ALMOST HEAVEN

Chapter 14

Did you get all moved in?" Emily asked.

"I did. It's been great. Hey, are you decent?" Laurel asked.

"Depends on who you talk to. What does that mean?" Emily asked with a laugh.

"I thought that maybe we could FaceTime and you could meet Clyde."

"Oh, that kind of decent. I am. So, seriously, I get to meet this gorgeous guy of yours?"

"Yeah, and he just heard you call him gorgeous."

"You should have told me he was there."

"I thought I did when I asked if you wanted to FaceTime."

Emily was quiet a minute. "Yeah, guess I should have realized that. Ok, let's hang up and you call me, ok?"

A few minutes later Emily answered the phone and saw Laurel and her boyfriend sitting together on a sofa. Laurel was waving madly at her.

"Hi, Em, it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too. Introduce me," Emily said.

"Emily, this is Clyde, the gorgeous guy. Clyde, this is Emily, my old college roommate and best friend." Emily had the grace to blush.

Clyde leaned forward a little. "Hello, Emily. It's nice to meet you. Laurel says you're coming down to visit in a couple weeks. She's really looking forward to your visit."

"Hi, Clyde, it's nice to meet you, too. I've heard so many good things about you. I'm looking forward to meeting you in person."

"I have heard good things about you, too, Emily. It will be nice to finally meet you in person." He smiled and then turned to Laurel. "I'm going let you two talk, angel." He turned back to Emily. "Nice to meet you, Emily. See you in a couple weeks."

"Bye, Clyde, really nice to meet you. See you soon." Clyde smiled and got up with a wave.

"Wow, that was nice, Laurel. He still there?"

"No, he went over to the library to read."

"Oh my god, he's so handsome and he calls you angel," Emily said in a hushed voice.

Laurel grinned. "Yeah, he does. He's such a great guy."

"He seems really nice. He's got that West Virginia accent happening. The way he talks reminds me of Chad Luxton. Remember him from that little coffee house on campus?"

"Oh yeah, I remember Chad. I wonder where he ended up?"

"He's some sort of school administrator over there in West Virginia. That was always his plan, go home and try to improve the schools."

"You had a crush on him," Laurel asked.

"I did have a crush on him. Spent a lot of time drinking coffee."

They both laughed. "I can't wait until you're here, Em. You sure you don't want us to pick you up in Charleston? It's not that far."

"Nope, I'm renting a car. I've got to run, Laurel. I've brought some work home with me and I've got to get caught up. Thanks for introducing me to Clyde."

Tuesday evening Elise stopped by the bar. She was carrying a small black shopping bag. She scanned the floor and then took a seat at the bar.

"Hey, Elise. What are you doing here? It's your day off. Go home." Clyde was surprised to see her.

"I was thinking that maybe Laurel might be here. With you home on Wednesdays, I thought maybe she'd come up on Tuesdays to hang out with you."