Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Eden walked into the coffee shop on her way to work. She loved this part of her regular routine because it gave her a chance to ease into the day.
“The usual?” the barista asked.
“Hi, Susie.” Eden smiled. “You’d better give me an extra pump of caramel this morning.”
“It is Monday.” Susie winked and gave Eden her change which she put in the tip jar on the counter.
“Thanks.”
Eden nodded and walked over to wait on her coffee. She took out her phone and began to scroll through the emails which would be waiting for attention when she got to her desk.
“Order for Tennie,” Susie called.
Eden looked up from her phone to see the woman she’d met at the Pitch a Friend event take the cup. She waited until Tennie turned around then said, “Good morning.”
“Well, hey,” Tennie replied with a big smile. “This is a nice surprise.”
Eden tilted her head. “I come here most mornings.”
“No way!” Tennie exclaimed. “So do I.”
“How have we not run into one other before?”
“Hmm, maybe because we hadn’t met yet.” Tennie raised her brows and gazed around the room. “We were probably doing what everyone else is, staring at our phones.”
Eden followed Tennie’s gaze and chuckled. “You’re probably right.”
“I’d have remembered you though,” Tennie said.
“Oh?”
Tennie nodded. “You have beautiful hair, Eden.” She shrugged. “I’d notice because I don’t.”
Eden took a moment to gaze at Tennie. She’d admired her short haircut the night of the event. Tennie left it a little longer on top and swooped it over so bangs fell across her forehead. The sides were short, giving her a clean look. “I don’t know.” Eden paused. “Yours is very cute.”
She watched as Tennie dropped her gaze and noticed her cheeks slightly pinken.
“Thank you.”
Susie called out Eden’s name and after she’d gotten her coffee she asked, “Are you on your way to work?”
Tennie looked down at her clothes then back up at Eden. She was wearing jeans and had rolled the sleeves of her shirt up to her forearms.
“Yes, but this isn’t my usual business attire,” Tennie replied.
“You don’t usually wear boots to work?”
Tennie chuckled. “No. I’m going out to a work site today.”
“What do you do?”
“That’s right,” Tennie said. “I didn’t get the opportunity to tell you what I do the other night. I’m in real estate. We secure the land, meet with home builders, and develop residential areas in large subdivisions. I occasionally go out to work sites to be sure everything is on schedule.”
“Oh, so you’re the boss checking up on the builders to make sure they're doing their jobs.” Eden smiled.
Tennie grinned. “Something like that. Most days I’m in the office behind a desk, so I enjoy getting out and seeing things come to life firsthand.”
“Today will be a lovely day to do that.”
Tennie nodded. “What about you?”
Eden could feel Tennie’s eyes look her up and down. Today, she’d chosen to wear a suit with a skirt and a favorite pair of high heels. “I’m on my way into the office. Revenues, expenses, and profit margins await.”
“Randi mentioned you were a financial person, but not what line of business.”
“I work for a marketing company,” Eden explained. “You know how publishing houses have marketing departments to sell their authors’ books?” Tennie nodded. “We work with independent authors in an effort to give them more exposure.”
“Oh, so it goes along with your love of reading,” Tennie said.
“Yes. I’m the numbers person. I guess you could say I’m the chief financial officer, but we don’t really do titles in our firm.
We’re small, so we like to work as a team.
We want to provide independent authors with marketing strategies and opportunities so they can concentrate on writing more books.
I’m not on the creative end of things, but I do get to read a lot of new books, often before they come out. ”
“That’s fun,” Tennie said.
“Are you a reader?”
Tennie nodded. “I do like to read.”
“Do you care to share what genre or books you like?”
Tennie pursed her lips. “Maybe we could discuss books on a coffee date some morning?”
Eden raised her brows and felt her heart beat a little faster.
“Oh wait, you may not be a morning person,” Tennie said hurriedly.
“It’s okay,” Eden replied. “Do you want to meet here a little earlier in the morning and get a table?”
The smile that bloomed on Tennie’s face made Eden chuckle.
“That would be great,” Tennie said. “Wasn’t I supposed to ask you out though?”
“You did,” Eden said. “I was just confirming our plans.”
Tennie chuckled. “Your kindness in covering my awkwardness is appreciated.”
Eden took a sip of her coffee. She walked out of the coffee shop with Tennie and they said their goodbyes. It was going to be a good day.
The morning went by quickly and Eden kept expecting Randi to pop into her office when she got there.
She was supposed to start her consulting gig with Hook, Line it’s human nature. As you said, it’s what we see. If you like someone’s appearance it signals interest. It’s what we’re attracted to. It doesn’t mean you’re bad or good, it just is.”
“I guess.”
“It annoys me when people put on their profiles that they’re looking for someone who is kind.” Randi scoffed. “How do you measure kindness? I don’t care if someone does volunteer work or doesn’t, but there are folks who are attracted to that and that’s fine.”
“I get what you’re saying. Kindness comes in all shapes and sizes, so to speak.”
“That’s why I liked the Pitch a Friend event.
Yes, the person is there and you see what they look like, but you also get more information.
After that you have a chance to meet and actually talk.
It may be brief, but you can determine if you’re interested or not.
Maybe there are sparks.” Randi wiggled her eyebrows.
“You know, after the event, I was telling Letty…” Eden paused and watched as Randi dropped her chin, raised a brow, then rolled her eyes dramatically.
Eden laughed. “You know I only say things like that to get that look, right there.” She made a circular gesture with her hand framing Randi’s face.
Randi once again smirked. “So what did you tell Letty?”
“I didn’t feel any sparks. I don’t think I met the love of my life or missed a connection with my next girlfriend, but you never know where things will go.”
“That’s right.”
“What about you? Did you see anyone who piqued your interest?” Eden asked.
Randi shook her head. “It’s not about me. It’s about you. I wasn’t looking.”
Eden scoffed. “You’re always looking, but you won’t do anything about it.”
“It would be rude for me to swoop in and take someone away from you. I am not that kind of friend!”
Eden threw her head back and laughed. “You are so full of it.”
Randi leaned forward. “Shh, don’t tell anyone. It’s between you and me.”
“I would never ruin your reputation with the ladies, my friend,” Eden said through her laughter.
Randi began to laugh with her. “We are both so full of it!”
Eden stopped laughing and tilted her head. “You know it’s not just about looks with me.”
“Of course I know that,” Randi exclaimed. “The outside is nice, but it’s what’s on the inside that matters.”
Eden smiled. “Lucky for you the outside isn’t so bad.”
Randi chuckled and leaned forward. “It’s the hair.”
Eden laughed, picked up a stress ball that was lying on her desk, and tossed it at Randi.
She caught it and stood up. “Come on. Take me to lunch and we’ll figure out who else we hope calls and asks you out.”
“We?”
Randi scoffed. “Well, yeah, we. Honey, we’re in this together.”
Eden shook her head, grabbed her purse, and smiled. “Of course we are.”