Come Back To What You Know

y to glance back at my friends. They were engaged in conversation but kept looking over at me, and I turned away again to stop myself from laughing at the fact that they were obviously talking about me.

"My friends and I have just got to a bar," I told him.

"On a Monday?" He laughed. "Fair play! Good to know you're making the most of your time there."

"It's a strange situation," I admitted. "I know I'm here to work, but it doesn't really feel like work. Don't get me wrong, we take our jobs seriously, but it also doesn't feel like we can't go out after work. This is the first time we've done this, but I'm sure it won't be the last."

"And you're enjoying the job?"

I smiled, and I hoped he could hear it in my voice. "I am. It's a fairly laid back environment. I have students from all over the world in my classes, and some barely speak a word of English, so that can be hard. In the classes where the students have a better grasp of the language, we have a lot more fun because I can joke around with them a bit more."

"You must be meeting some interesting people."

"That's for sure." I laughed. "But... it's not all good stories that I hear from them. Some of them come from pretty tragic backgrounds. It's really great to see them improving and settling into their lives in America. I guess, in the sense of settling in, we relate to each other well."

"Do you miss... home?"

There was a small tinge of something resembling sadness in his tone, and I sighed. "Like crazy."

"When you come back, I'm taking you for dinner."

I paused, trying not to let that little bit of hope I clung to get out of control. We’d promised each other nothing. It was way too soon to be arranging dinner dates.

As if sensing my thoughts, he said, “I know, okay? No promises. But… I’m pretty sure I can promise you dinner. Even if it’s just as friends.”

My stomach flipped over, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of excitement that he was promising me something, or if it was shrivelling up at the idea of only being just friends with him.

That’s all you can be right now.

Smiling again, I said, "In that case, I’m looking forward to it."

It was Brayden's turn to laugh. "Don't get too excited. It'll only be a McDonald's."

"Ha! I will settle for nothing less than a Nando's!"

Still chuckling, he said, "All right. Nando's it is."

"Deal."

The two of us chatted for just a few minutes more—he really couldn't drag out coffee-making for much longer—and then I made my way back to Evelyn and Lewis, who both looked at me with smirks on their faces.

"What?" I asked, picking up my drink and taking a sip. I could feel my own lips twitching, though. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Sweetheart, Ev's told me the basics," Lewis said, raising an eyebrow. "So, what's the deal? Why did he call?"

I shrugged. "He just said he wanted to say hello." A dreamy sigh escaped me, and then I bit my lip, ashamed of my air-headed response to Brayden's call. But it meant so much to me that he'd made an effort. That he still wanted to take me out. In eleven months. I’d be going home for Christmas before finishing up my contract the following January, but it was still so far away. My stomach clenched at the reminder that we had a long way to go, but if we stayed in contact the way we had been the last couple of days, maybe, just maybe I could handle it.

Chapter 7

Charley

Eighteen Months Ago

The sun beat down on me as I lay back on my picnic blanket in Lincoln Park, eyes closed, enjoying the warmth on my skin. Evelyn and Lewis would be along soon, and I needed a little time to let the morning's events sink in before they arrived. My classes finished a couple of hours earlier than theirs on a Friday, so I'd been given the task of going home to grab the picnic basket and blanket, then all I had to do was relax and wait.

Except I wasn't as relaxed as I should have been.

Before I left, my boss called me into his office. Naturally, I began to panic, wondering if I'd done something wrong. However, his friendly, open demeanour told me otherwise, and then he said the one thing I hadn't expected.