24
Kelly
I had drifted off to sleep somewhere not long after we got our trip back to Delaware started. I was exhausted from all the events of the day, and sleeping was a good way for me to avoid having to talk any more about Damian with James, or to even think about Damian Woods. Or at least I thought it was a good way to forget about him. My dreams were naturally filled with thoughts of him, replaying the times we had spent together at the beach, our balloon ride, in his pool, and in his bed. Every moment seemed so right to me, it was difficult to see how it got all screwed up.
I woke when James was nudging me, and I pried my eyes open and saw we were in the driveway of Damian’s house in Bethany. I blinked a few times to try to focus on the clock on the dashboard and saw it was just after three in the morning.
“I’m sorry,” I said to James, “I guess I slept the entire way back.”
“It’s fine,” he said to me. “You obviously needed it. I can give you a ride over to your house if you want. I was just going to run and check on Shannon and see if Damian was here while you were asleep. You’re welcome to come in and just sleep here if you want.”
“It’s okay, James,” I told him as I took off my seatbelt and stretched a bit. “I can walk from here. It will do me good to be out of the car for a while.”
I stepped out of the car and felt the fine mist that was still coming down. The rain sent a brief chill through my body as I started to walk over to the driver’s side. James reached into the car and handed me an umbrella.
“Here take this,” he said. “At least you won’t get soaked while you’re walking.”
Before I opened the umbrella, I gave James a big hug.
“Thank you so much for all your help,” I said to him. “You went well above the call of duty. Shannon is lucky to have you.”
“No trouble at all,” he said to me as he patted my back. “You know, just because you didn’t get to talk to him tonight doesn’t mean this won’t all work out. I’m sure he’s working on something.”
“I don’t know, James. Maybe… maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. There were just too many differences to fight through.”
“If you really felt that way you would have given up already and not tried to track him down in New York,” James said to me. “Go home, sleep on it, and see what the sunrise brings. Take care, Kelly.”
James watched me as I walked up the driveway and out the street. I stood on the corner for a moment, looking at the quiet area, and decided that instead of going home I was going to the bakery. It was practically time for me to get there any way to start the next day of work. I could get a jump on things and get items started and think about something else besides Damian.
I walked to and climbed the steps to the boardwalk and began my trek towards the bakery. The boardwalk was silent and empty. With the rain, there weren’t even any walkers, joggers, or fishermen out getting ready for the morning. All I could hear was the mist gently pattering on my umbrella, and the sound of the ocean waves as they moved on shore.
I made my way over to the shop and noticed that there were lights on inside. I peered through the front window and could see that the one light was on over the coffee machines and that the lights in the kitchen were on. I couldn’t believe that Jodie or my Mom forgot to turn off the lights at closing time since it was such a part of the routine each day. Since I was at the front of the bakery, I took my keys out to just open the front door and shut the alarm off from this side instead of the kitchen. As I went to put my key in the lock, the door moved slightly, indicating it was already unlocked. There was no way they would forget to lock the front door, and no one ever came in this way when we always worked in the kitchen before opening.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and got ready to dial 911, but I opened the front door first instead. I closed the door behind me quietly and took soft steps towards the counter so as not to startle anyone. A quick glance at the register showed it was still off and locked, so no one had tried to break into it (not that there was ever any cash in it anyway; that always went in the safe). I could hear moving around in the kitchen and the soft sound of music playing.
I pushed open the kitchen door and startled the person in the kitchen so that they dropped a bowl on the floor.
“Damian? What the hell are you doing here?” I asked.
“Well I was making a batch of biscuits for breakfast, but that’s pretty much ruined now,” he said as he bent down and picked up the bowl and the dough that had fallen on the floor.
“Why are you in my kitchen? I thought you were in New York. How did you get in here?”
“I do own the building now,” he said to me. “Getting keys was just a formality.”
“So that’s how you want to end this?” I growled. “Fine, take it,” I said as I tossed my keys at him and marched out the kitchen doors.
“Kelly, wait!” Damian yelled at me. He caught me as I stomped towards the front door and pulled me back towards him.
“I was joking, okay? It was a bad joke. I’m sorry.”
I was already crying as he held my arms. Damian pulled me closer to his chest.
“I did go to New York to find out what was going on and I spent time there trying to fix this mess. Once I had a solution, I immediately started to come back here to see you. I was more than halfway here when Shannon called me and said you were on your way to New York to see me. She told me how she and James came to you, and how James was taking you to the city. I didn’t see any sense in trying to get back there to find you, so I came here. I was hoping to finish making breakfast and then bring it to you at your house, but you beat me to the punch.”
“And what’s your solution?” I asked him.
“It was all pretty easy actually. I should have been able to come up with this before. Since my company owns the property now, we don’t have to do anything with it we don’t want to. So, I am going to rescind all the eviction letters. Anyone that wants to take the buyout will get their money, no questions asked. Anyone that wants to stay can stay. If we have some space to use, I would like to build a small satellite office down here, but if it isn’t on the boardwalk, I’m okay with that. I’m sure we can find another space to use. So, the bakery is still yours, for as long as you want it, and at a better rent than what you were paying. That previous company was ripping you off.”
I was happy over what I was hearing, but we still had things to say and work out.
“Shannon and James did talk to me,” I said through my tears. “I’m sorry about the misunderstanding with that, and with all that happened with the letter, the buyout, and everything. I know I jumped to conclusions about you, Damian. I let my judgment get clouded by expectations and what I had seen in the past. But even with all that, I don’t know… I don’t know if this will work.”
“Why not, Kelly? Look, in case you haven’t noticed, I am crazy about you, and I thought you felt the same way about me. I’ve never fallen for anyone this fast in my life, and now that I have, I don’t want to lose you, especially over silly misunderstandings or because you think we’re so different that it will never work out. I’m just a guy who is falling in love with someone, plain and simple.”
My heart swelled when I heard him say he loved me, and I embraced Damian tightly. I turned to look up at him, and he gently moved some of the damp strands of hair out of my face with his fingers. He took my face into his hands and placed a slow kiss on my lips. The kiss lingered, and I never wanted it to end. When we finally parted, Damian began to wipe my face lightly with his fingers.
“Sorry, I got some flour on your cheeks,” he said with a smile.
“You were working in the kitchen without wearing any gloves?” I said in mock anger.
“I guess I was. I didn’t really think about it at the time. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would see me here. Does it matter?”
“Does it matter?!” “You have a lot to learn about working in food preparation.”
I took Damian by the hand and led him back into the kitchen. As we got through the doors, he pulled me back towards him, kissed me, and lifted me off the floor. I wrapped my feet around him as he pressed me against one of the refrigerators, kissing me deeply.
“Damian,” said breathlessly, “My family is going to come walking through that door in an hour or so. We don’t have time for this here.”
Damian put me back down.
“You’re right,” he said to me. He led me back out to the storefront, turning off the lights as we moved.
“Let’s lock up and go back to my house. If we hurry, we can make good use of that hour.”
We walked outside, locked the front door, grasped hands, and ran down the slippery boardwalk, laughing all the way towards Damian’s home.