My Heart Says Yes (17 page)

Our professor chimed
in.  “Okay then class, before we get started why don’t we go around the room
and quickly introduce yourselves to Mr. Morgan and tell him what it is you think
you want to do when you’re done here.”

       We started with the person seated
closest to Professor Jansen and Caleb, and each person gave a little bit of
info about themselves and they both seemed genuinely interested in hearing what
everyone wanted to do.  Before I knew it, it was my turn and suddenly I felt
very shy and had to remind myself to open my mouth and speak.  Caleb’s intense
focus on me as he listened to what I was saying seemed to shut everyone else
out of the room, and for a couple of minutes I felt that he and I were the only
two people there.

       As I finished talking briefly about
myself, Caleb asked me a question that he had not asked anyone else.

       “So Miss Blakely, are you from
Chicago?”

      
You know that I’m not.

       I felt a little bit confused and
even embarrassed that he had singled me out, but I knew that I had to answer
the question and I didn’t want to make anything awkward for anyone else in
class. 

       “No, I am from a small town in
Wisconsin.”  I really hoped that that would put an end to the questions for me
and he would move onto the next person, but I was not so lucky.

       “I see, and so how do you like
living in a big city compared to your hometown?  I can only imagine the culture
shock that you must have experienced when you arrived here since there is so
much to see and do.”

      
He already knows all of this, why
is he doing this to me?

       “So far I love Chicago, but I have
not had a chance to explore anywhere near all that it has to offer. I hope to
remedy that when the school year is over.”

       I was hoping
that
would
appease him and he would move on to the next student.

       “I am sure you will be able to make
time to explore the city before the school year is over Ms. Blakely. You
wouldn’t want to miss out on the incredible adventures that await you.”

       I felt my cheeks turn bright red as
I realized that the whole class was observing our interaction and I saw more
than a few eyebrows raise and I knew that they were wondering what was going on
between us. Marta leaned over and whispered to me under her breath.  “Is there
something going on with you two that I don’t know about?”

       I discreetly shook my head and
silently begged for him to move on to someone else. I felt like I was going to
totally die of embarrassment right there in front of my design class.  I
realized that I had been holding my breath when I heard myself let out a loud
exhale of relief when Caleb moved onto the next student.

       After our introductions we dove into
the course material, and Professor Jansen and Caleb gave us our first in class assignment
where we all had to work together to create a design for a candy bar campaign. 
I really liked how we all worked together and I felt totally comfortable once
we started focusing on the work and the focus was taken off of me.

       When class was over, Professor
Jansen thanked Caleb for the lecture and he walked out of the classroom.  Caleb
was still gathering his things as students trickled out of the room.  I had
just finished packing my bag and headed towards the door when Caleb’s voice
stopped me.

       “Miss Blakely, I’d like to speak
with you for a minute.”

       I saw a couple of students raise
their eyebrows as they walked out of class and I could only imagine what they
were thinking. Once again, I could feel that my cheeks were bright red.  Caleb
waited for all of the students to leave the room and then he closed the door. I
was livid and to say that my heart was thumping out of my chest was an
understatement.  His dark eyes surveyed mine and we stood there in silence for
at least a full minute. I began to shift uneasily back-and-forth as I felt very
uncomfortable under his stare.  Caleb lazily scanned my body, leaned back
against the wall, gave me a sexy smile and crossed his arms as he held my
gaze.  “I have missed you.”

      
That
pissed me off.  “No! 
You don’t get to stand here and give me one of your sexy little grins and think
that everything is okay. Why haven’t you called me?”

       “I’m here now aren’t I?”

       I put my hand on my hip and glared
at him.  “Caleb, I’m serious.  Why haven’t I heard from you since the night I
had sex with you?  Are you in the habit of blowing off girls that you claim
that you care so much about?”

       I could see that he was amused at my
irritated mood and that made me even more pissed off.  This new Emma was
becoming more confident each day and it felt good to not feel intimidated by
someone like Caleb Morgan. I wanted to show him that I was not just another
notch in his belt or another roll in the hay.  He was going to respect me and I
was going to demand that respect from him, especially since I had been told
that he was used to always getting his way.  I crossed my arms and looked at
him.

       “I’m waiting for your answer Caleb.”

       I could see that he was taken aback
by my words and I’m sure he was not used to women who didn’t automatically fall
at his feet. Well that was something that I would never do, no matter who the
guy was or how attractive he was.  My mother had always taught me that the man
should chase the woman, not the other way around.  So Caleb’s flirtatious ways,
while flattering, would never cause me to run after him.

       Caleb looked at me as if he was
studying me and after a minute he finally spoke.

       “First, I have to apologize for not
calling you, I’m just not used to being accountable to someone.  Second, I was
swamped with an assignment for school which counts for 70% of our grade, so
that stressed me out.”

       “And what, you don’t know how to
pick up the phone and call someone that you supposedly care about when you are
stressed out?  You don’t know how to call someone just to say hello, especially
after an incredible night together? Do you have any idea how you made me feel
Caleb, how used?”

       His face softened when he saw how
upset I was, he took a step toward me and I immediately backed away.

       “Emma, come on, I said I was sorry.”

       I looked at him and held his gaze,
and tears stained my eyes as I searched for the right thing to say. “You know
what?  Right now, sorry is just not good enough. I have to go.”  I slung my bag
over my shoulder and quickly walked out of the room.

       When I got home Kelly let me cry on
her shoulder as I told her about my run in with Caleb earlier that day and his
cavalier attitude about the whole thing.

       “Emma, I think it’s great that you didn’t
fawn all over him, I’m so sure he is used to that.  He’s probably trying to
figure out how to get you back because he sees that you’re not the type of girl
who will be at his beck and call.  Give him time, he’ll be coming after you
begging you to take him back, I just know it.”

       I smiled at her through my tears, so
grateful that I had such an awesome best friend. “I hope so Kel.”

The next day I slept in
and then decided to dive into my schoolwork to get out of my funk.  I was deep
into learning about designing an ad campaign for lipstick when Kelly knocked on
my door.  I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 5:00 and the day
had totally gotten away from me.

“Hey, Rena just called
and she is having some people over to celebrate the end of some huge project
they just completed.”

 “That must be the
project that Caleb said he has been so stressed about.”

"Yeah, that's
probably it. I think it sounds like a lot of fun and it would probably be good
for you to get out and be around people. You can’t keep your head buried in
books forever.”

Kelly was right, it
would be fun to get out and I did need a social break so I agreed to go with
her.  I knew that Caleb would probably be there and I would have to deal with
that, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from going to have a good time.  If
he wanted to talk with me he would have to start by giving me an detailed explanation
and a proper apology.  We got there around 8:30 and a bunch of people were
already there.  Sophie cornered me the second she saw me and she wanted to know
all about what happened with me and Caleb.

“So, there’s a rumor
going around that you’re dating Caleb Morgan, I want to know all the deets!” 
Her eyes were like saucers as she held her breath and waited for what I was
going to say.  But Sophie was going to be waiting for a long time because she
was the last person that I would share any personal information with.  Sophie
was a huge gossip and I had zero tolerance for that.

“Oh, there’s nothing to
tell Sophie, really.  Nothing is going on with us.” 

That part was not a
lie.  I quickly changed the subject and gushed over how much I loved her outfit
and she ate it up.  We had more shallow dialog and I was getting really bored
talking with her, so when I caught Kelly’s eye as she was walking by I gave her
the look that I needed to be rescued and she popped on over to us.

“Sophie, I absolutely
love your outfit, you look fantastic. Let’s all go get a drink.  Oh, Sophie,
you already have a drink so Emma and I are going to go grab one and we will be
right
back
.” Kelly grabbed my arm and pulled me off to the kitchen away from her.

       We were giggling like schoolgirls as
we ran into the kitchen to get away from her. “Kelly, you are so bad!”

       “Maybe, but I rescued you didn’t I? 
We can always go back and talk to her if you want.”

       Kelly pretended to walk back toward
Sophie and I grabbed her arm. “No! We’re fine in here.” 

       We were still giggling when a male
voice interrupted us. “Wow, you ladies seem like you’re having a great time!”

       We turned to see a really
good-looking, tall blonde guy smiling at us.

       “Trevor!  I had no idea that you
knew Rena!”  Kelly was all smiles as she gave him a big hug. 

      
Who is this gorgeous guy?
  I
stood there waiting to be introduced. 

“Trevor, I want you to
meet my best friend and roommate Emma.”

Trevor looked at me with
his gorgeous bright blue eyes and smiled as he held out his hand.  I reached
out and shook his hand and smiled back.

“Emma, it’s nice to meet
you.”

“You too Trevor.”

“Do you ladies need a
drink?” 

“Um, yeah, that would be
great, thanks!”  Kelly was awfully chipper and I gave her a sideways glance and
raised my eyebrows at her.

She mouthed, “You should
talk to him, he’s really nice.”

I hesitated for a
minute, feeling guilty as I thought of Caleb.  But then I scolded myself
because he didn’t think of me when he decided to blow me off and not call me
for weeks after we had been together that night.  So I decided there was no
harm in talking to Trevor, and besides, he was really cute.

Trevor handed us our
drinks and then Kelly, not so subtly, made an excuse and left us alone.

“So, Emma, what do you
do?”

“Doing the portfolio school
thing.”

His eyes searched mine
and I knew that look, he was interested in knowing more about me.

“An aspiring advertising
executive, huh?  Very nice.”

“That’s my plan.  And you,
what do you do?”

“I’m a grad student with
Rena at the Art Institute.”

“Oh, cool. What do you
want to do when you’re done?”

“My family owns the
Stevens Gallery in the West Loop, so I’ll join them.”

“Wow, that will be
nice.”  I smiled at him and I noticed that he was just staring at me.

“I’m sorry that I’m
staring, but you have a really great positive energy and you’re very pretty.”

I felt my cheeks burning
at the compliment and I had to admit that it felt really good that someone as
attractive as Trevor noticed me.  He was the second really good-looking guy to
take an interest in me, and to say that it boosted my ego was an
understatement.

“Thank you.”

We continued to chat for
a bit and then he excused himself for a few minutes for a bathroom break.  I grabbed
a bottle of water out of the fridge and was opening it when I felt someone
standing right behind me.  I thought it was Trevor and I turned to give him a
smile that fell immediately when I saw that it was Caleb.  I started to walk
away from him when he grabbed my arm.

I glared at him and
looked down at his hand on my arm.  “You’re hurting me.”

He immediately let go
and apologized. “Emma, please hear me out.”

I let out an exasperated
sigh.  “What Caleb?  What could you possibly have to say to me?”

His eyes were earnest as
they held mine and I had to admit that he looked scared.  “I screwed up, I know
that, and I’m really sorry. It’s just that I’m not used to these feelings that
you stirred up inside of me, I didn’t know how to handle it. And then on top of
that I was super stressed about my project for school and I tend to retreat
when I am stressed or overwhelmed.  I know that’s not the mature way to handle
things but that is all that I have known and I know that I have to work on
that.  Can you please give me a second chance?”