My Heart Says Yes (5 page)

       I saw Kelly talking to a guy in the
corner and decided to give her a few more minutes before I interrupted her to
let her know that I was ready to go.  The crowd had dwindled and there were
just a few people left at the party and I didn’t know any of the people who
were still there, so I went back to the kitchen to get something to drink.  I
grabbed a can of diet pop out of the fridge and was just getting ready to take
a sip when I heard that deep, sexy voice again and I almost dropped the can.

       “It must be my lucky night.”

       I quickly turned to see Caleb
leaning against the counter with half of his mouth turned up into a flirtatious
smile.  This was really happening, this gorgeous guy had his attention focused
on me.  Where my old self would have been too shy and insecure to even speak to
this guy, the new me was starting to feel confident and sexy.  I had to remind
myself that Caleb had no idea what I looked like a few months ago, all he knew
was this new, trendy, pretty Emma that stood in front of him.  That gave me
even more confidence and I decided to flirt right back.  I turned fully toward
him so that I was facing him straight on, leaned against the counter, slightly
cocked my head to the side allowing my blonde curls to brush my shoulder, and
gave him a smile right back.

       “Oh yeah, and why is that?”

       I know for sure this time that I saw
his eyes twinkle as he answered me. 

       “Hmmm, not shy…I like that in a
woman.”

       “You do huh? What else do you like?”

       His eyes glided over my body and
then came to rest in my eyes.  “I like jeans that fit just right.”

       I felt my cheeks burn crimson red as
his eyes did not let go of mine.  The intensity of his gaze was a huge turn-on,
and I wanted to feel his hands glide over my body the exact same way his eyes just
did.

       Just then Kelly walked in and I felt
a little bit disappointed because I was enjoying flirting with Caleb.

       “Oh, there you are!”  She smiled at
me and she didn’t see Caleb at first.  “Why are you hiding in the kitchen?”

       “That’s my fault.”  Caleb stood away
from the counter which was partially hidden by a wall and Kelly looked
surprised and then I saw it register that Caleb and I had been in there
together.

       “Oh, sorry!  I didn’t mean to
interrupt!”  She started to back out of the kitchen and Caleb stopped her.

       “No worries,” he looked straight at
me, “I was on my way out.  Goodnight ladies.”

       Caleb left but before he walked out
he glanced at me and gave me a quick wink that only I could see.

       “Oh my gosh Emma!  I had no idea you
knew Caleb Morgan!”  Kelly eyes were bright with excitement.

       “I don’t know him Kel, I just met
him tonight.  Well, I didn’t actually meet him, because we never introduced
ourselves to each other, he just started talking to me.”

       “Well, what did you guys talk
about?”  Kelly was so interested in what had happened between us that you would
think that it was happening to her.  Her enthusiasm about my life was one of
the many things I really loved about my friend, she was 100 percent in my
corner.

       “Nothing really, because we were
only in here for a few minutes, but I do think that he was flirting with me.” 
I tried to act like it was no big deal and that my insides were not doing
somersaults, but Kelly knew me pretty well so I’m sure she knew what this meant
for me.  This was a whole new chapter of life for me because I never had anyone
who looked like him pay any sort of attention to me, it was pretty cool and at
the same time a little bit scary because I liked that mysterious,
über
sexy
thing he had going on, and I had no idea when I would see him again.

       “Well, you could do a lot worse than
Caleb Morgan, that’s for sure.”

       “Oh, it was nothing Kelly, we were
just chatting at a random party and I probably won’t ever see him again. 
Anyway, enough about that, are you ready to go home? Because I have to admit I
am beat.”

       “Sure, let me just say goodbye to a
couple of people and then we can go.”

       When I got home, I lay in bed and
thought about my two run-ins with Caleb earlier that night. He was so good
looking and something about him was so intriguing, and I definitely wanted to
know more. I was getting carried away with my daydreams about him when I had to
catch myself and snap myself back into reality. The odds that I would ever see
him again were slim to none; I mean we didn’t even go to the same school so I
don’t know when I thought I would even see this guy.  And then there was the
whole model thing, even though he was being flirtatious with me, there was no
way he could ever be really interested in someone like me, was there?  I
decided it was best to just push him out of my head and try to get a good
night’s sleep because I’d had a really long day.  I drifted off to sleep
feeling happy that I had moved to Chicago, flattered that a gorgeous guy had
noticed me, and ready for anything that would come my way in this next chapter
of my life.

       Portfolio school was nothing like I
had imagined.  Everyone was super laid-back and we were constantly sharing
ideas and helping each other. I was used to a much more competitive environment
in college and this was a refreshing change.  I had just finished my first week
there and I was walking into my last class of the day, so happy it was Friday. 
This was the first time I would be going to this class because it was the only
class that was held just once a week.  As I walked in I noticed that the room
was set up with a circular table so we would all be able to see each other, and
I liked this idea.  I liked that we would be able to easily see what we all
were working on, and it would be much easier to collaborate on ideas this way. 
This was my editorial design class and it was the class I had been looking
forward to the most. 

       I was getting settled in my space
with my notebook and pen, all of the students were arriving and we were just
waiting for the professor.  I saw Marta walk in and I waved her over to sit
next to me, hoping that she would remember me from the party. 

       “Hey, I was wondering if I would see
you here because I hadn’t seen you all week.”  I smiled at her as she got
settled in her space.

       “It’s been a crazy week, I had the
flu so I missed all of my classes this week. Today is the first day that I felt
okay to come to school. My doctor seems to think that I am on the mend so don’t
worry, I’m not contagious.”

       “That sucks that you were sick, but
I am glad that you’re feeling better. Ready to tackle this crazy year?”

       “I am so ready. I was pissed that I
was sick and I was worried that it would put me behind but, thankfully it didn’t. 
Hey, I was thinking about our conversation at the party and how we both are on
the same career track. Do you want to see how we work together and maybe we can
just partner up all the way through?”  Marta sounded cautiously optimistic and I
thought it was a great idea. We really seemed to hit off quickly and I liked
her vibe.

       “Yeah Marta, absolutely. I think
that would be awesome if we could work together. We’ll have to see if our work
styles are similar and if they are, then I think we will be set.”

       “Great. So, Emma, do you know
anything about the professor for this class? I have been looking forward to
this class more than any of the others.”

       “Oh my gosh! That’s so funny, so
have I! I don’t know anything about this professor, but my classes so far this
week have all been awesome so I’m sure this will be great too.”

       Our professor walked in and he
seemed really cool and laid back, which I liked. 

      
"Okay
everyone, let's get started.  I am Professor Jansen and this is going to be the
most interesting and challenging design class you have ever taken.  I believe
in a very open teaching environment and I expect all of you to work together to
help each other create your best work.  A little bit about me, I have traveled
all over Europe and I have studied and taught art in Paris and Milan to name
just a couple of places.  We will have a different guest speaker every week beginning
next week so feel free to ask them any questions you may have. 

       The class was really cool and it
looked like this was going to be my favorite.  When class was over, Professor
Jansen gave us an assignment for the following week and told us to partner up
with someone in the class.  Since Marta and I had already discussed being
partners, we decided to work together and made plans to get together over the
weekend to work on our assignment.  Marta quickly gathered her things after
class and told me that she was going to go home to lie down and rest to shake
the rest of her illness, and I told her that I hoped she felt better.

Kelly and I went out to
dinner that night and I told her all about my day and how Marta was in my class
and we decided to partner up.

       “Kelly, you have no idea how happy I
am that Marta I get along and how happy I am that I met her at that party last
weekend.  I knew ahead of time that working with a partner is basically a
requirement in advertising, and it was the one thing that I was really
stressing about.  We had to work on a group project in class yesterday and she
and I work together so well and so similarly that it's almost as if it was a
match made in heaven. I am so psyched to move forward in this year with her as
my partner because I really think that we will be able to get a lot
accomplished.”

       “Emma, I am so happy for you that
you found your perfect partner, I know how important that is.”

       “Yeah, it’s a huge relief and she
seems pretty cool.  Tell me about your day.”

       “It was a cool day, we have to
design and sew a simple dress that can go from day to night and it is due next
Friday.”

       “Oh wow, do you think you’ll be able
to get it done that quickly?”

       “Oh yeah, no problem, it’s actually
a pretty easy assignment.”

       Kelly was such a talented designer
and always had been. I remember telling her years ago when we were in eighth
grade that, one day, I wanted her to design my wedding dress.

       “Maybe you can make a summer dress for
me or something that I can wear when it gets warm. That would be so cool Kelly,
I would have the very first Kelly Olsen original.”

       “Actually, a simple summer dress
could be part of my final collection so I think I will use you as my model.  My
whole line will be for women who wear our size.”

       “Wait a second, model? I don’t know
about that, but you can use me to fit the clothes.  I wouldn’t have to walk
down the runway or anything, right?”

       “No, you wouldn’t have to walk down
the runway, unless you really wanted to.”

       “I think I’ll pass on the whole
runway model thing, unless you really need me.” 

       “Thank you my friend, I’ll let you
know.”  Kelly smiled at me and then sipped her cocktail.  “Oh yeah, I’ve been
meaning to ask you, when are you going to start volunteering?”

       I had found an organization in
Chicago that I was really passionate about and I had been donating to them for
the past few months.  I had always known that philanthropy would be a big part
of my life because it was important to me that I gave back to society in some
way since I had been blessed with so much.  The next day would be my first day
there.  I was going to volunteer every other Saturday for five hours with
Friends of Seniors, a nonprofit organization that focused on providing social
interaction for elderly people who would otherwise be lonely.  I was really
looking forward to getting started there.

       “I start tomorrow and I’ll be there
from 9:00 until 2:00.  Everything has been so crazy with my move, getting
settled and starting school, that I guess I forgot to tell you, sorry about
that.”

       “Oh, don’t worry about it.  I think
it’s awesome that you’re doing that Emma, and I’m sure you’re going to have a
great time and brighten a lot of people’s day.”

       We finished our drinks and then I
went home and Kelly went over to her boyfriend David’s place.  I wanted to get
a good night’s sleep so that I would be alert and ready for my day with the new
friends I would be meeting the next day. 

       The next morning I arrived right on
time and people were already setting up for a birthday party.  I found Jean,
the coordinator, and she introduced me to all of the volunteers that were there
and told me that it was Mary’s birthday, a longtime member of the center, and
she liked the color pink so we needed to blow up 75 pink balloons.  I found the
helium tank and started my project.  After I had completed the balloons, I went
into the kitchen to see if they needed help preparing lunch.  I was told they
had everything under control but I could help set the tables, so I grabbed a
bunch of napkins and utensils and got started setting places for everyone.  People
were supposed to start arriving at 11:00 and it was about 10:15 when I heard
Jean frantically rushing around trying to find the cake.  I went over to her to
see if I could help.