The One After [SHAWN MENDES]

Chapter 81

I was talking to my father about the recent rent increase on his bakery when an alert for another call came in. My face lit up when I saw who it was. "Can I call you back, Dad?"

"Sure. I need to see if my croissant dough is chilled enough for the next step. Bye, goosey," he replied before letting me go.

I quickly accepted Shawn's call. "Hi!"

"Hey, honey. Guess where I am."

I really hoped the answer was that he was right outside my door, but I would have been happy with him just being back in town. "Toronto?"

"Close. I'm waiting to board at Newark. I should be home in less than two hours."

I started tingling with excitement. "When do I get to see you? You have family plans tonight, right?"

"Yeah. Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

He'd invited me earlier in the week and I'd declined. "I want to meet them, but I think your first night home after being gone for months should be spent alone with them. Adding me into the mix won't allow for a proper reunion."

"Is there any chance you'd be up for meeting them on Monday?" he asked.

I glanced over at the calendar I kept on my desk. "Halloween?"

"Is that off limits?"

I didn't love the holiday because of my lingering issues with losing my mom, but that wasn't why I had mixed feelings. Whenever real events coincided with ones from my dream, it felt wrong. "How important to you is it?"

"It's a really special occasion for my family, and I think you'd have fun, but if it's gonna make you uncomfortable, then I'm happy to do it another time. We could just stay in that night and watch scary movies together."

"I don't want to keep you from celebrating with your parents, and I told my dad I'd hand out candy with him."

"How about this...we do our own family things and meet up later?" he suggested.

"I like that plan, but I'm seeing you before then, aren't I?"

"Definitely," he replied with a chuckle. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I have work, and I hate to take time off since I missed so much this summer."

"Hmmm...I don't think I can wait until tomorrow night to see you."

"What are you suggesting?" I asked.

"What if I stop by on my way to Pickering? I won't stay long."

Of course he wasn't implying that he was popping in for a quickie, but it was humorous to imagine our first sexual encounter being like that. "Should I be naked when you get here to save time?"

"If you greeted me at the door without any clothes on, I'd never make it to my parents' house. And it's cruel of you to make me imagine that when I'm in a public place, Lulu," he growled.

"I'm teasing. What time should I expect you?"

"Let's see...if I land at a little after three, go through customs and get my luggage, then I should be at my place by five. Are you free around five-fifteen?"

"That's perfect! I can't wait to see you in person. It's been a long month," I told him.

"They just announced premiere boarding, so I need to go. See you soon, baby."

After he hung up, I called my dad back and finished our conversation. It wasn't easy working on my accounting duties because my brain was focused solely on seeing Shawn. Maybe we'd only have a few minutes, but it was the start of actually spending time together, and that was beyond exciting.