At school, Caleb and I had this signal now. I’d pass by the lecture hall and see him there. He’d shake his head at me, meaning Bigfoot wasn’t back yet. I didn’t even ask him, but for some reason he thought I was still interested to know. I wasn’t.
I still had his blue sweater. If I didn’t wash it for the first couple of days—okay, more than a couple—because I wanted to keep the scent clinging to it, I figured that was nobody’s business but mine. Eventually, I just buried i
t under my bed and hoped dust mites would make it their personal paradise. That was where he deserved to be.
I’d donate it if I could—or burn it—but he could come back to me later and add it to my bill.
The ordered part for his motorcycle was supposed to arrive early last week, but Dylan had ordered the wrong part. And now we had to wait for the part again. I had sent SOS a text as a professional courtesy. But I didn’t even care anymore.
I was over feeling insecure. Wondering what I’d done wrong, obsessing if there was something wrong with me that pushed him away when it was his issues that were to blame.
There was nothing wrong with me. I was more than enough. I was a strong, independent woman who was not afraid to struggle to reach her dreams. And if he could not appreciate that, well, hasta la vista, baby. There were other fish in the sea that could handle a woman like me. I was done with him. Capital D-O-N-E.
That conviction was put to the test after I finished my shift at the coffee shop. It was late afternoon, and it was the weekend. The sun was still up, the weather uncharacteristically nice. I was used to rainy weekends now, as if Mother Nature were playing a sick joke. Teasing us with good weather during the week, only to give us rainy weekends. She could be a real bitch. But today, she was my glittering fairy godmother.
So I decided to be a wild child and go shopping. Okay, window shopping. I crossed the street to the strip mall, and thought if Tala was available right now, I’d pick her up so we could crash a party. The students in our program hosted a party every weekend. It was easy to find on social media.
I used to go to those things before, back when the shop was doing well and I didn’t have to work so much. My childhood friend Damon had a band and would drag me to the venues where he played. I even worked at a bar before where Damon had gigs every Friday night. The tips were great, but the nightlife wasn’t for me at the time. Although it would be nice to go to the bar and forget about my problems, at least for a night.
I thought I had forgotten that part of myself, but…
I stopped in my tracks. Wow, I hadn’t felt this in a long, long time. I actually really wanted to shed my grandma skin and just have fun.
What do you think made you find this part of yourself again? The one who likes to have fun and forget her responsibilities for a while? Or should I ask…who?
No one. I just realized that it was nice to be wanted—and to actually want someone, but not just anyone. It was important to choose the right person, because being with the wrong one could easily ruin you.
What would it be like to date someone who was actually kind, sweet, understanding, who wouldn’t disappoint me and run away, who wasn’t complicated, who was open and genuinely wanted to get to know me?
“Do you normally stand in the middle of the parking lot and daydream?”
I blinked and stared at broad shoulders wrapped in a baby-blue dress shirt. My eyes traveled up and up and took in the brown neck, the square jaw that was freshly shaven, the handsome face with soulful brown eyes, and the soft, curly black hair.
“Because it’s cute,” he finished. He smiled and a dimple on his right cheek popped out.
I smiled back at him and wondered why he was flirting with me when I very probably looked like Oscar the Grouch after my shift at the coffee shop. I should’ve reapplied my lipstick before I left, mopped up some of the grease on my forehead and nose, but I hadn’t planned on going anywhere but home after work.
“Kara? Kara!”
My eyes reluctantly moved from his face to the source of the voice behind him. It was Tita Didi from church. The adorable but shameless matchmaker who kept on pushing me to date her coworkers and nephews.
“Tita,” he said. I glanced back at the man when he said that. Oh no. Was he one of her nephews?
“I told you I’d get the car. You didn’t have to walk all the way here,” he said, looking at the older woman with exasperation and fondness.
She waved her hand. “I need the exercise.” Then she turned to me, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. “You met my nephew Thomas? This is destiny. This is perfect, perfect! I’ve been wanting to introduce the two of you. Do you have work tonight, Kara, sweetheart?”
“No, but—”
“That’s good. Let’s go have dinner together, kids. Come on, come on.”
She wrapped her short arm around my waist and propelled me to one of the sushi restaurants at the strip mall. I threw Thomas a helpless look and he just grinned, looking pleased with the situation.
“Kara, this is my nephew Thomas. He’s a nurse and he’s going to study medicine next year. And he’s so handsome and he’s single, Kara.”
Okay, Tita Didi. Calm your tits. Please don’t make this awkward.
I wondered if she thought I was man hungry or she just really wanted to pair me up with someone out of the goodness of her heart.