Afloat

Chapter 9

"You sure you're all good now?" Anna Kate asked, clicking into place the last part of the espresso machine she'd just finished cleaning.

I nodded easily and waved a hand at her. An unexpected mid-afternoon rush had finally just finished. Despite Anna Kate's shift ending thirty minutes ago, she'd been nice enough to stay back and help. "Definitely. Thanks for the extra hand, but get out of here."

She laughed, a thick Southern giggle, followed by a shake of her head. "Alright. See you tomorrow!"

"Have a good night," I replied as she stripped off her apron and grabbed her purse from under the counter before exiting the shop with one final wave.

Aside from an older gentleman reading a book quietly at one of the corner tables, I was alone. Left only with some mundane cleaning and my endlessly ruminating mind.

Something shifted Saturday night. And I couldn't quite put my finger on why.

Maybe it was Monica. When she came back from her date, smiling and smitten, I couldn't help but notice an odd itch in my stomach that seemed to form the more she spoke about the details of her evening with Matthew. Over the past few days, after anxiously analyzing the feeling, I was beginning to think it was jealousy. Which not only made me feel like an idiot, but also like shit. Why was it that I was jealous of my aunt. How dare I be jealous of my aunt. She deserved more than I ever should.

Still, listening to her talk about this guy... I missed it. I missed what she was experiencing. I missed that giddy feeling. That hopeful anticipation, knowing you were smack dab in the center of something exciting and unknown and exhilarating. Something potentially wonderful.

Or maybe it was what Dylan said. How I could never give a straight answer, but also could never give a wrong one. How I was confused.

Confused.

That was an understatement. A kind one, at that.

As if I wasn't confused enough before, the way I tossed and turned in my bed later that night... questioning, wondering...

What if...

"What if," Fletcher mused the second I had my phone against my ear. I could hear his smirk tilting.

"Hi to you too," I replied with a smile of my own as I gave a final wave waved to Alyssa and one of her new sorority sisters, having all just eaten lunch together at the dining hall. Now I was on my way to Poli Sci 102, my last class before Finals.

Fletcher ignored my sarcasm and greeting. "You come here for Winter Break."

My heart stopped. I'm pretty sure my feet would've too if I hadn't been passing by one of the science halls after a class had just gotten out, leaving a crowd on the walkway that I had to navigate through. I didn't know what I was expecting him to say—but it wasn't that. I managed to swallow and start, "Fletch—"

"I know," he cut me off. "I know. It's the holidays and your family already booked your flight back to California for the break. And they want to see you and you want to see them, but—and, I know I'm not your family, but..."

A ruby red leaf landed on my shoulder, having fallen from an overhead tree in the November breeze. I brushed it off.

"I want to see you too."

My heart clenched. A million thoughts racing through my mind. Before I could even try to respond, Fletcher was speaking again.

"And your Winter Break is four weeks. What if we could figure out a way for you to come back East a little early, before you go back to school..."