Chapter 27 A New Chapter
Chapter twenty-seven
A New Chapter
Walking into the complex, I round the corner to the café, chuckling when I see the pile of balloons first before Sarah's friends come into my line of sight. They both smile as I make my way to their table where they stand and clasp hands with me, followed by a firm pat on the back.
"Hey, guys, how're you doing?" I smile broadly, clapping back just as hard.
I ignore the stares from nosy bystanders who are looking at us a little too closely.
Jerome gives me a curious up and down before giving me an approving nod. “My man! You look good! What did you end up getting her? I know you were stressin’," Jerome says with a chuckle as he sits back down.
He'd been the one that suggested a spa day gift card. We’d texted extensively with ideas for her, but considering she hasn't been too receptive to touch, I didn't think a massage day would be appropriate. But the woman loves her nails, so it was a pretty easy pick.
“I paid for her to get nails for a bit, just to give her some breathing room to get on her feet,” I answer, glancing curiously at the array of cups in front of us.
“Yeah, that’s cool. What’s a bit, though?” Christopher chuckles, leaning forward to hand me a cup of coffee.
I grab it, briefly roaming his face. “A bit for me is a years’ worth.” Looking away, I take an appreciative sip of perfectly sweetened coffee.
Jerome chokes so hard it shocks me, and I whip my head over to him and set down my coffee in a rush.
“Damn." I frown. "Are you okay?” I ask, tilting my head as Jerome beats his fist to his chest.
“Yeah. You said a year?” Jerome’s eyes water as he regards me just a little harder, his gaze turning shrewd. "Do you know how much a manicure costs, and how often you have to get them? Is your bank account okay?"
"Hmm-hmm. I just paid for it." I laugh. “The cost didn't matter to me," I say flippantly, "because I really wanted to take this off her plate. I hope she'll be happy with it.” I glance at my watch. "She should be here any minute."
Suddenly, our phones ding at the same time with a text. A quick looks show's it's correspondence from Sarah, informing us she got her key.
“Well,” Christopher says, standing up and grabbing the balloons, “our girl is punctual as always. Let’s roll.” Still chatting, we walk out of the coffee shop and round the bend to the lobby where Sarah's standing and looking like a breath of fresh air.
The vision of her makes me smile broadly.
She's balancing on the balls of her feet, waiting for us to get to her.
When she see's us, she a hops excitely, making her pretty green dress sway enticingly around her beautifully sculpted legs, while grinning and waving at us.
Christopher and Jerome get to her first. I hang back a few steps, wanting to see her interact with them before I greet her.
“Hi!” she says quietly, wrapping her arms around Jerome and Christopher both, closing her eyes as she snuggles in close.
I feel a pang of envy because I'm remembering the night before when I went to hug her, and she stiffened.
I wonder if I'll have better luck today.
I want her to want to touch me like that.
“Thank you so much for being here.” She opens her eyes and locks gazes with me, causing my heart to skip a painful beat.
I wait for her cue, remaining standing slightly to the side, and decide she's going to have to make the first move.
Thankfully she does. Her face visibly softens even more somehow, and her cheeks stain a light pink as she closes the slight distance between us. "Hey, you," she says.
The abandon that she expresses with her friends disappears and is replaced with something more hesitant. Shyer.
"Hey," I reply as she carefully presses into my side, wrapping an arm around me and squeezing my bicep gently before giving me a little rub, which surprises me because it feels so intimate.
"Are you doing okay?" she whispers up to me, making my lips tip up in a crooked grin as I slowly roam the features of her face and drink her in.
"I'm doing good, much better now. Thank you," I reply back just as quietly, daring to pull her just a bit harder into my chest.
The hug we're sharing is longer than the one she gave them, and the extra contact does a lot for me emotionally.
Turning my face away from the curious looks of the men, I sigh, feeling the stress of the day melting away as I stand there breathing in her warm, vanilla scent.
I lament my long-sleeved work shirt, craving to feel her skin against mine.
“Thank you, too. You didn’t have to come at all, especially since you didn’t have a good day.” She pulls away, looking up at me through her lashes. "I never would have expected you to."
Even though her touch is gone, something shifts inside of me, immediately causing me to feel better.
The shitty day runs off me in swathes as I look into her eyes, and for a second Jerome and Christopher disappear.
It's just me and her, connecting. I give her a smile, not able to help my eyes lowering to her berry-red, plump lips.
“It’s nothing; I’m glad to be here. Let’s get into your apartment so we can tackle this Indian food that I’m dying for,” I joke, falling into step beside her as Christopher and Jerome lead the way to the elevators.
They hadn’t seen the place yet, and I know Sarah wanted them to walk in first. She sneaks me a small smile, rolling her eyes as she listens to them argue about some football game they were watching yesterday.
“Do you know David emailed me?" she asks suddenly. "Did he say anything to you?”
The question makes my steps falter as we enter the elevator.
“No, he didn't. What did he want?” My fucking voice is back to being cold as I fight back a fresh, hot wave of jealousy at the mention of the man. Jesus, he wasted no time, did he?
Jerome hits the button for the floor, and I greedily fill my eyes with her. Her brows furrow, and I see she's genuinely curious as to my thoughts.
“I’m not sure yet; I didn’t get a chance to open it. Was just wondering if you happened to know anything…you know, since he came into the office the other day."
"No."
"Well, it's just he doesn’t normally email me first. I usually reach out to him about clients,” she says, ripping her gaze away to lower her head so she can dig in her purse for her keys.
"Uhm, the way you two were acting kind of made me think there was some tension between you, and I didn't want to jump into the middle of anything. "
I cock my head. She's very astute. "Oh, no. He's just an employee." I give her a wink as she looks back up to me and bites her lip. "All's good on my end. You should check it. See what he wants."
The elevator beeps, interrupting our conversation. We drop it, and Sarah teases the men about their bickering. As we walk down the fancy, expansive hallway, our footsteps are muffled by the lush rugs laid over the hardwood.
The excitement is palpable as she turns and hands Christopher the keys.
“Do me the honor, Chris!” she half-squeals, that spark glinting in her eyes as she softly claps her hands together and smooths down her dark green dress.
"I'd love to, babe!" Christopher smiles a cheeky grin back at her in response and unlocks the door, swinging it open wide and hurriedly walking inside with Jerome. "Ooohhwee! Holy shit, this is niiceee!"
Putting my hand on her elbow, I go to walk us in too, but Sarah freezes, slapping out a hand against my chest as her brows furrow and a confused look morphs her features.
At the feel of her hand against my heart, my own hand comes up to wrap loosely around her wrist, pressing hers deeper into my chest momentarily. I look over.
She's frowning, not paying me any attention.
Not seeing me knocked askew at just the touch of her hand against my chest.
Does she have any clue how this makes me feel? What she's doing to me? My eyes sting at the feel of her warm hand there, right over my heart that suddenly aches painfully. Inhaling, I fight to not close my eyes. I've missed the intimacy of small gestures like this. Someone feeling your heartbeat.
I tilt my head and clench my jaw, wondering if I’d ever actually had it, or if I was wasting my time longing for something I’d never experience, but would always be doomed to crave. I'm so starved for touch that I'm weakened by the extent of the loss I'd been bearing for so long.
"Hey, no!" Sarah's confused voice rings out, swiftly bringing me back into the present. "No, no." The pulse thrumming away under her skin is strong, and I break, rubbing my thumb along her wrist.
Slightly though, so it's not obvious what I'm doing.
“Guys, wait, come back. Something's wrong. I think they must have given me the wrong apartment,” she calls, tilting her head to double check the apartment number.
As her frown deepens, my heart begins to race.
The sensation making heat creep up my neck and robbing me of my breath.
This is it; she's about to see that she's been given a gift.
I keep my hand around her wrist, holding her to me, and wondering if she feels my heart beginning to race with excitement.
“This one’s furnished. There’s been a mix-up, you guys; we need to go back downstairs. I’m sorry.” Sarah pulls her hand away and glances at me apologetically through her lashes.
My lips part to reply, but before I can speak, our attention is drawn back into the apartment.
I put my hand on her elbow, pulling her gently into the doorway where we see Christopher leaning against the peninsula in the kitchen, holding a white piece of paper, and Jerome next to him, picking through a huge gift basket of stuff.
“No, it says 5-D,” Christopher calls. “They left you a note with your name on it, along with a bottle of some fancy wine and some snacks. Damn, woman, that’s cool!” Christopher begins reading the note out loud.
Sarah,