First Sight (26 page)

“Are you okay,
Maddy
?” he asked, his deep voice sounding
worried
, as
he
stepped directly in front of me and
placed both his hands on my arms
.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said,
glancing
up into his warm brown eyes. 
His chiseled face was set in a look of concern as he gazed down at me. 
I
continued
yanking at the
carabiner
, trying to release myself from the pulley and zip line. 
“It was, uh, a little scarier than I thought it would be.”

“Here, I’ll get it,” he said, reaching for my still fumbling fingers.  His hands felt warm as they touched mine, and neither of us moved as he unhooked the rope from my
safety
harness, so that his hands were resting directly on top of mine.
  “All set,” he said softly.

“Thanks,” I whispered,
looking
back up into his eyes.
We stood there another few seconds, neither of us seeming to want the moment to end,
until someone nearby cleared their throat.  I pulled away, and as
Travis’s
eyes locked
again
with mine,
I wondered what had just passed between us.

***

I walked into the office
the next
morning feeling like
I was
crashing back
down to earth, back
into reality.  I was
running a few minutes
late, so I went directly to the
conference
room for our weekly meeting
without stopping by my desk
.  The low buzz of voices filled the room as
I walked in
.  Everyone was seated in their usual places, Travis sipping on a
cup of
takeout coffee,
Elizabeth
eating a bagel. 
Marissa
’s notebook was on the table, and she was standing nearby
talking to
Jennifer and
one of the
w
eb develo
p
ers
.  I sat down next to her empty chair and was
only
vaguely aware of the din around me as
Travis caught my
eye and
gave me a quick grin
before turning his attention back to
what
ever
Elizabeth
was saying. 
My mind flashed back to the retreat
. 
A
lthough e
verything here was the same as the
week before
,
it was as if
suddenly
my
whole world had shifted.

“God, this day is killing me,”
M
arissa
announced
at
lunch
as she sat down at our table
.
  Travis,
Elizabeth
, and I were already there,
talking as we finished
eating
.

“You still look alive to me,” Travis joked, raising his eyebrows.

“Ha,
h
a,
”
Marissa
replied
as she
pried
the top off her salad container
.  “I
just
meant that I need a break from this stress.
  This has been a crazy week.
”

“
It’s
our first day
back in the office
,” I said with a laugh.

“It’s been a crazy
day
then,” she said rolling her eyes.  “You two take everything so literally.”

I caught Travis’s eye and
grinned
, and I noticed he tried to suppress a smile as
Marissa
looked back and forth between us
.

“You both seem way too happy.
 
I mean we are still at work, right?” she said, taking a bite of her salad.  “We didn’t just magically end up at some exotic beach or something—which, by the way, would be awesome!
  I could be sipping a
pina
colada, working on my tan….
”

“Oh
Marissa
,”
Elizabeth
said
with a smile
, “you are too much sometimes.”

“And that’s why you love me,
”
Marissa concluded, taking a sip of her diet iced tea.

“Definitely,” I agreed.

“We should go out tonight,”
Marissa
said
suddenly
, eyes lighting up
.
  “I can’t even remember the last time we went to happy hour, and I
need
a break, like seriously.”

“Seriously,” Travis agreed.

Marissa
picked up
the
packet of crackers
that came with her salad
and tossed them
across the table
at him.

“Hey!”
he said good-naturedly, easily catching them
midair
in one hand.

“What was
that for?” I asked with a laugh, glancing over at her.

“Watch it
,
Smith,”
Marissa
said,
giving me a stern look
.  “You’re next.”

I held up my hands in
mock
surrender and saw Travis laughing.

“
I’m up for a happy hour
tonight
,” Elizabeth said, steering the conversation back on course.
 
“
W
e haven’t been to
Texas
Cantina in a while
.”

“Yeah, but t
hat’s across town
and will be so crowded
,”
Marissa
said, frowning.
 
“
There’s
no way
I can get out of here early today.
”

“Rock Bottom?”
I
asked
, naming the bar around the corner from our apartments.

“
Ohhhh
, that would be perfect,” she said with a grin.

“That’s fine
with me
,” said
Elizabeth
.

“
I’m in,” Travis replied.

W
e
agreed to meet for drinks at 6:30
. 
After we finished lunch,
I
went back to my office and
edited some of the new reviews that had come in today
. 
Marissa
was in a meeting, so
it
was fairly quiet for a change
.
I
went to grab a coffee late in the afternoon
,
and a
s I walked down the block,
I
shivered slightly,
notic
ing
that
it had gotten cool out again.
O
f course I hadn’t bothered to bring a jacket today.
I was wearing a lightweight
cream
cashmere
sweater
, but it wasn’t
warm
enough to fend off the return of the cold weather. 
I hurried back
to the office to
warm up
and
finish
the reviews I
was
working on
before happy hour
.
An hour later,
I still hadn’t seen
Marissa
and wondered
what time
she’d be
back
.

I flipped open my phone to send her a text message.

Almost time for happy hour.
 
Ready to go soon?

My phone beeped as h
er reply came back
less
than
thirty
seconds
later.

Stuck with
the
w
eb
guru
s
.
  Meet you there.

Marissa
must’ve found
problems
with some of the content if she was still meeting with them.  Usually if we had any edits
or new reviews to submit
we could just email them
over
for posting on the website
.
  Since she
’d
given me the go-ahead
and I had no idea how
much
long
er
she’d be
, I didn’t have much choice but to leave without her. 
I
gathered up my things and not seeing
Elizabeth
or Travis around,
headed out
on my own
.
I walked
down the block to the
metro station and hopped on
one
of the trains heading
to Arlington. 
I knew
Marissa
would
be annoyed that
she had to stay late again, but we all had various deadlines in the upcoming weeks and would be working late one night or another
.

A
s I exited the
metro
station,
the
st
r
eets were crowded
with other
office
workers heading home for the night
. 
I
weaved my way through the
throngs of people
in front of the escalators and
cut across the street
.
Walking past
a few stores
and a little
café,
I
p
ulled open the door to
Rock Bottom
. 
Catching my reflection in the glass, I noticed that my cheeks were a little flushed from the cold. 
It was
6:20
, but even though I was early, I
hurried in
side
to escape the chilly air. 
The bar was starting to fill up, and I
looked around
to see if anyone else was there yet
. 
I finally spotted
Travis seated at the bar,
his back to me
.
He was
wearing a black leather jacket and
drinking a beer.  His hair looked slightly damp, and I wondered if he had just come from the gym.
  I hadn’t spotted him when I left the office, so
maybe he had ducked out early for a workout
.
  I made my way through the
crowd
of
people
that was beginning to form
and was soon standing right
beside
him.

“Hey,” I said,
sliding onto
a
barstool
.  “Where’s everyone else?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied,
turning to look at me
and
giving me a warm smile.
“I got here a little early.”  His brown eyes twinkled warmly, and
I realized
that
this was the first time we had been alone since the retreat.
 
T
here was a slight trace of dark stubble on his strong jaw
,
and
I noticed
that
he was wearing a grey ribbed sweater
that
I didn’t remember seeing him
in
earlier.  It was a little snug
,
show
ing
off
his strong arms and chest
.  I wondered if he’d
gone home to change just for tonight.

The noise of the other patrons was dulling into the background
,
and as Travis and I sat beside one another at the bar,
it felt like we were the only two people
t
here. 
“
Early, huh?
”
I asked.
“Eager for happy hour?”