Chapter 17 #2
With hard rock music blaring on the phone, my brain and fingers work together to create different coding for the mockup of what my new potential app will look like on the front and backend.
The only time I stop to take a break from developing is when I really need to pee.
I get hyper-focused. I’ve been known to be intense while working like this.
Skipping meals, avoiding going to the bathroom, forgetting to shower, or putting off sleep is an often-occurring phenomenon.
Mandy says goodbye at some point over the music and adds some other random comments about Luke coming to town as she leaves for work.
Much later, I vaguely remember Tony coming to check on me, bringing in some food and a drink, and then cleaning up after I had some.
Three weeks after he was officially hired, Tony began permanently living in the apartment that sits over the garage.
He’s off most days, unless I leave the house.
He’s pretty quiet and rarely enters the house unannounced.
He either knocked and I didn’t hear him, or Mandy told him that I was in my work-zen mode and that I would be oblivious until I’m done.
“Deidre,” Tony calls from my doorway.
“Yeah?” I don’t look in his direction as my fingers rapidly punch on my keyboard.
“Deidre,” he calls again.
“What?” I snap.
“You have a visitor.”
“What?” I spin in my chair to face him. My eyes bulge a little when I suddenly see Luke standing just behind Tony. “Oh. Hey.” I stand up quickly, tripping over my chair.
Both of them rush in to help me get off the floor. Before either makes it to me, I dart back up to a standing position.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, nervous about how I look. I’ve got no bra, a loose, stained t-shirt, and short shorts, and I have yet to shower.
“You don’t remember me telling you I was coming back this weekend?” Luke asks.
“No. I mean, yes. Yes. I remember,” I stutter. “I meant, what are you doing here ? I thought you were going to text me when you got to your place.”
“I thought I’d surprise you,” Luke says. “I could go if?—”
“No!” I clear my throat. “No. It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you here…now.”
“I see that,” Luke returns with a grin.
“Thanks, Tony. We’re good.”
Tony nods. “Just let me know if you decide to go out.”
“Will do,” I confirm. “Thanks.”
We watch Tony leave.
“Is he always around?” Luke asks.
“No. He lives in the apartment above the garage. He’s off most of the time unless I'm in public. He’s new to my bouts of being a hermit as I work, so I think he’s sticking around so I don’t do anything crazy.”
Luke shrugs as he pets Vix, who’s happy to see him. “Makes sense.”
“Um,” I say anxiously, fixing my hair that has been pulled up into a crazy bun-like ponytail. “Did you want to do anything specific tonight?”
“No,” Luke replies. He gestures to my desk. “I’m sorry if I was interrupting.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” I sigh. “I needed a break.”
“You sure? I can entertain myself if you need to finish.”
I wince, not wanting to be rude. “If you don’t mind, I’ll just need a minute.”
“Go ahead,” Luke says. “I’m capable of entertaining myself.”
“Really?”
Luke sits on my bed with Vix in his arms. “Dei, it’s okay.”
“Thanks,” I squeak and quickly turn to sit and finish. “I should only need about ten minutes.”
“Sounds good.”
I check the clock, wanting to time myself. My fingers move furiously over the keys as they frantically try to keep up with the speed at which my brain is thinking. Once I do a quick check of the code, I note that it’s only six-seventeen. It only took me thirteen minutes.
“Done,” I announce, spinning left in my chair. My eyes fall upon an empty bed—no Luke or Vix. Movement from my left catches my attention. “Watcha doing?”
Luke returns a book to the shelf. “Nothing.”
“Did you want to read one?”
“Only if you read it to me,” Luke replies with a devilish grin.
Why would he want me to read a book to him? That doesn’t make sense.
“What kind of food are you in the mood for??” I ask, raising a brow.
“What are you in the mood for?”
My stomach grumbles, indicating that I need to eat something soon. “I was thinking buffalo chicken…maybe salad and French fries.”
“Sounds good.”
We stand, watching each other until Luke moves in to offer me a hug. It’s a little tense for me, not sure if he’s going in for a kiss, as well as the fact that I don’t have a bra on. We smile nervously at each other as we separate.
“Come on,” I say, taking hold of his wrist and dragging him to the door. I abruptly stop, causing Luke to crash into me.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I huff. “Um…why don’t you get us drinks and I’ll be right out.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I deny, crossing my arms over my chest.
He notices my movement. “Drinks it is.” His voice is robotic. Without another word, he walks out of my bedroom.
Putting on a sports bra pops into my head, but the girly side of me wants to look a little more presentable for him, even if nothing is going to happen. I settle on one that somewhat matches the pair of panties I have on, along with a fresh tank top and a loose, lightweight cardigan.
“Hey,” I say, coming from the hall.
Luke is sitting at the kitchen island with two beers. “Hey.”
As I prep something to eat, our conversation is casual, catching each other up on what we’ve seen or done the past few weeks. I share that I’ve been taking self-defense classes. Luke seems a bit relieved. He even mentions that I appear more confident than I have been.
Once the food is ready, we sit outside on the patio.
“So things must be going good for the business if you’re going to be down here every weekend, right?” I presume after my first bite of food.
“Yeah.”
“That’s exciting. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve put off my promotion long enough. Dad’s practically kicking me out of the office.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, really,” Luke claims. “I’m just not sure if I’m ready.”
“Well, your dad is.”
“Yeah,” he agrees unconvincingly.
“There’s no way of knowing if you are or not unless you try.”
With a boyish grin, he says, “You sound just like him.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Luke.” I reach out and touch his forearm.
His gaze drops to my hand and back up when I remove it. “What’s going on with you? It looked pretty intense when Tony and I got to your room.”
“Oh, that,” I giggle. “I get in random moments where I’ll start coding.”
“Coding?”
“Writing code or script for a new app,” I explain.
“That’s cool. I didn’t peg you to be the one doing it.”
“I like doing it,” I say. “I think I always will unless something else captivates me. I like knowing what’s inside my apps. It’s not always easy to tell someone what I want it to do, so I create it and then have them help make it better.”
“What’s this new app’s function?” he asks.
“Can’t tell you.”
Luke lifts a brow. “Why not?”
“Trade secrets,” I tease. “Victoria’s pushing for something that can work with or be connected to Flirt more easily, but I don’t feel strongly about any of the ideas I’ve come up that could be in conjunction…
not even any alterations to make to the current software. I do have a few others in development.”
“If your gut is telling you to do something new, maybe it’s time for a change,” Luke suggests.
“I think you need to consider your own advice,” I tease.
Luke smirks. “Maybe.”
After our meal, we end up on the couch with some milk and cookies instead of going out.
Right as he asks me about how I’ve been since the incident at the party, Mandy comes home from work.
Luke doesn’t press for information as Mandy joins us for a little bit.
She’s pretty calm, which worries me. Mandy could suddenly ask a random question, putting us on the spot and making things more awkward than they already are.
Mandy excuses herself about twenty minutes later, leaving Luke and me alone with a passed-out Vix on Luke’s lap.
“I should let you go,” Luke says.
“Okay.”
“You free tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “I’ll be up for a bit working on some stuff, so just call or text when you get up.”
“I don’t want to wake you.”
“Trust me, you most likely won’t. I’m usually up late and up early when I get into a flow.”
“Did you have anything planned for tomorrow? I don’t want to get in the way or make you have to cancel,” Luke says sweetly.
“I’m all yours if you want me.” My cheeks redden at my double entendre.
I’m mortified because I want him to want me, just not right now since it’s that time of the month. God, this is so awkward. Maybe this is all a sign, telling me that Luke and I being together in any form other than friends isn’t a good thing?
As Luke leaves, we exchange a clumsy hug-slash-kiss-on-the-cheek kind of thing.