Alyssa's Second Chance [Completed]

44-Second Chances

"Alyssa, where are you? Did you hear anything that I just said? You seem to be a million miles away." My mom's voice brings me back to the present and away from my weekend of memories with Amir. Her hazel eyes stare at me with an unbelievable intensity. "Stop staring at your phone and go give him a call. You'll feel so much better once you tell him how you really feel."

I spent much of the afternoon engaged in long heart to heart conversations with my sister and my mom. Sitting by the pool with margaritas in their hands, they acted as partners in crime working toward a common goal. That common goal was convincing me to give Amir a chance. I smile at my mom. "I promised you and Trinity that I would call him tonight. I'll call Amir, but it's still early."

My mom narrows her eyes and me and sharpens her voice, "We both know that you're procrastinating. Dial his number and tell him how you feel. I want to see you happy and whole. That means having a full life beyond the kids, friends, and work. You deserve to be loved by someone who thinks you hang the moon because you do. Don't let fear rob you of that."

"Okay, Mom. I'll call him. I'm just having a hard time figuring out what to say. The last time we spoke was when I practically kicked him out of my house and told him that I needed to cut off all contact with him. I don't know what he is going to say when I call him and tell him that I changed my mind."

"It sounds like he hasn't given up on you. Otherwise, he never would have reached out to Alex. You are worth a second chance." My mom pauses and I see a bit of twinkle appear in her eye. "Tell him to fly out here this weekend and spend some time with you and your family. The boys and I want to meet the guy who can make my stubborn daughter change her mind about the future."

I give my mom a quick kiss on the cheek. "Okay, you win. I'll go in the house and call him."

I make my way into the house and find privacy in the library. The butterflies in my stomach are going crazy and my hands are shaky. I can't remember the last time that felt this way when calling a guy. I click on his name in my contacts list and listen to the ringing on the other end of the line.

"Alyssa. I'm surprised to hear from you so soon." I should be put off by his cocky response, but I can't help feeling relieved when I hear Amir's deep voice on the other end of the line.

"Are you trying to say that you knew that I would give in and call you?" I say with a bit of a flirt in my voice.

"Absolutely. I always win in the end."

"Is that right? That makes me want to change my mind. Maybe, I should hang up now."

"Alyssa the last thing that I want is for you to hang up, but I have to let you know that I am in a car on the way to the airport with my some of my New York Leadership Team and you're on speaker phone."

I feel my cheeks instantly heat up with embarrassment. "Sorry. I didn't realize that you weren't alone. Give me a call back later when you have time to talk."

"Wait.  Please don't hang up. I'm going to be completely unreachable for the next week and I want to talk with you before I get to the airport, but I need to warn you that we have an audience."

"Oh. What's happening? Where are you going?"

"It's a long story, but basically Geoff committed to being a keynote speaker at a huge industry conference in Munich next week. He committed a year ago and I didn't know anything about it. The organizer has been trying to get a hold of Geoff for months and she finally tracked me down yesterday. She was shocked that Geoff passed away, but insisted that our firm find a replacement."

"Wow. Who did you find at this late date? It's not easy to find a qualified speaker with new, unpublished content to present at the conference. What are you going to do?"

"If you need something done right, you need to do it yourself." Amir chuckles and then continues, "In this case, I also called in favors from a few good friends. So, I'm headed to Munich with Matt Patterson, Doug Fischer, and Shawn Baker.  You know these guys right?"  

"Sure, Matt and I worked on an employee engagement project together.  Doug, Shawn and I have crossed paths in the past.  Hi guys!"

I hear a murmur of greetings from the car and then Amir continues, "A few months ago, we did a study on innovation in the industry. We planned to publish the results later in the year. Now we need to publish those results sooner rather than later and present them at the conference. So, we are flying to Munich, turning off our cell phones and spending the next five uninterrupted days locked in a hotel room working on our paper."

"Five days locked in a hotel room with you and no outside contact.  They really are good friends.  I am not sure how many friends would be willing to do you that favor."

I hear Amir chuckle.  "Tell me about it.  I owe their wives and kids big time.  Hopefully, it will all be worth it when we present our findings." 

"I have no doubt that you will do an amazing job. You're an expert in your field and you have a fantastic team. You'll make the firm proud."

"Thanks, but tell me why you called. I won't be able to touch base for a week, so don't leave me in suspense."

I try to think of the best way to tell Amir what I am feeling without announcing it to everyone in the car. Taking a deep breath, I try to think of the best way to approach what I have to say. "I know that you have been wanting to....collaborate on.....that project with me. It sounded like an amazing opportunity, but I was scared to commit. I have a lot going on in my life right now and was worried about taking on something more."   I pause trying to think about what to say next.  "I've given it some thought after our last conversation and I realize that I was wrong. I think we should move forward. It might be difficult to manage and we have a lot of details to work out, but I think we should give it a try."

"I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say that. Good 'project partners' are hard to find. I've been looking for the right one for this project for as long as I can remember. I can't think of anyone that would be a better choice."

"Thank you. I feel like this will be the start of a....really, great collaboration. I can't think of anyone else that could convince me to give this project a chance. I know that I made the right choice."

"Alyssa, we are just pulling into the parking lot at the airport and I have to go. Listen, I was going to fly back to New York after the conference ends next Thursday. Instead, I am going to change my ticket and come to San Francisco. Can you meet me in the office on Friday? We'll go to lunch and talk about everything one on one.  This is going to be the beginning of something beautiful."

"I agree.  I'll see you next Friday. Travel safely."

I hang up the phone and realize that the covert conversation wasn't about starting a relationship with Amir.  I'm happy that we're going to see where our relationship goes, but this isn't just about him.  It's about me taking a chance and living my life to the fullest.  I'm not going to hold myself back anymore.  I'm going to make the most of every moment.   For the first time in years, I feel whole.