I wanted to go back to her place the minute I closed shop on Friday, but I told myself to chill it out a bit.

I might have freaked her out, being as stupid as I’d been, forgetting to put on a rubber and everything.

Calling her would be better.

As I waited for Chinese to be delivered, that was exactly what I tried to do – call her.

There wasn’t any answer, but it was Friday night.

Friday night in LA. Of course, she wasn’t home. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had her on the brain – and in my blood, in my soul, in a lot of other places – I’d probably be out on the town too.

But if she was out on the town, did that mean she wasn’t thinking about me the way I was thinking about her?

“You’re going to make yourself crazy thinking about shit like that,” I told myself, kicking back with Kung Pao Chicken and a beer. It wasn’t as good as it would have been if I’d been able to get a hold of Suria, but it wasn’t a bad way to spend a night, eating Chinese and binging on a series I loved on Netflix.

I fell asleep on the couch – the life of a bachelor – and woke up early Saturday morning with a nasty taste in my mouth and a headache.

Once I’d dealt with the immediate needs of my bladder and the horrible taste left over from beer and Kung Pao, I set about cleaning my house. It hadn’t been done in a few weeks, but it was barely eight o’clock, and some part of me was already set on calling Suria as soon as the hour was decent, so I had to stay busy…or go crazy.

Eleven o’clock came and went.

I called her just before noon.

No answer.

I left a voicemail. “Why don’t you give me a call? We can maybe go out and get dinner tonight?”

There. Nice and casual.

No big deal, right?

I made a third call later that night.

It wasn’t desperate, I told myself. I was just trying to see if we had plans or not.

But when I called a fourth time on Sunday, I had to admit, even to myself, that I was getting pathetic.

The number I was calling was from her business card, and the card itself looked pretty new, so it had to be a good number, right?

The address had been right, at least.

I’d spent a good twenty minutes fucking her at that very address just two days ago.

But where was she?

It did occur to me that maybe the problem was that I’d gone to her place. Of course, she’d come to my work, but…

“Maybe you’re overthinking it, and she’s just…busy,” I mumbled. For all I knew, she was out doing…hell. I had no idea. I didn’t know how artists worked. Maybe she couldn’t get phone service for some reason. If she’d gone out of town, it was theoretically possible.

I’d give it another day, then call again and if I didn’t hear from her…well, I’d just run by her place in the morning.

And it was official.

I was getting obsessed with this girl.

Monday morning, the plan sort of went by the wayside as I found myself cruising down her street. I was just going to swing by, see if she wanted to grab a cup of coffee. That was all.

As I parked out front of the little house, I caught sight of the sign that had been buzzing in the window when I first came by on Friday.

It was off.

There weren’t any business hours posted anywhere.

I wasn’t sure when she actually opened for business, but it had been a long shot, I guessed. Not too many people kept the kind of hours mechanics did.

Just as I was getting ready to climb back into my car, the front door opened and my heart leaped up into my throat.

At least that was what it felt like – some light fluttery sensation in that region that really didn’t belong, while my chest felt crazy tight.

This woman was doing things to me. Weird, crazy things.

I kind of liked it.

But the fluttery sensation slowly faded as a slim brunette, taller than Suria, stepped out onto the porch.

She was younger too.

As she started down the sidewalk, her eyes met mine briefly then danced away. She looked back at me after a moment and hitched a backpack up on her shoulder. “Can I help you with something?” she asked.

A couple of kids walked by at that moment, and I realized they were on their way to school. I’d passed the local high school coming in, dealing with traffic clogged by parents and teachers as everybody rushed to start the day.

One of the boys snickered as he passed me. “Sure as hell can help me, baby. What’s the cost? You run cheap or what?”

Her face flamed, but she stared resolutely at me without a single acknowledgement toward the kid who’d spoken.

I thought about saying something for her but then decided against it. I wouldn’t be here when the pieces fell, so it probably wasn’t wise to wade in and fight her battles for her. “I’m looking for Suria,” I said, smiling. “Are you her sister?”

“Yes.” The hesitant smile on her face widened a little, became more real…softer too. “I am, but she’s not available right now. She had a pretty late night. She’s got a big job she’s…well, never mind. If you want to give me your name, I can text her later, let her know you came by.”

Another cluster of kids walked by, and a few more mutters and giggles broke out before one of the girls called out, “Hi, Joelle. That’s an adorable shirt.”

Fuck, kids were mean these days. I shot the group of kids a dark look, and they hesitated a little, then hurried off, still mumbling among themselves, but at least they left the girl alone. “Joelle…that’s a pretty name,” I told her, trying to distract her.

She managed a tight smile for me. “Do you want me to text her and let her know you came by?” she asked, still determinedly not looking away from my face.

I couldn’t say I blamed her. I’d dealt with some asshole kids before. I didn’t know that ignoring them was the best policy, but sometimes, it was all you had.