Love's Call (12 page)

The two weeks that had passed since he’d returned home from the cruise felt more like two months.  Time seemed to pass more slowly than it ever had before. 

Before the cruise, and before meeting Liana, he hadn’t remembered it being so hard to concentrate at work.  And he hadn’t remembered being bored at home, when he wasn’t at work, the way he was now.

Liana hadn’t called, and he wondered if the note he’d slipped into her bag had somehow fallen out.  

No,
he told himself
, it was in a zippered compartment.  She had to have seen it.
And that realization made him feel worse.  If she had seen it and just decided not to call, that was an even bigger blow to his ego and his heart.  

Two long weeks of quiet had allowed him entirely too much time to think and contemplate. And he realized that his heart
had
become involved.  It was the only explanation for why he had become so attached to Liana so quickly and checked his phone repeatedly throughout the day, looking for a missed call from an unfamiliar number with a Houston area code.  But that call had never come.

Kyle sat behind the desk in his office, trying to force his mind back to the reports in front of him.  But he was finding that harder to do with each passing day, as his thoughts of his nights with Liana grew stronger and more insistent, invading every part of his life.

He heard a light knock on his door and looked up to see Owen Nelson, the company president, and Kevin Davis, the company CEO, standing in the doorway.  “Owen, Kevin, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit from the both of you? Come on in,” Kyle said, grateful to push the reports aside. It wasn’t as if he could get any work done anyway, so their arrival was a welcome distraction.

Kevin entered first, followed by Owen.  Owen closed the door shut behind them.  Kyle looked at them curiously, now wondering about the nature of their visit. They sat in the two chairs opposite Kyle, on the other side of his desk,

Kevin spoke first, “So, Kyle.  We have a proposal for you, but it’s still not official yet, so we have to keep it under wraps for now.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the desk. The suspense was killing him and he was anxious now to hear their proposal.  

“You know already that we’ve been doing extremely well with our latest expansion to Seattle,” Owen told him.

Kyle nodded.  

“Well, we’re considering another expansion, and our two potential locations are either Chicago or Houston.”

Kyle’s breath caught in his throat, and he choked.  He reached for the glass of water on his desk.

Kevin continued, “Not only are we expanding again, but we were looking for a President of this new division, and naturally, you were the first person who came to mind.”

Kyle couldn’t believe his ears.  Not only was he getting a significant promotion, but they planned to move the company to the one place he wanted to be more than anywhere else. In Houston, where Liana lived.

“Now, we want to know if you’d accept the offer, but of course we’ll give you time to think it over.  Also, if you do accept, we would like to know if you’d prefer the expansion to Houston or Chicago.”

Kyle nodded. He’d take a day or two before responding to the offer, but he already knew his answer. He would gladly accept the promotion and there was no question about which location he preferred.  Kyle smiled widely, as he shook his colleagues’ hands before they exited his office, and thanked his lucky stars for dropping an opportunity like this right in his lap.

Alyssa sat at Liana’s barstool snacking on chips and salsa. She crunched loudly on a chip and asked Liana, “So, you coming bowling with us Saturday night or not?”

“With you and Lloyd?  I’m not into third wheel dates. Besides this is your first time seeing him since you came back from the cruise.  I really don’t want to get in on that action.”

Alyssa laughed.  Liana knew her too well, and that she’d most likely be all over him to make up for the last three weeks of lost time.

“Yeah, but I’d like you to come along. You haven’t been out in a while.  I know, ‘cause every time I call you’re either out showing a client a house or sitting at home in bed, watching television.”

“And that’s the way I like it.  Some of us don’t need to go out running the streets every night, ‘Lyssa.”

“Yeah, but you’re coming with us anyway. I swear, if you didn’t have me as a friend, you’d
never
get out, girl.”

“I have a life.  Or at least enough of a life,” she continued, becoming more defensive. “Well, it’s the life that
I
want.”

Alyssa eyed her suspiciously. “Somehow I don’t believe you at all.”

“Well, it’s true.”

Alyssa dipped another chip, and pulled out a huge helping of salsa. “So, have you broken down and called Kyle yet?”

“No.  I said that I wouldn’t, and I haven’t.”

“Girl, what is wrong with you?  I thought that surely by now you would have pulled that number out of your drawer and called him.  What are you waiting on?”

“We both agreed that what happened on the
Single, Grown Cruise
ship would stay on the
Single, Grown Cruise
ship. And I meant it.”

Alyssa shook her head in pity.  “You’re one stubborn woman, you know that, right?”

Liana smiled wickedly, “Of course I know, you tell me
all
the time.”

“Damn, what did you put on him to make him even
want
to deal with your difficult ass?  I still don’t get why he left his number with you, in the first place,” Alyssa teased, and they both burst into hysterical laughter.

Alyssa recovered from their hysterics, and her face was serious as she pointed a chip at Liana. “Just make sure your
difficult ass
is at my place this Saturday at noon, understand?  Clear your schedule, whatever you gotta do.  Just be there.”

Liana smirked at Alyssa, “I’ll see.” But they both knew that Liana would be there.

Liana stepped up to Alyssa’s front porch and rang the doorbell. She sighed.  Alyssa was right, she didn’t get out enough. But bowling with her friend and her male friend wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time.  
Just try to stay positive,
she told herself.  

But it wasn’t just being a third wheel that she dreaded.  It was seeing Lloyd for the first time since the cruise.  She knew that seeing them together would conjure up old memories of her time with Kyle that she had tried to stuff down for her own protection.  She couldn’t afford to dwell on the memories and hope to bring a fantasy back to her real life, as Alyssa was so quick to do with Lloyd.  

Liana knew all too well that relationships usually didn’t have fairy tale endings in real life.  But she’d let Alyssa have her fun with her fantasy with Lloyd and go along with them, just to get out and socialize.

The door flew open, and Alyssa beamed at Liana, looking like an overly-excited teenager. She grabbed Liana by the arm and pulled her quickly inside.  She closed the door behind Liana, and Liana turned to see Lloyd in a chair in her living room.  He rose and walked over to greet her. He gave her a friendly hug. “Hey you. Long time, no see.”

“It’s good to see you again, Lloyd. How have you been?”

“Good, real good.” He placed an arm around Alyssa’s waist and kissed her cheek, “Just missing your friend here, though.”

Liana gave a forced smile and asked, “You guys ready to go?”

Alyssa rushed to her bedroom and called out over her shoulder as she breezed past them, “Just give me a minute, I need to slip into some different clothes.  I’ll be ready in a minute.”

Liana sat down on the sofa, and Lloyd returned to his spot in the chair. There was an awkward silence, as they both avoided the elephant in the room as long as they could.  Then, Liana finally got up the nerve to address it first. “How’s Kyle doing?”

Lloyd looked relieved that she’d asked and his shoulders relaxed. He smiled, and answered, “He’s been well.  Quite well, actually.”

Quite well,
she thought,
what does that mean?  
 Then her heart sunk in her chest and she chastised herself for being so silly.  She was the one who had decided not to call him, so she didn’t have the right to be upset that he’d gone home and moved on with his life--so much so that he was doing ‘quite well’. She forced another smile, hoping she could fake even herself out and be happy for him.

Liana heard a toilet flush and running water in Alyssa’s guest bathroom down the hall, from where they sat.  She leaned back in her chair, and craned her neck to try to get a good glimpse of the bathroom.
Who else was in Alyssa’s house?

Alyssa hadn’t mentioned anyone else would be coming with them.
It had better not be another one of Alyssa’s surprise blind dates, because I will head right on out of here.

The door was closed and she noticed the light at the bottom of the door go out, and the door swing open.  Her heart nearly flew out of her chest when she saw Kyle approach them--bedroom eyes and all.

Liana regained her breath, and stood there, awkward. But she didn’t know if she should go toward him, hug him, kiss him or what.  

She figured that, if anything, he’d be pissed at how she hadn’t tried to contact him at all since she’d been back.  She didn’t have to wait long to decide what to do because Kyle made it easy for her, as he pulled her into his arms and gave her a quick kiss on her lips.  When he pulled away, she was a nervous wreck, but tried to play it cool.  He held her hand in his and had yet to let it go. “Kyle, it really is good to see you.”

He smiled at her, but cocked his head to the side, studying her, to assess her sincerity. Though he’d initially been hurt that she’d avoided calling him for the past few weeks, he later realized that it was likely for reasons other than her lack of interest in dealing with him.

He knew more about Liana than she realized, and he knew that for her, this was about self-preservation.  She’d done it for years, and it had become her default method of interaction when it came to men.  But he’d hoped that soon she’d stop resisting and just let go.

“And it’s great to see you too, Lia.”  Liana’s heart fluttered when she heard him speak her nickname and heard the deep tone of his smooth voice again. She hadn’t realized, until now, just how much she’d missed that man.

***

Liana stuffed a cheese covered French fry into her mouth and Kyle did the same.  They had opted to sit out a game to share cheese fries, while they watched Alyssa and Lloyd continue, now competing against each other.

Kyle leaned back in his chair and watched Lloyd bowl a gutter ball after Alyssa’s previous strike.  He cursed under his breath and Alyssa jumped up and down, celebrating her temporary defeat over Lloyd. He smiled and playfully pointed at her. She continued to taunt him, and stuck out her tongue.

He laughed at their silly antics and turned to look at Liana.  She was watching Lloyd and Alyssa’s display as well and smiled, her dimple creasing her cheek.  He loved her smile, and had missed seeing it the past three weeks. But he couldn’t keep avoiding the topic they’d both been skating around. “So, why didn’t you ever call me?”

She whipped her head around to look at him, her eyes wide with surprise. “Huh?”

“Liana,” he spoke calmly, quietly.  “I know you found the number I left for you.”

She was quiet a beat, and then nodded. “Yes, I did,” she said, and averted her eyes down to the nearly empty basket of fries. She grabbed one and chewed it, hoping he wouldn’t expect her to say too much while she ate. No such luck.  He continued the questioning.

“Why didn’t you call?”

She held up a finger, and continued chewing the bite she held in her mouth. He waited patiently, watching her. When she’d finished, she drew in a deep breath and wiped her face and fingers with a napkin.  
There’s no getting out of this now.

“I thought we said we were keeping everything on that ship.  That’s what I was doing.”

“Well, I can tell you, that’s not really what I wanted.  I agreed only because it was what you seemed to want.  But now, I’m not so sure that’s true.  I don’t think you like playing this game either.”

“Game?!”  She was offended by his accusation. “I don’t play games.”

“But you are playing a game, Liana.  You’re pretending you don’t want to be with me, or see me, when you do.”

She bit her lip, and looked away from him.  She was quiet. There was no amount of denying she could do to make what he said any less true.  He had read her inside and out.

Kyle broke their silence. “I’m moving to Houston.”

Did I hear him right?
 Liana slowly turned to look back at him. He wasn’t smiling, laughing, or doing anything to suggest that he was joking.  She was sure he was dead serious, as he stared at her intently.

“You...you’re
what
?”

“Moving to Houston,” he repeated.

“Wh..why? When?”

“It’s a job relocation and expansion and I’ve been promoted to President over the Houston division.  I’ve arranged to finalize everything and be settled here within a month.”

Her jaw dropped and she had to tell herself to close her mouth. “You aren’t really coming here because of me, are you?”

“Not entirely.  Like I said, it’s because of my job,” he paused and then continued. “But I can’t lie and say that you didn’t have a little influence over my decision to take the position.”

He reached out and placed a hand on top of hers on the table and was glad that she didn’t pull away.  Instead, she looked up, and gave him a small smile.