Promise Me (26 page)

Julia, for as gorgeous and smart and funny as she is, has always had difficulties in finding a good guy. He's either too this or too that. She started experimenting with
Match.com
recently and in the last few months her dates have not gone off so well. Honestly, I don't know how she does it anymore; every guy seems to be worse than the last one. My self esteem would be on the floor if I was her, and that's saying something, since mine can sometimes be pretty damn low.

"Ha! You mean the Scientist?"

I nod and brace myself for some dating horror story as is the usual ending to most of her dates. "Well, the first couple of times we went out he was cool. Very nice, actually. Had impeccable manners, the whole bit. Then he told me about the science project he's working on and I immediately cut my losses."

How her dating life can possibly be more pathetic than how I feel in my current situation, and I technically have a "boyfriend" is beyond me. I lean forward in rapt attention and say, "It couldn't have been that bad."

She raises an eyebrow in defiance, ensuring that this story is going to be a good one.

"His 'project' was to save his farts in sealed containers to see if he could 'capture the wind' or some crazy shit like that," she says as serious as a heart attack. "I should have taken a picture of his laboratory for you, it had Tupperware galore."

"You're joking," I sputter between my laughing fit. "That cannot be a true story."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

I'm laughing so hard now that I have to wipe the tears from my eyes. I look over at her to see her not evening cracking a smile so I quickly compose myself and apologize. "Sorry, Julia. That really sucks."

"Yeah, whatever," she says dismissing the light chuckles still coming from me. "Enough about me. Spill!"

So, I spill. I don't tell her everything, but, she's got the gist. When I tell her about the battle royal I had with Ava in Tyler's office though, she sits straight up like a rocket in her seat.

"What a bitch!"

"I know," I say uncomfortably. The incident is still plaguing my thoughts. I'm trying to let Tyler's words and actions win out, but it's just not that easy for me.

Carefully, she asks, "Are you really in love with him, Sabrina?"

"Julia, I think I've been in love with him for ten years. I gave him my heart..."

"Please don't say, '
and he gave me a pen
'," she smiles sincerely before going into her little pep talk, breaking it all down.

"Listen here, girlie. It honestly sounds like he feels the same way about you. I really don't think he'd go through all that trouble for just some random girl. You have to be able to put aside all that crap about Ava too. It's like a poison. I know it's a lot easier said than done, but jealousy will eat you up from the inside out like a cancer. And before you know it, she wins, even if she doesn't have him. You're going to hate me for saying this too, but you're actually going to have to do the one thing you've never been able to do."

"What's that?"

She tilts her head to the side while eyeing me carefully. "Trust him."

Trust. That's a big one for me. It's been a deal breaker over the years while casually dating. And if I'm being honest with myself, I don't know if I completely trust him. I want to, I really do, but then I think of the wildcard in all of this... Ava. I know I sure as hell don't trust her. The way she touched him that day I first met her to the way she spoke to me that day in his office. Just something about her does not sit well with me. I mean, who goes around saying 'I'll watch over him for you while you're gone', or whatever the hell she said. Either way, her meaning was crystal clear to me; she still wants him.

The rest of dinner goes by without any more embarrassing moments provoked by Julia, thank God. We get home a little after eleven o'clock and I'm pretty tired after such a long day and I still have to unpack. Leaving Julia on the couch to watch her nightly dose of
Seinfeld
reruns, I say good night and head to my bedroom.

An hour or so later, after I've unpacked and have been able to decide on an appropriate outfit for work tomorrow, my cell phone rings. Before I grab it off my nightstand I already know who it is and the butterflies in my stomach start swirling around like all hell's broken loose in there. I let it ring a couple of times since I don't want to appear too eager, so on the fourth ring, I finally answer.

"Hello," I say trying to sound as unaffected as possible while my heart is racing wildly in my chest.

Tyler's deep come-hither voice washes over me instantly, soothing the ache somewhat I feel from being away from him. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, I was just getting into bed."

"Sorry, I just got home from the restaurant and it was really busy tonight so I didn't get a chance to call sooner."

I look at the clock on my nightstand and see the time is just after midnight as I pull back my comforter and settle in with my phone carefully cradled on my ear.

"It's okay."

"Do you want to go to sleep? I can call you back tomorrow if you're too tired."

"Nope, I want to talk to you. I..."

"You what?"

"I kind of miss you."

"Kind of miss me?" He asks teasingly.

"Okay, okay," I say knowing I'm busted and might as well let it all hang out. "I miss you."

"Good to know. Because I miss you too, baby."

His admission brings warmth to every fiber of my being and helps to dissuade some of the apprehension I have. I relax further into my bed and almost giggle out loud like I'm eighteen and not a twenty-eight year old woman who has to wake up in less than six hours for work.

Our conversation for the next hour is seamless. There is no lull and it would seem that we both have a lot more in common than I previously thought. Case in point, movies. Tyler is a pretty big fan of them, good ones too. We now have a "date" to watch all three
Godfather
movies the next time we get together. And he got even more brownie points by agreeing with me that the third installment in the franchise is kind of a throwaway but a necessary evil, so to speak.

I stretch and yawn into the phone, the sleepiness starting to creep in. "I'm sorry, that yawn came out of nowhere."

"I've kept you up past your bedtime again," he says suggestively. "Go to sleep, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, good night, Tyler."

"Good night, baby."

I smile in the dark as I place my phone on the nightstand. So satisfied I am in fact, that I'm pretty sure my smile stays put until I wake up.

The next morning, I roll out of bed at the sound of the shower being turned on and make my way to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. I grab my "
The Truth is Out There
" mug and hop onto the counter to wait it out. A few minutes later, Julia strolls in, in her robe and her hair wrapped in a towel looking way too bright and sunshiny for my liking.

"Don't give me that look," she says with a huge grin and pointing her finger at me, "I didn't tell you to stay up all hours of the night like a teenybopper on the phone."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I say to her as she reaches over to grab her own mug.

"So, Mulder, did you partake in some phone sex at least." She wags her eyebrows and leans against the counter trying to keep her cackling down to a minimum but not doing a very good job of it.

Instead of answering her, I slide off the counter and fill my cup, ignoring her assumption
a
nd laughing fit completely. If this is any indication of how my day is going to go, I'd much rather crawl back under the covers. I'm pretty beat still, but it was worth it and I'd do it again if it meant spending some sort of time with Tyler, even if it's not in the physical sense.

"Nothing to say for yourself?" Julia asks full of humor in voice while I take a sip of my coffee.

"Nope," I say, "But thanks for your concern, Scully."

She's still chuckling when I leave the kitchen and go back down to my room to start getting ready for work.

I pull into the gallery parking lot at eight o'clock, and thank God for once the stars have aligned in my favor because no one seems to be here yet. The whole ride from home I have been prepping myself for seeing Alex again since when I left last week, I kind of left things up in the air with him. Up in the air is probably the very nice way of saying that I kind of led him on and then left town for almost a week with no contact. Whoever would have thought my personal life could be like an episode of
90210
? And the good
90210
, not that new crap that the powers that be try to pawn off as
90210
. I'm talking Brenda/Dylan/Kelly kind of angst. I shake my head and smirk, accepting my fate that I've officially lost my mind, realizing I'm sitting in an empty parking lot comparing my life to that of Brenda Walsh.

Alright, enough! Time to put on the big girl panties, get out of the car and get this over with.

Over one hundred emails later and a couple more cups of coffee from the community pot, I'm as caught up as I'll be for now and no Alex sighting to speak of yet. I lean back in my chair and swivel it an inch or two to my left as the framed print on the wall of "
Blue Nude
" by Picasso catches my eye. Instead of letting it bring me down it makes me smile. Julia is right, I have to trust Tyler, I have to let go of my fear of the unknown and welcome the warm and fuzzies. If it was New Year's Day that would be my resolution... trust Tyler. I repeat it in my head,
trust Tyler, trust Tyler, trust Tyler,
when I hear someone clearing their throat to get my attention and snapping me back to reality.

Alex appears before me with a charming grin. Really? Why, for the love of God, does he have to be so good looking? There he is in all his glory wearing a black three piece, pinstripe suit and perfectly matched tie. I swear, he looks as if he just stepped out of the pages of GQ magazine, which is not making this at the least bit easy for me.

"Welcome back," he says smoothly and takes a seat opposite me.

I turn my seat back around to facing him to see his eyes full of mirth until they take one good long look at my face and it's almost as if I can feel them shut down on me. Jesus, is it that obvious? Does it make me a bad person that I almost feel relieved... I hope not. Because I do, just a tiny bit.

"Good morning, Alex," I say nervously, "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to text you back or anything while I was gone. I was really busy."

I'm an awful person and a terrible liar. Although, I really was busy so it's not a complete lie, it's more like a half truth. He leans forward and puts his elbows on his knees, the corner of his mouth curling up to reveal a dimple. How have I not paid enough attention to know he has dimples in his arsenal? Wait, what the hell am I saying? I try to focus by grabbing my almighty pen and start to twirl it in my fingers to keep me distracted from staring at it.

"You don't need to explain anything to me, Sabrina."

He's letting me off the hook? He's even nicer than I originally gave him credit for.

"I'm sorry," he says, "I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

He pauses and seems to carefully think about what his next words will be. This just makes me more anxious and the twirling of my pen has gone on to a whole new level of twirling.

"How about we discuss this over dinner tonight?"

"Alex, under normal circumstances, I would say yes. But, I have to say..."

"No," finishing my sentence for me while his gaze drops to the floor momentarily then back up. He puts on a faint smile when he goes to stand up and I open my mouth to say something. I have no idea what exactly, but something profound, no doubt, given my stellar performance in this conversation so far.

"Sabrina, I really don't want this to come between our working relationship and our friendship. And as much as I would like the opportunity to change your mind, I can tell that it's of no use."

"I'm so sorry," I say, "I never meant for this to get so messy."

"In matters of the heart, it's always messy," he says as a good natured chuckle escapes him.

With those parting words, he turns on his heel and leaves my office. I hear him down the hall call out to Sarah our receptionist then I drop the pen and exhale. I sink further into my chair with an immediate sense of relief washing over me. God, how I hate confrontations. And truthfully, I don't think I could have ever been comfortable enough to look past the whole employee/boss dynamic. I must be crazy because Alex has everything a woman could possibly want in a man: gorgeous, successful, nice, and sexy. The list goes on and on. But for all those things, he's missing one key ingredient... he's just not Tyler.