have to build relationships with my clients the same way you do. The only thing that sucks about your job is that you could spend all that time and energy with people and end up without a sale. How do you deal with that?”
“It does happen, but not usually very often. And what can I do? If it doesn’t work out, it sucks, but I can’t focus on things like that or I’ll go nuts.”
The background noise disappeared, and I realized she must have shut off her car. “Are you home?”
“Yeah. Just pulled in.”
“What are your plans now?”
I glanced at the clock and found myself almost hating how early it still was there, when it was growing later here. It made me a little envious that she still had her whole night ahead of her when I’d be going to bed soon.
“I need to work out, eat dinner, and I’ll probably research new places to show them just to plan ahead.”
I smiled at the thought that she’d continue working from home. Of course she would. We were cut from the same cloth.
“Do you want me to let you go?” I asked, understanding that even though my night was almost over, hers had just begun.
“I don’t want to, but yeah, I should probably go,” she said, her voice sounding sad. “Otherwise, I’ll stay on the phone with you all night and accomplish nothing.”
“Can’t have that. Talk to you tomorrow?”
“I’d love that.”
As she sighed into the phone, I could picture her face, and suddenly I remembered something.
“Jules?”
“Yeah?”
“Send me a couple of those pictures of us together. Whichever ones are your favorite.” It wasn’t fair that she could look at us whenever she wanted and I couldn’t.
“Okay,” she said, her tone suddenly upbeat. “We take the cutest pictures together, by the way, so be warned. They might take over your life.”
I laughed. “Warning taken.” When I heard her car door slam in the background and she began breathing heavily, like she was carrying things, I said, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Okay. ’Night,” she said, and then she was gone.
Impatient, I stared at my phone, waiting for the pictures to come through. When they did, I wasn’t disappointed. We didn’t look cute together . . .
We looked fucking perfect.
Ugh, I Miss Him
Jules
Hearing Cal’s voice was part heaven, part hell. Listening to him speak, I could picture him perfectly, those damn lips moving and his gorgeous white teeth. The hellish part had been accepting that maybe I’d never hear that voice or see those lips in person again. The thought alone saddened me. But it was reality.
Maybe whatever this was between us would fade away eventually. I had no idea where we were headed, if anywhere, but talking to him only made me want him more. With each text he sent, he felt a little less out of reach, closer somehow. And I had to admit that I liked the idea, no matter how unrealistic it might be.
Genuinely liking someone had seemed so impossible that it rarely, if ever, even crossed my mind before meeting Cal. Now, whenever I wasn’t consumed with a client’s needs or desires, my thoughts were with him. The feeling was as strange as it was exciting.
And I was excited. Just talking to Cal made me feel good, happier than I’d been in a long time.
It had never occurred to me that I wasn’t truly happy before I met him. I’d always thought that work was enough for me. It took a chance encounter to show me that life was about so much more than just work. Logically, I knew this already, of course; I just thought it would be impossible for me to find a guy who really understood me. And I’d been okay with that, had accepted that.
At least, I thought I had. Funny how one person could make you question the things you believed were true.
As I changed into my workout clothes, my phone rang. I glanced at it, noting Tami’s name before answering it on speaker.