July Apple Pies

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“SHIT. JUST WHEN I DON’T have time to deal with anything else,” Nora heard someone mutter.

“Well, sorry for interrupting you, then,” she spat, almost unconsciously.

Her hand was on her forehead as she lay awkwardly on the floor. Her sight was blurry and there was a growing ache pulsing through her whole head.

She heard the person sigh. Nora could see through her blurry vision that it was a man. He kneeled down next to her and pushed her hand away from her forehead. He then carefully trailed his fingers under her chin and pushed it up softly, to have a better look at the damage he had just caused.

She would never admit it, but something in her stomach flipped as her eyes focused and she saw more clearly the face of the boy whose hand was still on her chin.

“I’m sorry,” he said and then let his hand drop.

Another thing Nora wouldn’t admit was that she felt somewhat disappointed by that simple action.

“It doesn’t look that bad, though.”

“Is that your professional opinion?” she asked as she rubbed her temples with careful hands.

The boy chuckled and held two fingers in front of her dace. “How many fingers do you see?”

Nora rolled her eyes. “Eleven.”

“Close enough. Come on. Really? How many fingers do you see, Nora?” he said and she suddenly didn’t feel like teasing him anymore.

“How do you know my name?” she asked.

Knowing he wouldn’t get an answer about his fingers, he stood up and held his hand for her to take. She took it, mostly because she wasn’t sure she was fully capable of standing by herself. She still felt a little tipsy and her head throbbed even more than before.

“I remember you,” he explained. “We went to the same elementary school.”

Nora frowned as she tried to imagine how did that handsome boy once look like. The fact that he was wearing black elegant pants and a white dress shirt didn’t help to think of him as a little boy either.

“You seem confused,” he said with a knowing smirk.

“Yeah. I just… I just can’t… How did you recognize me?”

“Your eyes.” The intensity of his gaze made Nora self-conscious of how her forehead was probably purple. “I remember those weird green and brown and then kind of yellow eyes you have.”

Nora didn’t blush often. She was strong and kind of snarky; her poker face was enviable; she could get to people with just a few words, force them to see things the way she did. She was a natural born lawyer in every sense of the word. Yet, in that moment, she blushed and looked away and let that boy affect her in ways she had never let anyone but her family affect her like before.

The boy extended his hand in her direction. “Ryder Crawley,” he said and she blushed even harder.

Of course he was Ryder. The only person she knew that could have a son as handsome and nearly perfect as he was, was Janette Crawley.

“Nora Scaffold,” she said and placed her hand around his.

The shake was strong and his skin was softer than she had expected. They both stared into each other’s eyes with their hands touching for a little bit longer than normal, but when they pulled apart it felt too soon.