Chapter 29
“Hey, Joseph. How are things going?”
“Pretty damned good. The new company really took off. I can’t wait to show you the numbers and go over the new plans.”
“New plans already? Wow. If you want, I can meet up with you sometime this week.”
“Oh yeah? I actually get to see you in person for a change?”
“You do.”
“To what do I owe such a pleasure?”
“I’m resigning my position here this week. I’ve done what I wanted to do and now I just need to tell Eva the truth. There’s no sense in keeping the teacher’s position any longer.”
“Man, I can’t believe you even got away with it.”
“It’s not over yet. I still have to break it to Eva. I just hope she takes it well.”
“Yeah,” Joseph’s words dripped with sarcasm. “I can see where telling the woman of your dreams that you are actually loaded would be a problem.”
“You don’t know her. She’s different.”
“Edward?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do I sense a difference in you?”
“What do you mean?”
“No. Nooo, man are you kidding?”
“What the hell is wrong with you? What are you talking about?”
“You fell in love with her, didn’t you?”
“I, um, yeah. I guess I did.” Edward was smiling a big smile when he realized how hard he had fallen for her. “I’m in love with her,” he said more for his own pleasure.
“Oh, boy. Just don’t lose who you really are, huh?”
“I’m still me. Don’t worry.”
“Well, you go and enjoy your new romance. Don’t run off and get too serious before I get to meet this beauty.”
“You’ve got my word, bud.”
“I gotta jet. Hook up with me later on in the week.”
“You got it.”
He numbly hung up his phone and repeated the words again. “I’m in love with her.” He let the feeling take over his body.
Later in the day, he had called administration to set up an appointment to officially resign from his teaching position.
“I can schedule you to come in next Wednesday to meet with the Dean.”
“Nothing sooner?”
“Sorry, no. We are short staffed and back logged.”
“Okay. Wednesday it is.”
He hung up with them, scheduled his day for Wednesday and ventured out toward the local bookstore. His plan was to tell Eva about who he really was that evening during dinner. A gift involving her favorite author might soften the blow, or so he hoped.
Scouring the shelves for Jane Austen, he found the section he was looking for and pulled a few books that he thought Eva might like. He opened up the first one and silently read a few lines.
“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Elizabeth's astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avowal of all that he felt and had long felt for her immediately followed. He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority -- of its being a degradation -- of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.
He closed the book and looked at the cover.
“Very nice.”
He decided to purchase Pride and Prejudice as well as a couple of other Jane Austen books and when he walked to the end of the aisle and looked up to find the cashier, he saw Gracie standing outside the window of the bookstore. He quickly moved back between the shelves and kept his eyes on her until she left, but she stood there as if waiting for someone, occasionally looking back into the bookstore through the window.
“Damn.” He snuck to the back of the store hoping for another way out but each back door was alarmed if opened. The front door was his only way out and it was growing close to the time for his class. “Screw this,” he said, pulling his phone out. He dialed administration to cancel. He wasn’t going to deal with the sister of the guy who almost killed him. Just as his phone started to ring he felt a hand on his back. He jumped and turned quickly.
“Hello, Eddie.” Gracie stood in front of him with a smile on her face. “Fancy running into you here.”
“Gracie. Hello.” He quickly hung up his phone and shoved it into his pocket.
“Who were you calling?”
“No one. A friend of mine. He wasn’t there. What are you doing here?”
“Buying a book?” she said, looking at the shelves lined with books.
“Isn’t there a bookstore closer to campus?”
“This book is only available in this store,” she shrugged. “Why?”
“No reason. I know you must be quite busy. I didn’t know if you were aware of the other one closer.”
“I’m well aware of that one. It’s okay. It gets me away from the everyday life stuff I have to deal with. Plus, I got to run into you. Bonus.”
“Yes. It was nice seeing you again,” he said as he tried walking by her. “I have to get going.”
“Why?” She stepped in front of him.
“I have a class that starts in about twenty minutes.”
“Then why didn’t you go to the bookstore that was closer to campus?”
“I, um.” He looked at her and wondered why it felt like she was grilling him. “I was already out this way.”
She didn’t move and it gave him an eerie feeling that something wasn’t right.
“We should have dinner sometime, soon.”
He recognized the look in her eyes, the same look she had before she went a little crazy on him in the restaurant during their first dinner.
“That’s probably not a good idea, Gracie.”
“Why not? We had such a good time the last time.” She moved in on him and put her arms around his waist.
“Listen,” he said, prying her arms away. “I really do have to go.”
The books he held fell to the floor and she quickly knelt down to scoop them up.
“Emma by Jane Austen?” She looked up at him. “Doesn’t sound like something you’d be interested in reading.”
“It’s research. I’m helping out a student, tutoring.”
She handed his books back to him, watching him with a skepticism in her eyes.
“I’ll see you around.” He grabbed the books and darted toward the door, putting them on the counter in front of a few customers in line. “Can you save these for me, please? Eddie Caldwell?”
The cashier nodded and Edward walked out the door. He stopped in front of the window when he saw a white Audi hatchback parked down the street from the bookstore. Was it the same car he saw at the park with Eva? He looked through the window into the bookstore, his stomach tightening. Gracie stood where he left her, watching him through the window like an apparition in a horror movie. He snapped his head away from her and quickly walked down the street. Each time he looked back, the car was in the same spot and Gracie was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe it’s just a seriously fucked up coincidence.
He looked back again.
Why would she be stalking me?
He tried shaking it off and dismissing the thought but it stuck with him.
He got through his class as the minutes slowly ticked by. Lunch couldn’t come soon enough. He had made plans with Eva to join her at the University Club. They couldn’t show their affection toward each other, but he would be with her. It was all that mattered.
Just before he finished up his class, his phone vibrated on his desk. He smiled at the thought of Eva wanting to see him sooner than she could.
“Okay, guys,” he called out to the students. “The assignment is on the board. Make sure you get it before you leave. Term paper rough drafts are due at the end of the week.” He looked around and smiled. “Get out of here,” he said, motioning them out the door with his hand. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
They all rustled around, gathering their books and walking out the door as he picked up his phone and answered his text from Unknown.
It’s Eva. I hate to do this, but I have to cancel our lunch date. Let’s plan a late dinner at your place? *grins* I’ll bring my overnight bag.
So bittersweet, he thought. Sounds good, he texted. I’ll grab Chinese and see you around eight.
See you then. *kiss*
He sat down at his desk, wondering what he was going to do with the rest of his day. Deciding to run a few errands and stop back out to the book store to get Eva’s books, he gathered his things and left the classroom.
The streets were busy for a Monday afternoon so he made a pit stop at the Café Rouge before heading to the bookstore. As he sat at a table by the window he watched and studied the people as they walked by. It was one of his favorite amusements. He loved watching people, studying them and their idiosyncrasies and trying to decipher who they really were.
He watched a young boy stop on the other side of the street, his body slumped over as he leaned against the pillar of a building. He looked sad and lonely, as if he had nothing in life. Edward wondered if the boy lived on the streets, his clothes tattered and torn. He dropped the skateboard he was holding and pushed off the pillar, no expression on his face. Edward concluded he was a punk kid who ran out of mommy and daddy’s house thinking he didn’t need them and their rules. Or maybe he got caught up in the drug epidemic that is seemingly growing worse in the economy. Edward shook his head, sad for the boy.
A good looking woman, perhaps in her forties walked by the window distracting his attention away from the boy. She walked with confidence and as she went by him, her eyes connected with his, a smile forming on face. Her pace slowed as she put a little more hip action in her step, giving him ample time to check her out. He chuckled at the obvious attempt at flirting with him and as she looked back at him he turned away. He didn’t want to give her any inkling he was interested in a hook up.
He watched as he bit into his burger and noticed a couple walking together. They seem happy, he thought. Couple or just study partners?
As they got closer, he stopped chewing and straightened his posture as his stomach tightened. It was Eva and Gerald.
“What the fuck?” He grabbed his bottle of water and left the table, stopping at the front door and waiting for them to walk by.
He followed them down the street at a safe distance and watched them walk side by side until they disappeared around the corner. Running to the end of the block he looked down the street but had lost them.
“Shit. Where did they go?”
There was a shop on the corner where he stood so he tried peering through the window without being too obvious. He opened the door and went in, his eyes darting all around the shop until he spotted them next to a high shelf displaying artifacts from other countries. He hid behind a display, peering over at them as Eva picked up a statue and looked it over.
“No! I can’t. Look at the price tag.”
“That is irrelevant. It will be my gift to you.”
“No, Gerald. I can’t accept it. I won’t accept it. I told you. I don’t want you to buy things for me.”
“Such a stubborn girl you are.”
She put it back on the shelf as Gerald glanced behind him toward where Edward hid. He almost spotted him but he turned back to Eva before making eye contact. He moved closer to her, putting his hand on the small of her back and leaning in toward her. He whispered something to her and when she laughed out loud it speared Edward like a dagger in his stomach.
The longer he stood behind the display and watched Eva with this guy, the angrier he got. He felt his blood pressure rise and he wanted to run him down like a freight train and tear those dreadlocks from his head but he knew the consequences if he did. He closed his eyes and turned away to get his head together. He took one more look back and saw Gerald looking at him with a devious grin before taking her hand and leading her to another part of the store. He clenched his teeth together and tightened his fists before storming out of the shop.