A month later

“So, you’ve finally decided to give online dating a try?” Alison, my friend and a sports therapist at Pathways, asked.

She was scrolling through her Instagram feed with a bored expression on her face, looking at the latest posts from her favorite celebrities as she played with her messy chestnut curls that were falling around her shoulders. She and Marissa had been hanging out at my place for the last hour, keeping me company as I got ready for my Tinder date.

I put red lipstick on and looked at my profile in the mirror, checking my expression. My long blonde hair was now curled, cascading down my shoulders and upper back. My thick mane of hair and bright blue eyes were one of my strongest features, or so I’d been told, which was why I’d put extra effort to accentuate my eyes with eyeliner and shadow that matched my flared turquoise dress.

A beam came to life on my face. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s been a year since I’ve been with a decent guy. I’ve been so busy these last few months that I don’t even remember the last time I went out for a drink.”

“Tell me about it,” Alison grumbled, making her gum pop. “I feel like my vagina is turning into the Sahara desert.” I burst into a fit of giggles, amused as always with Alison’s sarcastic quips.

Alison was the ‘life of the party’ among our trio. She never lacked jokes, sarcasm, or energy. I, on the other hand, had a bubbly personality but didn’t have that comedic timing that always put Alison in the spotlight. Marissa was more the serious and responsible one among us.

Together, we were one compact whole—ever since our college days. This was the reason why we’d decided to join forces and open our clinic Pathways several years ago, and it was the best decision we’d ever made.

“Then you better give it some water soon, if you know what I mean.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her in the mirror. “The plants need water to survive and stuff like that.”

She rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m not quite so interested in flings anymore.”

“Oh?” I glanced at her over my shoulder. This answer had come as a complete surprise since Alison was all about going casual. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know. It kinda became boring over time. Same old, same old. But if only guys weren’t such jerks, maybe I could actually settle for someone.”

“You can follow Marissa’s example.” I winked at her. “Go for a client.”

“No can do. That’s troublesome. Although, I do have some fine clients.” She put her index finger to her lips, her eyes turning dreamy as she glanced up at the ceiling. “Even more than fine, actually.”

“Alright.” I stood up and put my five-inch heels on. “How do I look? Do I look awesome, or do I look awesome?”

She made an okay sign with her fingers. “Curvalicious and perfect. Damn, girl. I envy your curves. And that sexy dress suits you perfectly. If only I had more boobs and ass...”

Giggling, I sprayed some perfume on my neck. “We all want what we can’t have. I want to be tall like you, but I’m short, so...”

“Believe me, you don’t want to be tall like me. You’d have limited choices! Like what if I want to wear heels? I’m already taller than most guys.”

Marissa Ford, the last part of our trio, scurried into my bedroom, carrying her phone in her hand. “Bad news.”

She ran her hand through her hair, letting a loud groan out. She’d been on her phone for the past fifteen minutes, so this could only mean that the conversation hadn’t been very good.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

“I spoke with Bobby now.” Bobby was the owner of the Pathways building. “Our building is being eyed by Real Estate Silver, a developer, who is planning to tear it down and put condos in its place.”

“What?” Alison and I exclaimed in unison, both turning pale.

Alison jumped up to her feet, staring at Marissa in disbelief. “You gotta be kidding us. There is no way they can do that.”

Marissa shrugged her shoulders. Her grim expression felt like a punch in the gut. “Actually, they can. Bobby had already put it on sale, and you know how that goes. Whoever offers the most... Bobby doesn’t care if they’re going to demolish it or not.”

“But we’re talking about a heritage building. They can’t demolish a heritage building. It’s supposed to be protected.”

Once more, Marissa shrugged her shoulders. “If Bobby is okay with it, there is nothing we can do. He needs money urgently, so he’ll accept anyone’s offer—even from those greedy bastards without scruples.”

“That’s bullshit,” Alison muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

I agreed with her one hundred percent. If that developer really tore our building down to make stupid condos, then we would have to move, and that was impossible at the moment. We were still fairly young in the business, so we were far from being able to pay double for rent.

Our rent costs were low in our current building and there was nothing else nearby that was as central, with enough space and rent we could afford. Once we were out, we would be faced with a real dilemma.

“Why they have to make condos? Why do they have to ruin everything?” Alison hissed, fuming.

“Capitalism, honey,” Marissa replied. “I tried convincing Bobby to find someone who wouldn’t buy this building only to reduce it to ruins, but he didn’t even want to hear me out.”

“Did you at least tell him that we wouldn’t have anywhere to go?” Alison asked, her voice filled with worry.

“Yes. And he said, and I quote, ‘You know I like you, girls, but business is business’. So we can’t rely on him to help us with this.”

“So what can we do?”

I glanced at the girls, trying to slow down my heart rate. This was an unfortunate situation, but we had to keep our heads cool and think about the solution.

“I don’t know,” Marissa replied to her.

“First of all, we have to calm down,” I said. “We won’t achieve anything if we stress about this. We have to stay positive and believe that everything will work itself out in the end.”

I came from behind Alison and began massaging her tense shoulders. “I’m sure we can find some silver lining in this.”

“How?”

“Maybe we can try talking with someone from that company first and see if we can convince them to change their plans. Maybe they’re reasonable and would give up on their initial plan after they see how much damage they would cause.”

Marissa’s eyes lit. “Now, that’s a good idea. We can emphasize the fact that this building is really important for the neighborhood.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I’m positive that they would at least consider it.”

“I can talk with the CEO of that company. I’ll call Bobby again and ask him for the name. Then I can search for their address and schedule a meeting with the CEO.”

“You think he’ll agree to see you?” Alison asked with skepticism, tensing her shoulders.

I applied more pressure on her shoulders, sliding my hands over them in circles. “If not the CEO, then there has to be someone else she can talk to.”

Marissa nodded. “That’s right. So I’ll go call Bobby now and ask for their name.” She was about to leave my room once again, but then she stopped and whistled at me, lowering her gaze down my body. “By the way, you look amazing, Claire. It’s like that dress is made for you.”

I flashed her a smile, telling myself to push all the negative thoughts aside and focus on this evening. After all, there was nothing we could do at the moment, so I should relax and enjoy the next few hours. Who knew? Maybe I’d hit it off with my date right away and then he could take me to his place and...

Yeah. Just a thought.

“I’m sure the guy will go crazy for her,” Alison added. “Did I already tell you how hot your date is?”

I pinched her cheek and ambled over my closet to take a jacket. “A dozen times.”

“You have more luck than I’d had back then,” Marissa remarked. “All my Tinder dates were average.”

“Even less than average,” Alison muttered under her breath. “They were downright ugly.”

“Hey!” Marissa smacked her upper arm. “We all have different tastes, okay?”

“Different tastes, my ass. Only a mother could like guys like—”

“Okay, okay!” I raised my hands in the air. “Stop putting them down. Besides, Marissa managed to snatch a real catch in the end.” I winked at Marissa. “Daniel is plain gorgeous.”

Marissa’s face softened—just like always when we talked about her lovely husband. She and Daniel were perfect for each other. After a bumpy start, they managed to overcome the issues between them, and now they were going stronger than ever.

I wished I could find a guy like that. I wished I could find someone as supportive and caring as him. Tonight could be my chance to get just that. The guy I was meeting was a doctor and had the same interests as me, so anything could happen.

“Good luck tonight.” Marissa raised her thumb at me.

“Yeah. Make us proud,” Alison said. “And don’t forget to give us all the details later!”

Grinning at them, I picked up my purse and looked at myself in the mirror one last time. My makeup was on point, and the curve-hugging dress made me look pretty amazing, I had to admit.

“Absolutely.”

Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the restaurant, experiencing a horde of butterflies in my belly. I was never particularly nervous about dates, embracing the thrill that came with them, but for some reason, I felt a bit different about this night. I had a feeling in my gut that something big would happen, and here I was—flustered and a bit fidgety.

My heels clicked on the sidewalk as I approached the entrance to International, a place that known to be one of the trendiest spots featuring the hottest chefs. Jay, my Tinder date, had picked it because he loved International’s food and service. I’d never been here before, so I had to trust his judgment.

Not that food mattered. No. I cared only about the guy I was going to spend the next few hours with, hoping the conversation would get going from the start. I hated those uncomfortable silences when I had no idea how to fill them. I was pretty good at small-talk, and usually managed to find something to say, but I couldn’t say the same for the other parties. Some people were just too reserved.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the glass door and entered. The place looked like it came straight out of those food and travel magazines. It was fancy and too shiny.

I glanced around the place, searching for Jay before I approached the host and introduced myself to him.

“Mr. Holmes is already waiting for you at your table.”

I frowned. I couldn’t quite remember Jay’s surname, but I could bet it wasn’t Holmes.

Before I could voice my confusion, he told me to follow him and headed to the corner of the room.

What waited for me in that corner was something I definitely hadn’t anticipated at all. How could I?

Because who waited for me at that table wasn’t Jay. No.

It was Jared Holmes.