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She’s the day. Sunshine. Brightness. All-encompassing warmth. Lending a helping hand whenever needed. Someone people look to for solace, for comfort and joy. I’m the night. Colder. Darker. Uninviting. Someone people rarely pay more than a passing second of attention to. I prefer it that way. Keeping to myself and staying hidden in my office, away from the hustle and bustle of get togethers or social events where I have to pretend to have fun.
Fifteen in total when I’ve unstacked them all, and I gawk at the scene in front of me spread out like a Starbucks assembly line. My heart races in my chest, and I feel like I can’t breathe. He keeps the cups.
Jack’s palm twitches on the table. For a second, I think he’s going to reach over and hold my hand. For a second, I want him to.
I know it was unintentional, said in jest and without merit, but that was the sexist thing I’ve ever heard from a man.
No, not sexist. She meant sexiest. Big difference.
He resumes his eating, and I’m fairly certain my insides have been scrambled. Rearranged, because this man is sitting across from me, wearing goddamn glasses and telling me he’s going to take care of me.
😍
“Honestly? Not a car that belongs in the Oregon Trail computer games we used to play in elementary school. It looks like it will fall apart if an aggressive gust of wind comes through. Am I going to die from dysentery?”
😂
Flashes of my mom come up now and then. I don’t want to forget her, you know? It’s kind of like the ocean taking the tide out to sea. You can try to fight it, but it’s still going to happen. When I feel that wave of grief, I let it wash over me. I welcome it, because it used to be a tsunami. Now it’s a forceful tug. One day it’ll be nothing more than a splash on my feet, and that’ll be the day she’s really gone.”
Oof 🥺
“Human decency is the bare minimum, Josephine, and I’m sorry if anyone has ever made you feel like you deserve to be treated less than spectacular.”
No one has interested me. Until Josephine came along. That day she was dripping wet from the rain and stared at me from across the lobby, I felt it in my fucking soul. No one else has ever made me feel like that.
The stupid joke earns me a giggle. A soft laugh I want to bottle up and unleash on my worst days. It’s sunshine on a late spring afternoon. Happiness and contentment with life. Sweet-dipped honey; warm around the edges and gentle in the middle.
I see red, and I stand. “I’d appreciate it if you got my girlfriend’s name out of your mouth before I do it for you.
Daaaaaaaammmmnnnnn
Great call with having the lecture transcribed, by the way. That was very inclusive of you,” I say. Jack shrugs. “Information shouldn’t be limited to a certain group of people. Everyone deserves the chance to learn and grow, and making that knowledge accessible to the masses is the right thing to do.”
“Even if you aren’t whole yet, even if the pieces aren’t back together, you’re trying. Sometimes, that’s what is most important. Sometimes, trying is half the battle.”
“Predictable?” I ask. “Always, but that’s what I love about romance novels. You know there’s going to be a happily ever after from the moment you start reading, so you get to spend time falling in love with the characters while they fall in love with each other.”
but it was nice to just sit in the quiet, too. I’m tired from all the socialization these past few days. I’m an introvert, and it was a lot. I’m pretty sure I spent thirty minutes on the couch just staring at the ceiling this afternoon, and I was perfectly content.”
“None of them stand a chance, Jack. My heart…” I take a deep breath. “My heart has started to belong to you.” His face softens. He rests his forehead against mine and pulls me close. “I think my heart has belonged to you from the first day I saw you,” he says, and I hand over another piece of myself to him.
She checks her computer. “You must be Jack and Josephine. Are we celebrating anything special tonight?” she asks. We exchange a look and Jack clears his throat. “New beginnings,” he says. “And people that feel like home.”
“Take all the time in the world, sunshine.” “If I’m sunshine, what does that make you? Thunderstorm? Doom and gloom? Stick up his ass?” she asks.
