Chapter 21

Two Months Later

Blaine

“Hey, sweetie,” I said with worry in my voice. “How are you feeling?”

“Like death,” she said. “I don’t know. I just feel like my stomach is being bulldozed over, anytime I even move.”

“Are you eating anything?”

“I’ve tried, but it doesn’t even make it to digestion before it comes back up,” she said weakly. “It’s like the stomach flu from hell.”

“Aww, well stay inside, stay warm, and just lay there on the couch,” I said. “It sucks now, but I’m sure it will pass. These things don’t tend to stick around long.”

“I miss my puppies,” she whimpered.

“Well, I’m sure they miss you, too,” I replied. “Get some rest. I’ll check on you at lunch.”

I hung up the phone and smiled, not because she was sick, but because I got to hear her voice. It had been two months since I went back to her shop and met Mr. Floppy. We actually came to find out a week later that Mr. Floppy was actually a Miss, but either way, I loved that little fur ball. Reese and I had spent almost every day together after that, not wanting to miss a moment of time. Being broken up for less than a day ended up being the worst twelve hours of my life, so I wasn’t willing to be apart from her anymore. Her being sick had actually been the first time in those two months that we were apart, but she insisted, not wanting to give me what she had.

The day I went back to the shop to get Reese back, I figured out that my feelings for her were intense. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was completely in love with her. I hadn’t told her yet, though. I wanted it to be special, and I wanted to see where things were going to go. By that point, though, sitting there feeling helpless to help her through the sickness, I knew that I couldn’t imagine my life without her, and I knew that my love for her had grown exponentially in a very short amount of time.

I could see my future with Reese very clearly now, and there was no misconception about what kind of couple we would be. She wanted to see the world, just like I did, and I imagined us hand in hand, exploring the outer reaches of earth, finding new things, experiencing the beauty of life. I had the ability to leave whenever I wanted, and I could easily make her company viable enough to stay in business while we went. She was sick right now, so I wasn’t going to bring it up just yet, but there was no doubt in my mind that she needed to know how much I loved her and where I wanted to take our relationship.

I shook my head, realizing that I needed to stay focused on my work or I would never get this new project off the ground. I opened up the documents online and began reviewing the protocol that the project management had set up. Everything looked perfect, just as I assumed it would since we had been working on this day in and day out for several months.

“Mr. Butler,” my secretary said through the intercom. “Mr. Haynes is here to see you.”

“Send him in,” I said with pleasant surprise in my tone.

“Caleb,” I said happily as he entered my office.

“Blaine,” he replied, walking forward and giving me a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too,” I said, sitting down as he also took a seat.

“I just figured I’d stop by and see how you were doing,” he said, smiling.

“I’m really well,” I replied.

“And Reese?”

“She’s good, though she has a bit of a stomach bug,” I replied.

“I thought that season was over.” He chuckled. “Well, I hope she feels better. I’m assuming things are going good between you, then.”

“Man, it’s fantastic,” I said, smiling.

“I’m happy to hear that,” he replied. “You really do deserve to be happy. I’ve had the two of you on my mind.”

“Thank you, that means a lot,” I said, shaking my head.

“I can already see it.” He chuckled. “The huge wedding you never wanted, only instead of people, there will be about three hundred puppies in attendance.”

“That sounds like a nightmare,” I said, grimacing.

“How are you doing with the whole dog thing?”

“It’s actually going pretty good,” I said, taking in a deep breath. “I made friends with one a couple months back. She’s pretty adorable.”

“That’s good,” he said, laughing. “Nice to know you’re making friends. And what about work? You haven’t mentioned it at all.”

“We’re doing phenomenal,” I replied. “We have the new program coming out for release in just a couple months. It’s the replica of the AI system that I made for my house. Reese made me realize it was stupid to keep it to myself. People would love it. The response has been overwhelming, and we already have a quarter of a million pre-orders.”

“Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s amazing, though it kind of creeps me out. I’m just glad that you found Reese in time.”

“In time for what?”

“In time to save you from starting a relationship with your AI,” he said, laughing. “I was starting to get worried about you.”

“She doesn’t like brunettes,” I said, smiling. “She wasn’t really my type anyway. I like to be able to see the women before I sleep with them.”

“You didn’t think that way when you were wasted back in the day,” he said, laughing.

“True, but we all grow up some time,” I replied. “You, on the other hand, will stay a child forever.”

“Probably,” he said. “Well, listen, I only had a few minutes. I’m on lunch, but I wanted to stop in and get the quick version.”

“Thanks for coming by, man, I miss seeing you,” I said, standing up and shaking his hand. “We need to get together soon.”

“We do,” he said. “Get some beers and talk about everything in a less formal setting.”

“Like the back of a dirty bar,” I said, laughing.

“Precisely,” he said, walking to the door. “Take care, and tell Reese I said ‘hi.’”

I nodded my head and watched him walk out the door, always enjoying when he stopped by to just talk. I missed being around him, having drinks with him, and shooting the shit. I intended on keeping my promise to get drinks with him soon. I looked down at my watch and realized it was after twelve. I grabbed my jacket and let my secretary know I was headed to lunch.

When I got out of the building, I walked down two blocks to this amazing little café and bought a quart of chicken noodle soup and some ginger ale and caught a cab, not wanting to waste time going back to the building for the car. I rode straight to Reese’s apartment, excited to see her, but feeling terrible I had nothing better to offer than soup and soda. I looked up at her apartment window before walking in the main door and climbing the stairs. Hopefully, I wasn’t going to wake her.

I stood at the door and knocked hard, listening as I heard her tiny footsteps shuffling across the wood floors. She opened the door and stood there staring at me, leaning her head to the side and sighing deeply. She looked terrible, her face the color of paper, her eyes bloodshot, and her hands were shaking. I gave her a sad look and leaned in, kissing her forehead. At least she didn’t seem to have a fever, though that was strange for as sick as she was.

“You know you shouldn’t be here,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to give you this viral plague. It’s absolutely terrible. You should quarantine me and probably my neighbors, too, because of ventilation.”

“Nonsense,” I said, walking past her into the apartment. “I brought you soup and some ginger ale.”

“As much as I appreciate that, I’m holding off on trying any more anything, except water,” she groaned. “I just want like an hour of not puking my guts out.”

“I’ll put it in the fridge, and you can eat it later,” I said, smiling and walking into the kitchen.

“Thank you for the thought,” she said, leaning against the doorframe.

“Come on,” I said, closing the fridge and taking her hands. “Let me tuck you into bed.”

I walked back to her bedroom and helped her climb into bed, setting her trashcan next to her and pulling the covers up to her chin. She forced a sweet smile as she leaned back into the pillow. I leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“You have sweet dreams, okay?” I whispered. “I’m going back to work, but if you need anything, just call or text. I will text you when the day is over.”

She nodded her head and smiled as I turned and walked down the hall and out the front door. I hated to leave her like that, but I really didn’t have a choice. I went back to work and tried to focus, knowing that I had this big project coming closer and closer. On the way home from work, I pulled out my cellphone and called Reese, hoping that she was feeling better.

“Hey,” she said sleepily.

“Hey there. How are you feeling?”

“Like hell,” she said. “But I have the Hulk here next to me, keeping me company. He looks pretty sick, too. His skin is green.”

“You still have your humor intact.” I laughed. “Half alive and you’re cracking jokes. I love it.”

“You know me.” She chuckled. “But I’m actually feeling tired, so I’m going to lay down and try to sleep.”

“All right, text me if you need me,” I said. “Miss your face.”

“Miss yours, too,” she said.

By the time I was off the phone, my car had arrived at my complex, and I went right up and fixed myself some leftovers from the take-out from the night before. I sat there alone at the table, and I realized just how quiet the apartment was without Reese in it. She really did light up everything she did and everywhere she went. I really missed having her there with me. I had gotten used to her presence and had forgotten what it was like to live by myself.

After dinner, feeling my body dragging from the amount of work I had done over the last couple of months, I climbed into bed and laid there staring at the ceiling. I could smell Reese’s shampoo on the pillow case, and I sighed, thinking about our future and how much I just wanted to get started on it. I wanted Reese to know how much I adored her and how much everything she did made a difference in my world. I couldn’t wait for her to one day wake up in the bed next to me and not have anywhere to go because she was already home.

Not now, but someday in the future, I definitely saw us building a family together, living in some big house outside of the city, and having little clones of us running around the house. The sound of our children’s laughter would complete everything, but first, she needed to know how I felt. We had so much time in front of us and so many things I wanted to do, and I couldn’t wait to start doing them with her by my side. Sometimes, I felt like we were frozen, but then I remembered where we were just two months before, and my heart would skip a beat.