CHAPTER TEN
Macy
I let the navigation system talk me through the crowded early-morning streets toward where Maddox wanted to meet up. The busy sidewalk slipped past me, everything fogged out by the wondrous haze of happiness that filled my stomach.
He really wants to see me. He wants to get back together. It’s incredible.
Of all the things I might have hoped for in my relationships, meeting Maddox again was one so big and so wonderful I wouldn’t even have written it down as a wish. Now it was here.
I sighed to myself, feeling my heart expand with joy.
The streets were becoming more crowded as I headed toward the location, the sidewalks sporting shopkeepers brushing their steps, joggers in bright, colorful singlets and shoppers heading out for the paper or breakfast or coffee.
“The destination will be on your right.”
“Oh.” I looked through the right window at the stoplight. The GPS was right, it seemed—there about five meters ahead was the Lifestyle Cafe.
Right. Parking. I made myself focus on the requirements ahead. I wasn’t going to let myself get distracted by thoughts of Maddox, by my memories of that other night. By wondering what it was he was up to and what he was thinking right now.
I spotted a sign for a parking lot and headed to it. My watch said ten past eight. I ran down the sidewalk to the cafe, my heart thudding in my chest.
At the door of the small, white-tiled, crowded cafe, I looked about, searching for Maddox. I breathed in the scent of coffee and toast into lungs ragged from running. There! I spotted him at the front, where the place opened onto a small terrace, looking at his phone.
“Hi!”
He looked up at me and beamed. “Macy. Great seeing you again.”
I swallowed hard, my body catching fire at the merest presence of him. I felt as if my skin had suddenly grown thin, every tiny shade of him hitting me like volts of electricity, straight to my nerve.
“Sorry I’m late,” I commented, drawing back my seat and sitting down. “Had some traffic problems.”
“Not at all,” he said with that warm, easygoing grin. “No worries. It’s my fault for picking this time.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said insistently, shaking my head. “It’s the right time for both of us.”
He smiled at me fondly. “Good.”
I blushed. I wanted to say something, but looking into his eyes, my mind was suddenly blank. “A sunny day,” I commented, looking out of the window behind him.
“Yeah,” he commented. Under the table his foot brushed mine. I stiffened and breathed sharply out. I moved my foot a little. Our legs touched. His knee pressed mine. My body stiffened.
His eyes caught mine and I knew what he was thinking. It was exactly what I was thinking too: why don’t we just call in sick and go home together?
I smiled at him. “You have plans for today?” I asked conversationally. The waiter appeared, and I took a cappuccino. He took a macchiato.
“I do,” he commented, stretching expansively. “For work too,” he added with a naughty grin.
“Mister Jefferson,” I said teasingly. “You are a disgrace.”
He laughed. It was a big laugh, warm and open. It made me grin, too, a pulse jumping in my chest that told me I was wildly excited about him.
“I am,” he admitted. “In answer, I have a guard session at the mall today from lunchtime to eight. And in the evening a session outside the club from nine to midnight.”
At that minute, his phone buzzed.
“Excuse me,” he said and brought it out. His brows raised as he read it and then he replied, typing hastily away, a small frown on his face.
I sat and waited. “So you’re working tomorrow, too, yes?” I asked.
His phone went again and he looked up, embarrassed. Then he answered again. I frowned. What was it that was so urgent? I decided to just ignore it, even though my suspicious mind was on full alert by now.
“Um, no…” he said, setting it aside. “Sorry, Macy. What’d you say?”
“I asked if you were working tomorrow?” I said levelly.
He paused. “Tomorrow, I…”
Just then, a woman appeared. She had been walking up the sidewalk, a bright pink shirt over midcalf slacks, a big tote bag over her shoulder. She had ragged-cut blond hair and a big, friendly smile, big white teardrop earrings that matched the pants.
“Maddox! There you are! Hi!”
Maddox turned around and saw her. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Hi, Claudia,” he said. He sounded a little strained. I wondered why.
“You didn’t say you’d be here!” she said in a big, effusive voice. “Great to see you! Can I join?”
“Um…” Maddox indicated me with a movement of his eyes.
“Oh! I see,” she said breezily. “Well, great to see you. I’ll be around. I’ll let you know later, huh?”
“Um, okay,” he said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “Thanks.”
“Sure thing,” she called back as she turned away. “Bye!”
I saw the way she squeezed his shoulder as she left, saw how at home he seemed to be with the contact, reaching up to touch her hand as she took it away.
These two know each other well, I thought coolly.
He was uncomfortable too. He clearly wanted to be somewhere else. Was he embarrassed because he’d been caught with me? And why would she call later?
“Sorry about that,” he said in a small voice. “I train with her,” he explained.
“Oh.”
“You see…she’s a client,” he explained, face bright red. “She has to call about another, um, training session.” He shifted uncomfortably and looked at the menu. “You had breakfast?”
“Yes, I already had breakfast,” I said carefully. Was that an attempt to shift my focus? If so, I was prepared to let it happen, just for now. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know. What sort of training session? I closed my eyes, willing myself not to be overly suspicious.
“Oh. Well, I wonder when the coffee’s coming up? Sorry…they’re slow in here. Ah!” he looked round fast as the waiter appeared, bearing a small wooden tray that contained our orders.
“Oh, yes.” I noted distantly, seeing the waiter approach from across the room. “Well, then. Here we are.”
He put our orders down and I sipped mine slowly, letting the caffeine wash up to my brain and help me think.
“Claudia,” I commented lightly. “You work with her long?”
“Oh, about six months now. Great person,” he said. Again, his voice was tight and nervous. Why?
“Is she your only client?” I asked.
“No,” he said, clearly relieved to be off the topic of Claudia. “I have four personal training clients, actually. Two of them—her and LaShane—I meet with twice a week. They’re the sporty people. The rest are less, um, sporty.”
“Oh.” I took another sip of my cappuccino. “She’s an athlete?”
“Yeah!” he said. “Long-distance runner. You can see that, probably,” he said.
I frowned. What was that supposed to mean? How? In her figure, I guessed. “Probably,” I said lightly.
“Listen, Macy,” he said quietly. “Don’t worry about Claudia. She’s a client. That’s it.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I lied. He went red.
“Oh. Well, I just thought…” he trailed off uncomfortably, shifting in his seat, shoulders hunched as he stirred sweetener into his coffee.
I sighed. I felt fairly sure he’d lied to me, but there was no point in pursuing it. In a way, I felt sorry for him.
Better that I found out now.
“You have to get to work early?” he asked.
I raised a brow. “I should be there by nine,” I said thinly. It was eight thirty now. “Which probably means,” I added frostily, “That I should get going, no?” I felt cold inside.
“Um…maybe,” he said. He sounded horribly awkward. I sighed.
“It was nice seeing you again.” I meant it too. It was. I lifted my cup and finished my coffee quickly. He frowned.
“Are you going?”
I sighed. “Maddox, it’s late. If I want to get to work on time—and I do—I should go right now. Thanks again,” I said.
“Uh, it was nice seeing you, Macy,” he said shyly. “I hope I can see you again?”
I was pushing back my chair. I stiffened. The retort that sprang to my lips at that comment wasn’t one I should rightly share, so I swallowed it. Made myself smile. It was a brittle, cool smile and I knew it. But what else could I do?
“Maybe,” I said. Then I gathered my handbag and my coat and walked, quickly and quietly, to the entrance.
In my car, I sat down behind the wheel and rested my arms on it. I let out a long sigh.
A tear moved slowly down my cheek.
Maddox, I thought sadly. Are you lying to me? Was this what happened the first time after all? I guess I was silly to hope.
I drove all the way to work singing loudly with the radio, trying to lift my spirits before the meeting, but all the same my vision was blurred through the mist of my tears.