Finally, after three more loud knocks, I opened the door a little and peeked in. I looked over my shoulder and saw Aubry’s door open. Becky must’ve still been in there. I opened Cole’s door wider.
“Cole?” I called out tentatively. His room was dark. The light of the television and hallway helped me see him lying on his bed. I made my way around and got a closer look at him. He looked so peaceful. He had brown hair and really long eyelashes. I could barely make out his features in the dim light but that half of his face looked very cute.
“Cole?” I said in a hushed whisper. Nothing. My heart started racing, and I felt the blood draining from my body. Why isn’t he answering? Why isn’t he waking up? I started to shove him roughly.
“Cole,” I said loudly as I shoved him. “Wake up, Cole!” I was practically panting when he groggily opened his eyes and looked at me like I was crazy. Becky walked into the room and switched the lights on before walking away laughing. I looked into Cole’s deep green eyes, and I felt the air swoosh out of my body as my heart dropped to my feet.
I was terrified. A little less so now that he was awake, and I knew he wasn’t dead. He sat up and turned his body toward me in one swift quick move. He looked as terrified as I felt.
“Do I know you?” he asked, wiping his face with both hands roughly.
“Umm...no. I’m Blake,” I replied slowly.
He got up and put his hands on his hips. He was much taller than me. Why are these guys so tall? Or is it that I’m so short? I looked at his naked chest and saw the defined lines on his abs. Cole was thin—not lanky like Aubry and not muscular like Greg—just average. He was tall like them though. He was wearing basketball shorts, and I was horrified to see that there was a tent in them. I looked back to his face quickly and saw him smirking at me. He looked down at his awakened crotch and looked at me with a sheepish grin.
“Morning wood,” he explained with a shrug.
I crinkled my nose. “Eww,” I replied completely disgusted. “I just came to tell you that the food is on the table. I’ll be downstairs.”
I turned to leave and heard him blow out a low whistling sound. I turned back around and saw his eyes staring at my butt. I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Unbelievable.
Chapter 5
Present
I’m leaving work early to meet with Veronica, Mark’s assistant, about the letter they sent me. I’m making it a point to get there ten minutes before 12:00 in hopes of catching Mr. Lewis before he goes to lunch. I’m interning in a law firm for the summer, and it’s a block away from Lewis, Smith, and Morris. So far, all I’ve done is file papers and answer phone calls, but I’ll take what I can to get my foot in the door. I call my boss, Gina, ten minutes before clocking out to remind her that I’m leaving early. At 11:30, I grab my purse from the bottom drawer of my desk, get up, and clock out. I run to the elevator and catch it right before it closes.
“Hey, Blake, you look rushed.”
I look back and see Martin, a new attorney that started working here recently. He’s one of those guys that won’t shut up once he starts talking. I made the mistake of starting a conversation over the coffee pot in the break room last week. My entire lunch hour was spent with him yapping away about bad coffee and his break-up with an ex that refused to drink coffee. I ended up having a granola bar for lunch that day. Needless to say, I was grouchy and have since decided to keep my discussions with Martin to a minimum.
“Yup, I have somewhere to be,” I reply in a rush before turning around and facing the doors in front of me. Maybe he won’t talk too much since this elevator is jam packed.
“Oh, really? Where you headed?” he asks.
I make a conscious effort not to groan out loud or roll my eyes even though he can’t see my face.
“I’m meeting someone for lunch,” I half lie since I am meeting someone, and this is technically my lunch break. He doesn’t need to know that I’m only working a half day.
When the doors open, I bolt through the lobby and out the doors. I’ve never been more thankful to be wearing flats.
I make it to Lewis’s building in record time. I look at my gold watch and see that it’s 11:45. Perfect. I make my way inside the busy lobby where everyone is bustling out of the building ready for lunch. I skip over to the bathroom on the left side of the lobby and switch my flats for my heels. Once my flats are tucked away in my purse, I eye myself in the mirror. I fix the fly aways in my hair and clean up some smudged eye liner from under my eye before walking out. As I walk toward the elevators, I hear a man to my right shout “Mark” loudly. I turn my head in that direction and catch a blond man looking at me. When our eyes meet, I stumble back a step from the impact.
We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, but it’s really only half a second. Mark’s blue eyes are looking at me in wide panic, and I can feel my heart pounding wildly against my chest. He turns around to greet an older man as I feel an unhealthy supply of blood rushing to my head and hear a loud ringing in my ear. I haven’t been able to peel my eyes off of him, so I catch him when he looks back at me. The surprise in his eyes has been replaced by sadness, and for some stupid reason, it tugs at my heart.
I let out a weak breath and wish I wasn’t so stubborn. I wish I could turn back the last twenty minutes, go back to the elevator with Martin, and let him have his stupid conversation with me. I wish I didn’t have this strong urge to uncover my past because with this urge comes devastation and sorrow that I’m not sure I’m strong enough to relive. Even though I have the memories from my nightmares, I’m not sure I want to experience them in the light. They’re more real in the light. I should have kept them buried in the darkness, but it’s too late for that. Mark’s sky-blue eyes bring back a flood of nightmares that I wish were just that.
I catch my breath and quickly step into the waiting elevator. I furiously press down the Close Door button and shift from one foot to the other as I silently pray that Mark is leaving the building. When I step out of the elevator on the twentieth floor, I am greeted by a carbon-copy Barbie named Tanner. I had a slight altercation with her kid sister, Skipper, the last time I was here. I take a deep breath and inform Barbie that I’m here to see Veronica Stein. She plasters her fake smile, showing me her expensive veneers, and asks me to take a seat. I know I should sit, but I feel like a gassed up bottle of pop that’s just been shaken. Instead, I pace the waiting area while nervously smoothing out my long wavy hair.
“Blake,” Veronica says, smiling when she spots me. “Come to my office, please.”
Veronica is in her late forties and has short brown hair that tucks into her chin. She has skin so fair that it’s almost translucent and sharp brown eyes. She’s always impeccably dressed in what I can only assume are custom-tailored skirt suits.
Once we step into her spacious office, I take a seat in one of the leather chairs across from her desk. Veronica starts to shuffle papers on her desk until she finds a large manila envelope that has my name on it. She puts on her designer reading glasses and unclasps the envelope. She takes out some papers and skims through them with a raised eyebrow.