I Wanna Be Yours

Chapter 5

I no longer recognize the feeling of love
The more I think about it
It's just not enough
~Sober - CVIRO

2 Years Ago

Clark hadn't slept in over 48 hours. He was camped out in the hospital hallway because he couldn't bear to be inside of the room. He had already run through the whole gamut of emotions-sadness, anger, guilt-and now he just felt numb.

"Clark." Angela took a seat beside him on the floor and handed him a cup of coffee.

They sat there in silence, the cup warming Clark's hands. Angela has been here the past few days, she's barely left his side. Even when Clark refused to talk to, or even look at, anybody, she stayed by his side. He knew he didn't deserve her unwavering support, but he appreciated it all the same.

"Do you want to go inside yet?" She asked softly.

He shook his head.

"Okay."

Clark turned his head and looked at her. For the first time, really looked at her. He didn't think of Angela much before. When he first met her, she was the drunk girl at the bar that he needed to take home safely. And then she was, ironically, his boss's daughter. They had been working together on the cafe for the past few weeks and Clark now considered her his friend. He appreciated her talent and objectively, he knew she was beautiful. He also saw the way she looked at him, and the way she sometimes stood too close to him, or went out of her way to touch him. Clark wasn't naive, but dating just wasn't something on his mind.

They sat there and Angela didn't try to fill the silence. Far from being awkward, Clark found that her presence beside him was the only thing that made him feel anything resembling comfort.

When he reached over and took her hand in his, he knew from the look in her eyes that it was the beginning of something. But it didn't scare him anymore. Maybe a new beginning was what he needed.

Present

The whole weekend passed and Leah didn't hear from Clark again after that afternoon at the Palace of Fine Arts. She didn't try to contact him either. She didn't know what exactly she had agreed to when she had promised to help him with Angela. And she didn't know why she was so nervous about the arrangement. It felt like she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Monday morning came and as soon as Leah sat down at her computer in the office, she saw an email from Ms. Jack.

Hi Leah!

I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've been doing for Woodlands. We're really blessed because business has been booming since we came back to San Francisco. It's important to us as a family business to always put God at the center of our success, so I'm arranging for us to attend a mass on Wednesday night and then have a small thanksgiving dinner afterwards, in appreciation of God's blessings.

I'd like to invite you and Simon and your team to join us because we consider you now as part of the Woodlands family. I know it's kind of last minute. Please just reply and let me know if and how many of you will be able to attend, for the headcount.

Thank you, Leah. This is a difficult time, personally, for Clark and I noticed that he seems to brighten up around you. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.

Warmest Regards,
Jack

Leah sat back and read the email again. It wasn't like she could refuse to go. But she couldn't explain this jittery feeling that she felt around Clark. She felt like she should be avoiding him but how could she do that when her job centers around him?