Craving Her Curves (16 page)

I looked around as I walked down the twilight and streetlamp illuminated evening.  I was surrounded by lovers, couples... people who seemed happy to cuddle up outside of a coffee shop or beside a fountain, and just be in love. Joey had seemed to really care about me. I remembered his face in the hospital room when I’d broken up with him, and I swallowed a lump in my throat as my eyes teared up. Isobel was right: I was a complete idiot. She hadn’t said it, but I knew she’d thought it, and now I did, too.  Why had I done that? Why push away someone who was crazy about me because of a bad experience?  One that he hadn’t had any control over?  It wasn’t his fault, and I’d blamed him and shoved him out of my life.  I stopped walking, the tears spilling down my cheeks now.

And he was Joey Parker.  THE Joey Parker.  There was no way that he hadn’t moved on by now, as he had half the world throwing themselves at him.  Girls way prettier than I’d ever be.  Who walks away from someone that amazing?  This girl.

Idiot.

I berated myself into walking again, slipping into the lobby of my building and trudging to the elevator bay. I wasn’t even aware that it came, and had to wait for another second. Once I hit my floor, my feet shuffled along the carpet, down the hallway to the mailboxes for the apartments on my floor. It was a habit: I always checked my mail when I came home for the day. But this time, there was something out of the ordinary. Slipped into the little metal door to my mailbox was a plain white envelope.  I frowned slightly and slipped my key into the lock, the envelope falling to the floor at my feet.  Once I’d gotten the rest of the mail out of the box, I closed and locked it before turning to walk the rest of the way to my apartment.

I couldn’t help but eye the envelope as I walked.  There wasn’t a stamp on it, or a return address.  Simply one word to address it: Charlotte.

Once I was safely inside the apartment, door securely locked behind me, and my phone within reach, in case something insane was about to happen and I needed to call the police, I finally sighed and picked up the envelope.

Charlotte,

I know that the last time we spoke, you said that you weren’t the woman for me.  That you and I would be better apart, and that it was what was best for us... But here’s the thing:  I can’t simply let this go.  I’ve tried to do as you asked, to move on.  I’ve dated other women, I’ve thrown myself into football and endorsements, anything I can find that didn’t involve you, but it doesn’t help.

I can’t stop thinking about you, Charlotte.  I lay in bed and dream of you every night, and you are the first thing on my mind every morning.  I came past tonight because, honestly, I thought that if I tried calling, you wouldn’t answer, but you weren’t home.  Just my luck, right?  So instead, I’m standing here at your mailbox, writing you this note up against the wall, and your neighbors are looking at me like I’m insane.

Thankfully, one of your neighbors, an older lady who seems a bit nosy and doesn’t really have an internal filter apparently, asked me what the hell I was doing.  I told her, and she brought me an envelope to put this in.  I hope you get this.  I hope you read it, think of me, and smile.  I miss you, Charlotte.

Please, meet me?  I have a photo shoot in the morning, but I’ll be at the Botanical Gardens uptown at noon.  I’ll wait all day if I have to.  Just please... I miss you.  I said that already.  Okay, I’m going to leave before someone calls the police.

I threw myself back, the smile on my face so wide that it hurt as I giggled like an idiot and kicked my feet in the air.  I had another chance!  And there was no way in hell I was messing this one up. I knew how rare second chances were, and I planned to make the most of it...I deserved a happy ending with Joey after all that I have been through.

I trotted through my apartment and back into the walk-in closet just off my bedroom.  I’d thought this was going to be simple, just pick out something to wear and make sure that I was presentable, then decide what to do with my hair and make-up before I settled in for a good night’s sleep so I wouldn’t look tired when I saw him the next day. 
Joey.
  I squealed again, the smile on my face so big that it hurt.

But. 

It wasn’t that simple.  Everything I thought about wearing didn’t seem good enough, or was too long, or too short or too loose or too colorful or not colorful enough.  I was going to be there all night and not get one thing done at the rate I was going.  Instead, I stuck my head out of the closet and glanced at the clock.  I hadn’t even realized that it was as late as it was.  But I knew that Izzy was still awake.  She might not be dressed, but she was up, watching something on TV or reading.  I dove across the bed, phone in hand, and dialed her number.

“Hey, Char,” she said, answering the phone.  She didn’t sound like she wasn’t mentally present, so she wasn’t reading.  It must have been a TV sort of night.

“Izzy, come over,” I said, almost as soon as she answered the phone.  There was a pause.

“Now? Char, it’s almost 11!” she squealed.  I laughed and shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me.

“Joey came to my apartment while I was out earlier and left me a note telling me that he misses me and wants us to give it another go. He wants me to meet with him tomorrow at the botanical gardens and I have no ever-loving idea what the hell to wear!” I said. There was a half-second pause, then the sound of a frantic rush.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” she hung up before I could even say okay.  I laughed and set the phone down. Tomorrow was going to be awesome.

I wasn’t going to be able to sleep at all. I couldn’t wait to see Joey tomorrow and possibly give him another chance.

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