."
"Well, it's late," was all he said. His stare was aimed at EJ, and it was serious and impassive.
"No, he's… he'll just be upstairs for a few minutes. We just went out for cake."
Nico nodded and wore a peaceable enough expression, but EJ could tell he was protective of Savannah, which made him happy. There was an edge of regret that he wasn’t the one with the right to be protective of her, but mostly, he was thankful she had people like Nico in her life.
"It was nice meeting you Nico," EJ said, hoping he was in there long enough that Nico would be gone when he finished upstairs.
"See you, Nico!" she called from over her shoulder. "Have fun at jazz night!"
He waved but didn't look too pleased.
EJ followed Savannah up a flight of stairs, where she pointed to the door to Nico's apartment.
They kept going to the third floor, and she unlocked the door to her place.
She went inside and flung on the lights with a flourish.
She set down her things, and then she twirled around once in the center of the room.
EJ's heart was racing as he watched her. She was happy and excited to show him her place, and it was the most precious thing he had ever seen. It was nice, warm, and cozy in there, but he could hardly take it in because his eyes were on Savannah.
"My lovely workshop is also my living room," she said, gesturing to the main room of her living space.
At least a quarter of the room was taken up with art supplies—a desk and shelving units with stacks and stacks of supplies.
The whole place was bright and busy, and that corner, her mosaic corner, was especially full.
One whole section of shelves had pieces that were in progress, and he noticed a bowl that was a lot like his.
"No two pieces are exactly alike," he said, thinking about his bowl.
"No, definitely not. I could hardly do that if I tried.
I could get close, though… You see all these supplies.
It's nice to have such extensive supplies.
I could probably come close to replicating things, but honestly, I wouldn't ever want to try to do one exactly like another. That would take the fun out of it."
"Will you ever make another lady like the one downstairs?"
"Maybe. I sold her, so I'd have to remember what I did."
"You sold her?" EJ asked, feeling shocked.
"Yeah."
"Since the last time I was here? I didn't think about it when I was downstairs." Of course he didn't. All he could see was Savannah. "Who'd you sell it to?"
"Gabe. It's crazy. He was the one who hooked me up with this place, and all these supplies, and then, when I make something out of this stuff he gives me, he pays me! His sister came to town last week, and she fell in love with that lady, so he bought it for her. He took five thousand dollars off of my mortgage total. He wrote out a receipt for it and hauled her off that same day. I couldn’t pass on five thousand.
That's a whole month of my bills. I think he had it shipped to New Orleans, where she lives. "
"Were you happy? I didn't think you wanted to sell her."
"Sure, I'm happy. I miss her, but not five grand worth."
She was happy, but EJ couldn't help but feel annoyed. It was a one-of-a-kind piece. In his mind, it was worth more than five. Actually, he just wanted it. He was mad that that guy had it. "Who is this guy anyway?" He said out loud since he was thinking about it.
"Gabe. The man who helped me out with this place."
"Yeah, I know, but you never told me his story. Why's he so willing to help you so much?"
EJ had taken a second to look around, but as he asked the question, he turned to look at Savannah.
Their eyes locked. They had a few instances of eye locking tonight, but she was so casual that she never held it for longer than a second or two at a time.
His heart raced when she stared at him for longer than usual. Her eyes were dark and piercing.
"There's nothing going on between us, if that's what you're trying to imply," she said.
In that moment, he realized she was staring at him not because she was in love, but because she thought he was accusing her of having an affair with this man for money.
"I wasn't saying that," he said. "I just don't know what he feels about you. What's his motivation in giving you all of this?"
"Are you doubting that one human can just be kind and generous with another human?" she asked, still staring straight at him. "You bought me dinner tonight. Should I assume you want something from me?"
He stared at her unblinking. He very much wanted something from her. He wanted all of her. If this other guy felt about her like EJ did, they were all in a whole lot of trouble.
"No, I guess not," he said, since the question was an obvious trap.
"Come peek in the rest of my apartment."
She took him by the arm and pulled him toward the hallway. She didn't hold onto him long because he knew to follow her. "My bedroom," she said, extending her hand and urging him to look inside. "Remember, I had no idea you were coming," she said. "So sorry about any mess."
It was cluttered in there, but it wasn't dirty.
Her things were so colorful and beautiful that it didn't matter that they were not completely organized.
He took it in, feeling oddly comfortable and at home there even though it was the first time he had ever laid eyes on it.
Her bed had pillows and a colorful quilt, and he wanted to take off his shoes and dive into the middle of it.
It was cool in there. It was cool in temperature, and it was the room of a cool person.
"And there are two bathrooms. Mine is back there, through my bedroom, and the one for guests is right here."
She scooted past him and opened a door in the hallway. It was a full bathroom. She went to a third door. "This is a second bedroom right here." She opened the door, and he looked inside. It was clean and tidy with a futon, a small dresser, and a lamp.
"People wonder why I don't use this room for my mosaics.
One, I have guests in here sometimes… my mom or whoever.
And two, I don't want to. Look how tiny it is, and it's all boxed in.
The window's so small. I love my spot in the living room by the big window.
It's my apartment, like I said, so I can do what I want, right? "
"Yes, you can," he said.
"And to answer your question, Gabe and I are close, but there's never been anything between us, and he doesn't expect there to be.
We're good friends. We hit it off as friends, and that's all there is to it.
He took a liking to me, and that's all. It's completely platonic—never any talk of that stuff.
He has people in his life but no children. "
"Does he have a wife?"
"No. He was married briefly when he was younger.
He's been single for a long time. He was only married for like three years, and they never had kids.
She doesn't even live here. He gives his life to his work.
That's how he has money to invest in things like this.
That's what the restaurants are about. His main business was construction, but he has several businesses now.
They're passive investments. I don’t even know what he does during his work day anymore.
He travels a lot, buying things for his customers and his businesses.
We don't get into his stuff when we talk because most of the time, he's helping me with the salon.
Anyway, nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do.
I've learned my lesson with that. I won't let that happen again.
I'm happy with this situation, and Gabe's great," she said easily.
EJ felt a pang in his chest. Partly because she was fine without him, and partly because he felt this was goodbye.
She turned and started walking down the hallway toward the living room.
"Well, I love your place, Savannah. It's just the coolest in here.
And for what it's worth, I don't mind your workspace being in the living room.
It's your living space, and that's what you want to do when you're living, right—work on your art? "
"Finally, someone who understands!" she said, putting her hands in the air.
"Do you need to use the restroom before you head out?
Oh, never mind, I guess you're not that far from your hotel.
" She smiled and shook her head. "You can still use the restroom if you need to, though, I don't mean to offer it and then take it back. "
EJ just shook his head. "I don't need to." He said.
His heart ached. He wanted to touch her, hold her. He wanted to make plans to see her again. He looked around her apartment, trying to take it all in so that he could remember it. She had what must've been a dozen mosaic pieces spread around, and they were gorgeous.
The two of them were in her living room near the door when she turned to look at him. She instantly got lost staring at him, but something was off about the way she gazed. She stared at the side of his face with a serious expression, studying something.
"I'm checking one thing on your…" She reached out and touched the hair on the side of his head, above his ear.
She gave it a ruffle, staring intently at it again before shifting her attention to the other ear, then back again like she was comparing the two.
"Yeah, it's fine," she said with a smile.
"I thought I saw something with your haircut, but it's good.
It looks good." She patted his shoulder, and then she let her hand rest there and made eye contact with him.
She was smiling and touching him, and he was so attracted to her, he felt like he might explode.
"Thank you, EJ. Thank you for looking me up and driving over here.
Thank you for dinner and such wonderful company.
It has been awesome catching up with you.
" She gave his shoulder a squeeze and smiled right at him.
"I never in a million years would've dreamed I would be having dinner and catching up with EJ from Gary's house. "
He smiled at her and then bit the side of his lip because he felt at a loss for words. "I’m so glad you're doing great, Savannah," he said, like an idiot.
"Thank you. I feel good. I hope every time I talk to you, I'll have more and more good reports to give you. I think that's going to happen."
"Me too," he said, nodding. "And I'm still not convinced that I won't come back sometime for a haircut."
"You should," she said. "Just maybe once a year instead of once a week!" She pushed at his shoulder, and he grabbed her hand. He dropped it, but they held eye contact.
"What are the chances that I would be able to kiss you right now?"
They had been playful enough with each other that he knew she would humor him and at least answer the question.
Her face broke into a grin. "None," she said.
"Really?" he said in disbelief. "No chance at all?"
"No. That would make it weird. Why would you even want to?"
(Because you're beautiful and wonderful and perhaps the most interesting amazing woman I've ever met, and kissing you is only the beginning of the things that I want to happen—marriage, children, a life together.)
He gave her a little shrug. "I don't know. I guess… for old times' sake," he said. "Just thinking about that summer."