Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Hush, you. I’m excited to see Clark.”
Mom playfully nudged me out of the way, then wrapped her arms around him. He tensed up for a second, as if unsure what to do, then relaxed into it. Sure, Clark and I had been close in gymnastics, but it wasn’t as if Mom knew him that well. You’d think he was her long-lost son.
“It’s good to see you again, Ms. Davison.”
“Oh, stop that. It’s Aura to you!” Clark beamed, and she added, “You know, I knew there was something special about the two of you. Sky was so obsessed with you when you were kids. When you stopped coming, it crushed his heart, and then when you reconnected, it was like no time had passed. It makes my heart happy.”
I groaned. “Gee, thanks, Ma. Way to put me on blast.” Not that it wasn’t true, but it made me sound like I was in love with the guy, and…nope. I so wasn’t going there.
Mom linked an arm through Clark’s. “We really need to get to know each other better. If you’re important to Sky, you’re important to me. Just don’t break my baby’s heart, okay? He’s got a bigger one than he lets on.”
Clark’s gaze found mine, and said heart started doing backflips. “I won’t,” Clark replied just as I said, “It’s not like that, Mom,” immediately regretting my words.
If Mom noticed the tension in the room just doubled, she didn’t remark on it. “Let’s go have a late lunch together.”
“Okay,” Clark said, when it was sort of the last thing I wanted to do. I was hoping to spend some time just the two of us. Plus, who knew what Mom would say?
The look on his face, though… Fuck, it was pure joy. He wanted this, wanted to get to know her and spend time with her. “Sure,” I agreed.
The three of us walked to a diner close by. Mom kept her arm locked with Clark’s the whole time. She also kept calling him my boyfriend. I corrected her the first time, but after that I let it go. When Mom got something into her head, there was no getting around it.
Clark loved her. It didn’t take a genius to see that. They chatted and laughed and he asked her a million questions and answered all of hers. It was…ugh, it was sweet, and by the time our meal ended, I was glad she’d stopped by. That they got to have this moment.
We walked back to my apartment and Mom’s car. “Thank you for indulging me,” she said to both of us.
“It was fun,” Clark said. “We should do it again. You can come to our apartment for dinner sometime.”
Our. He said our apartment. I wasn’t sure he realized it. Mom definitely did.
“I’d like that.” Mom hugged him. “Oh, you are the sweetest. I’m so glad my Sky has you in his life again.”
Clark looked at me over her shoulder, his eyes serious and intense. “I’m glad too.”
Mom kissed his cheek, hugged me, then got into her car and drove away.
“She’s the best,” Clark said. “I forgot how contagious her personality is.”
Yeah, yeah it was. Her reaction today worried me, though. She’d warned me to be careful before, but today it was as if she thought Clark and I had what she was always searching for. I tried to shove that fear aside.
Clark had a late-afternoon meeting, so he left right after that. I went back to my apartment, and felt…out of place. It was too quiet, too…not Clark’s.
I thought about what he’d said to me the other day, about the fun I’d had at lunch, despite being concerned about Mom’s insight. Then I thought about myself, what I wanted. I got on my computer and applied for the job.
32
Clark
“I’m stuck in traffic,” Dad said into the phone. “Can you lead the team meeting for me?”
“Sure thing.” I glanced out my office door to the main floor. “What about Mo—”
“She’s with an important client.”
“Got it. Will do.” I hung up, pulled up the charts he’d emailed me from his phone, read over the main points, then went into the conference room, where ten other agents were seated.
“Um, Dad’s late, so…I’m gonna run the meeting.” Nobody blinked or seemed to give a damn, so why the hell was I so nervous? My parents held these meetings every week to touch base with the staff, and to be honest, they could get old. A meeting was a meeting, and the sooner I got this over with, the sooner they could move on with their day.
I pulled up the PowerPoint presentation and got started, reciting the sales numbers and pointing out the stars of the week, trying to imitate what my parents would usually do.
As I looked around the room at the bland faces, it occurred to me that I’d started my professional life with most of these people, some of whom had become friends. Normally we’d grab lunch together to catch up on life or discuss work stuff, but today things seemed different, like I was viewing everything from a different angle. Okay, duh, I was standing at the front of the room, so of course my view was different, literally. But that wasn’t it, of course. Everything seemed more sharply in focus, and it made me realize right then that I wanted more.