The Watchmaker's Doctor ✔️

XVI

2002, Sixteen Years Backwards

To: Anaya Jones

From: Kaitlin Carrington

Anaya couldn't move her eyes any farther down the screen. She kept reading those two precious lines repeatedly until her vision turned glassy. Groping for her box of tissues, she kept her gaze glued to the computer screen as if moving it might make the email header disappear. After what seemed like hours had passed, she sniffed, rubbed her eyes with her knuckles, and continued at a snail's pace, savoring every word.

I'm so sorry. I know you must have been worried sick, then hurt and maybe now you feel nothing at all. I'd never failed at anything in my life and just couldn't face myself, much less anyone else. I'm okay with it now. The funny thing is, I retook the test, got the scores I needed, but then decided not to apply again, after all!

I interned at the mayor's office for a while and was offered a job to be part of her campaign to up-skill our youth and get us out of the rut we're in.

Call me,

Kait

P.S. I lost it!

P.P.S. If you call me, I'll give you the play by play.

Grabbing the receiver, Anaya's fingers flew over the numbers she'd dialed her whole teenage life. Like she had to bribe me to call.

After the initial shock and apologies, Kait had dialed Tay in, just like they'd done every night after school. They bitched, laughed, and talked so much that Anaya's face hurt. Almost an hour and a half later, the girls hung up.

Massaging her jaw and cheek muscles, she skated to the porch and curled up in the swing, content to bask in her happiness for the rest of the week. That was a jinx if ever there was one.

"Oh... I guess I should have figured. Marcus Jones, Anaya Jones."

Malachite eyes sparkled, pale green in the light of the setting sun. The contrast to his dark brown skin was dazzling.

"Before you call the cops, I work here. Marcus hired me this morning." Matt held up his hands as if at gunpoint.

"Why would I do that?"

"Well... You've been staying so clear of me, I thought you'd put out a restraining order on me if I ever tried to talk to you again."

It was so unlike what she might have expected that the irony of his words brushed away the hold her fear had on her. Her lips parted involuntarily and a sound resembling laughter burst out. Could you be a bigger sucker for sarcasm? Desperate to break the spell, Anaya blurted out the first thing that crossed her mind. "My dad was looking for someone part-time to help with the welding. Why would he hire a teacher?"

"Oh, good, we're speaking now." When he widened his eyes and smiled, not just one but two dimples animated his face.

Really?

"Teaching is my second degree. I'm an engineer. I enjoyed studying it so much, I decided I'd teach it. But I can still handle the manual labor."

Flaws, flaws, please let him have some flaws... She struggled for a minute. Oh, yeah... eyes like toxic dust.

"So... anyway. It's sweltering in the smithy. Marcus said I'd find something cold in the fridge?"

Anaya dashed into the kitchen and returned so fast, it was almost like she'd never left. He looked shocked as he reached for the two cans of cold soda she offered him. She let go, careful not to let their fingertips touch.

"Thanks..." And he walked back the way he'd come for a few feet, then turned. "Why the cold shoulder?" Matt's expression appeared so soft that she could almost see his bruised ego.

"It's your eyes. They're too beautiful not to be trouble." Suckered, once more.

He pressed his lips together and, consciously or otherwise, flashed his dimples again. His eyebrows knitted as he said, "We need to sort that out ASAP. Come with me to Fairfest in two weeks. The concert is outdoors, so I'll be wearing shades. It'd be your safest bet. After all, you can't avoid me anymore, since you're the boss's daughter and all. I'd hate to lose my job before I make enough money to even pay for the tickets."

He'd make a killer poker player. The festival had been the talk of the town for weeks now. Even the girls refused to believe Anaya hadn't made plans to go yet. A stray thought crept its way through her mind. Kait's hooked up, Tay's on the hunt, and with all I'm trying to do this time around I might end up a dead virgin at thirty-five.

"It's a date."

"Yes, ma'am."

If he was surprised or happy he'd scored, she couldn't detect it.

Hi all!
Thank you for reading!
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Thanks so much,
G.