Chapter 4 - Trish
Cole, Lana and Bear leave by dusk, so I’m left with my own thoughts for too many hours. If they had left Bear here, at least I could hug him to soothe myself. I change my clothes twice and immediately get angry for being worried about pleasing this random man.
And yet... I can’t help but be curious about him.
Watching him for longer than five minutes last night at dinner only reinforced my first impression of him: he’s handsome in a way that reaches my bones, his dark hair and tanned body contrasting with his light blue eyes, his biceps bulging on his shirt, it was hard to keep my eyes away from him.
He’s older than I originally thought too.
There are gray hairs peppered all throughout the sides of his hair and fine lines on his forehead.
Somehow it just made him more attractive.
Honestly, I’ve been thinking about him ever since I first saw him.
When there’s a knock at the door, I jump out in surprise since I’m so deep in focus. This is not good. I’m getting obsessed.
I settled for a green neon dress with a deep cleavage and balloon skirt, it’s a dress that perfectly complements my fair skin and it’s one of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe, but now I’m not so sure anymore. It’s clear he’s not a man who can appreciate neon colors.
What’s done is done, so I decide not to overthink and walk towards the front door.
When he sees me, his mouth opens slightly, but he quickly shuts it, pressing his lips together, confirming my suspicions. Nevermind my hesitation! Seeing him caught by surprise like this is fun.
“Ready?”
“We need to get to my car,” he says.
“Sure, that’s why I’m wearing sneakers,” I wink before shutting the door behind me. Since we’re so deep in the mountains, this place is not exactly accessible by car, so I only brought comfortable shoes with me.
The quiet in the car, while not uncomfortable, it’s killing me, it’s like I’m wasting precious time when I could be asking questions. So I decide to just go for it.
“Why did Lana insist that I’d come with you?”
“She knows I wouldn’t have come by myself.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t like going into town. Too many people.”
“Is there something I should know?”
He sighs. “It’s more or less handled, but if it gets too much, I’ll let you know. Since we’re going early in the morning I’m hoping there won’t be many people.”
We’re quiet for a long time before silence breaks, this time by Archer.
“Why didn’t you want to come?”
“I didn’t think you liked me.”
He doesn’t reply. A beat passes before he adds. “It didn’t seem like that was the reason.”
Why did he catch that so effortlessly?
Why do I want to tell this stranger the truth and can’t seem to tell it to my best friend?
“I’ve been burnt out with my job lately. The thought of spending time in a clothing shop doesn’t seem appealing.”
“Do you want to go back?”
“Oh, god no! I imagine it won’t take long, someone like you probably goes with the first item on the rack.”
“Not really. I just have a good eye. And once I set my mind on something, there’s nothing that will make me change my opinion.” He turns to me halfway through the sentence, a serious expression on his face.
It’s not like I’m going to run away if he takes a bit longer to choose, but fine, that’s reassuring. Why did his words make my chest squeeze?
“That’s good. I’ll just be your bodyguard then.”
His eyebrows shoot up and his lips curve into a smile. “What? You’re going to be my bodyguard?”
“If you don’t need fashion advice, I’ll just protect you from other people then.”
“Is your dress going to do that? Scare people away with its brightness?”
I look down, feeling self-conscious.
“I like that dress, it suits you.”
I perk up immediately. “It does?”
“Of course. And you know it. If you didn’t, why would you wear it?”
I grin. Maybe Archer isn’t so bad after all. Of course he’d react poorly at seeing a stranger on his property. This is good news because I’m feeling electric with this attraction, and being attracted to an asshole was not exactly in my bingo card for this time away.
He parks right in front of the suit store. When he takes the keys out of the ignition, he stills for a moment, his shoulders hunched up as if he’s bracing himself.
“I’ll be here next to you, we can come back another day if a lot of people arrive,” I say, gently putting my hand on top of his. It’s warmer than I expected, rough from all the time he spends outside, but more than that, it feels good to be this close. Good enough my heart rattles in my chest.
Archer looks down, his gaze set on our hands before pulling his hand away.
He turns his back to me and leaves the car.
Perhaps he doesn’t like people touching him either.
I give myself a small pep talk right before we reach the threshold of the store. It’s just a suit, it’s not an entire marketing strategy. Unfortunately, the more I try to make it a small thing, the more it becomes a big thing.
“Let’s go get breakfast,” Archer says out of the blue.
“Don’t you want to go suit shopping first? We’re early, we’ll be the first ones here.”
“I get grumpier when I’m hungry, we shouldn’t take the risk.”
“Grumpier than usual? That’s impossible! But same, totally get it,” I say with a knowing smile. “That’s why I ate breakfast before we left.”
“Now you’re going to eat your second breakfast. What are you in the mood for?”
I pretend to think it over when I know exactly what I want.
“Pancakes? Do you like pancakes?”
“In my book, if you don’t like pancakes, there’s something terribly wrong with you.”
“Didn’t peg you for a sweets kinda guy.”
“What can I say? There’s still plenty you can learn about me.”
His words make something click into place for me.
“How? You don’t like crowds, do you? How are we going to get the pancakes? Every breakfast place is usually packed.”
He takes out his phone and places our pancake order over the phone.
“Monica from Happy Place is kind enough to bring my order outside. In exchange, I do small repairs at her place.”
He points to the beach a few blocks from here, the horizon of sand and water ahead of us, slightly blurred like the heat distorting the clear lines. Well, I do like summer, but this has been a whole different level if I’m being honest.
“We could walk up there,” he suggests.
“Sure,” I reply.
I don’t think about the state of my career when I’m this close to him, side by side, our arms practically touching as we head for Happy Place, sitting right at the edge of the beach. I feel both electric and soothed by his presence.
By the time we arrive closer to Happy Place, far enough not to encounter anyone, I notice Monica with her beautiful dark hair and genuine grin waving at us with a bag in her hand.
“I did think you were ordering more than usual, Archer! How are you, lovely Trish?”
I smile, blushing immediately, not knowing what to do with her kindness. “Fine, thank you.”
She’s seen me just once when I visited Happy Place with Lana, and yet there’s no hesitation when she says my name. She’s much older than I am, but her memory eclipses mine a thousand times over.
“I’ll leave you to it, gotta make other people smile inside!”
We wave goodbye. Again, I’m met with the same feeling on my first visit: kindness given to strangers matters more than we give it credit for.
People can be polite to those they don’t know, but it’s only when people go out of their way to make you smile, that you realize how important community really is and how much you’ve been missing it.
Maybe that’s what I’ve been lacking: connection.