Love's Fate (Love Trilogy #1) (5 page)

I probably wouldn’t have even remembered that day at all if it hadn’t turned into such a tragic nightmare right in front of my eyes. I had watched as a young family was killed by a falling metal sculpture. It was a freak accident.

Immediately my mother pulled me away from the gruesome scene
trying to shelter me. My father
refused to let us even discuss what had happened. It was his opinion that avoidance was the best way to handle any situation that might involve emotion. So we never spoke of what happened that day. I wasn’t even allowed to watch any news reports for the next few weeks, just in case there might be some mention of the event that could lead to a conversation.

I had always wondered though what had happened to the little girl. Just before the massive structure crashed down on the family I saw her father attempt to throw her to safety. Had she survived? Or had she died with her parents that day? I don’t know why it mattered, but for some reason I had always wondered.

I shuddered at the memory. I don’t know what had made me think of it now. I hadn’t thought of that horrible
day for so long. I tried not to
. It was one of those terrible memories that you wished you could forget, but knew you never would. Thinking of it now made me realize how much that one day had shaped the rest of my life.

It wasn’t just the horror of watching people die that I remembered. Even before they died, they had fascinated me. The couple had seemed so much in love, such a contrast to the way my parents behaved. I allowed myself to admit that it was that brief moment of happiness that I witnessed just before their lives ended that had shaped my expectations for love. And it was the beauty of the woman I had seen that day so many years ago that had set the standard that no one had ever been able to live up to. No one until
her
.

How strange that everything seemed interwoven all of a sudden. What was the connection between the beautiful waitress and that horrible childhood memory? Why did one automatically make me think of the other? Then I thought of her emerald eyes.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Everywhere I went I looked for him, but he wasn’t there. Had I imagined him?

No, I knew he was real, and he was out there somewhere.

I may have been in shock that night, but I was not crazy. He had been there, and he had looked at me with the same intensity that I had felt. But if that really was the case, why hadn’t he come over to talk to me? If he was at all interested in me, why hadn’t he come back to the coffee shop?

I was full of questions that nagged at my mind constantly. I could hardly think of anything else. Why did this man consume my every thought? What was it about him?

To make matters worse, my favorite DJ never came back on the air. It was the strangest coincidence and briefly I had wondered if my mystery man and the DJ could possibly be the same person. But I knew that was crazy. Just because I hadn’t seen him didn’t mean he wasn’t around. Or maybe he wasn’t even a student here. He could have just been visiting.

He did look a little older than most of the guys around campus. I hadn’t seen him before that night, and I hadn’t seen him since. Yes, he must have just been visiting.

Although that explanation made sense, I didn’t like it. That meant the chance of seeing him again was little if any. After a few months I finally stopped looking for him around every corner.

I knew there could be a million reasons why my DJ was not working for that radio station anymore. Maybe he had gotten a job with a different station, a better time slot. I randomly searched through other stations every chance I had, listening for his voice, but after a few months I gave up on that too.

They were both gone. I didn’t know either of them, and yet here I was feeling broken hearted and abandoned. I knew it was completely irrational. Why should not seeing someone I didn’t know make me sad? Nothing was making sense anymore.

Time was flying by now. It was time for me to choose a major. I had never planned that far. I had been so focused on just getting here, that I never thought of what I would do after college. Then when I finally got here I was just enjoying myself so much, too happy to think about anything changing. But now it seemed like everything was changing. I was finished with all my basic courses; I had to pick a major. I had to think about life after college.

My happy routine no longer existed. I began to dread going to work at the coffee shop, because no matter how hard I tried not to look for him that was the place where I expected to see him the most. Every night was disappointing. I would come home feeling rejected only to be reminded that one of the few things that used to comfort me was no longer there anymore either. I stopped listening to the radio all together.

I finally decided on a business degree. It was practical. Wherever I ended up in life I figured I could probably use it. I still hadn’t decided what exactly I planned on doing after I graduated, and I only had a little time left to figure it out. I was already a junior, by the fall semester I would be a senior and with all my basic credits met all I needed were my business courses. I was almost finished with school.

I took classes straight through the summer to keep my fulltime status so I could continue living in the dorm. It was lonely, because Amy had gone home for the summer like most other students and the dorms were unnaturally quiet. I spent all my free time at the beach, just watching the waves. It was comforting. I didn’t feel lonely there.

I was so relieved when the fall semester started in and Amy was back. Her hair was cut into a new style and she had a whole suitcase full of new clothes that she’d bought while traveling with her parents. She had a million stories to tell me about how she’d spent her summer. It was nice to have her energy around me again. It was hard to be sad when she was around. But I didn’t get to see her as much as I would have liked.

Now that we were both taking upper level classes we didn’t have any classes together. She was a fashion major. She had also started a new job as a waitress for a catering service and our hours were so different that we were rarely home at the same time.

Maybe it was because of the loneliness I felt but whe
n Jared asked me out for the
millionth time I finally said yes. Jared was a business major as well, so we had a lot of classes together. I think he planned it that way, though I’m not exactly sure how he pulled it off. He was starting to grow on me. He was a nice guy and I felt bad seeing how disappointed he looked every time I turned him down.

“So where is he taking you?” Amy asked excitedly

“I’m not sure” I answered “H
e just said he’d pick me up at seven.
”

I hadn’t thought to ask where we were going.

“Are you wearing that?” Amy pointed to the jeans I was wearing

“What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” I asked looking at myself in the mirror.

This was how I always dressed.

“What if he’s taking you somewhere nice?”

I hadn’t thought of that.

“You don’t really think he’d do that, do you?” I asked nervously.

I hadn’t been nervous until that moment; it was only Jared after all. But now the thought of being taken somewhere nice where I would be totally underdressed completely stressed me out.

“Well, he’s only been waiting for you to go out with him for like 6 months now, so it’s very likely that he’s planning something special.” She said this with a twinkle in her eye, like it was a good thing.

I was completely terrified now. I just stared at my reflection.

“I don’t have anything else.” I said mostly to myself.

“I can take care of that!” Amy smiled, and I knew I was in trouble.

She ran to her closet and began sifting through her clothes.

I felt like a life-sized Barbie doll. She had me try on a dozen different outfits before she found one that she approved of. It was an emerald green silk dress, and I had to admit the color matched my eyes almost perfectly.

I liked the color, but I never wore dresses and I wasn’t exactly comfortable wearing one now. I felt nearly naked the way the thin silk clung to my body, and the spaghetti straps and scooped neck line left me feeling very exposed. To make matters worse she insisted that I wear a pair of high-heeled shoes. I had to walk circles around our small room to practice walking in them. She laughed as I stumbled around, but promised me that I would do fine. I was not so confident.

She fixed my hair for me and even helped me put a little make-up on. She was obviously enjoying herself immensely. I was regretting having told her about the date.

When she finished I looked at myself in the mirror and my mouth fell open. She had definitely chosen the right major. She had a real talent for fashion! I looked amazing, I barely recognized myself. But I was definitely out of my comfort zone, all dressed up like this, and then a scary thought occurred to me. What if I was overdressed?

“Well what do you think?” she asked impatiently as I stared in the mirror.

“I, um, don’t know. I mean the dress is beautiful, and the hair and everything. But what if he doesn’t take me somewhere nice?” I looked at her nervously, imagining how embarrassed I’d be if he showed up at my door tonight in a pair of jeans.

“Trust me.” She said with a knowing smile.

I should have known Dan would have already filled her in on Jared’s plans for the evening.

“Where is he taking me?” I asked eyeing her suspiciously.

She just shrugged nonchalantly.

“How should I know?” she smiled at me and winked.

Then I heard the knock on the door. I had butterflies in my stomach. I was definitely out of my comfort zone!

When I answered the door I was grateful for Amy’s makeover. Jared stood there in a suit and tie, looking surprisingly handsome. His light brown hair was perfectly combed without a hair out of place. His suit perfectly pressed. I knew he was a good looking guy, I had just never seen him dressed up before, so I was little surprised at just how good he looked, very sophisticated. He must have been thinking the same thing about me. He didn’t say anything for a minute, just stared at me with wide eyes.

“You… look… amazing.” He finally stammered after a minute.

I blushed at his compliment.

“So do you.” I said staring at my feet.

It was weird how self-conscious I felt with him all of a sudden. This was just Jared after all, the same guy I’d been dodging for the last 6 months. The same guy who sat next to me in nearly every class I had this semester. It must have been the fancy clothes that were making me so uncomfortable.

“Shall we” he said offering me his arm.

I looked back at Amy and she nodded at me encouragingly with a huge smile across her face. I hooked my arm through his, grateful that I’d be able to use him to help me balance in these ridiculous shoes.

When we got to his car I was surprised to see it was a BMW. I had never rode in a BMW before. He opened my door for me, and I blushed again as I slid onto the leather seat. Everything felt so formal.

The restaurant had valet parking, so we were able to pull right up to the front door. I was thankful for the short walk. I hated these shoes!

Jared had made reservations so we were taken directly to a table. I had never been inside a restaurant so nice before. I looked around at the lavish decorations and again was glad Amy had talked me out of my jeans.

As I looked at the menu I had to hold my breath not to gasp when I saw the prices. I searched for the cheapest thing I could find and even that was more than I had ever paid for a single meal.

After we ordered we began talking about our mutual classes and I was grateful for the familiarity of the topic. I began to relax as we talked and almost felt silly over how nervous I had been earlier. It was just Jared after all.

Our evening went smoothly, the conversation flowed well, and I was very impressed with the great effort Jared had put into the evening.

“I hope you had a good time tonight” Jared said as he drove me home.

“I had a great time!” I answered honestly “Thank you so much”

He smiled at my answer.

“You seemed so uncomfortable when I picked you up, I was worried you were regretting coming out with me tonight” The tone in his voice told me he was still a little worried about that.

“I regretted letting Amy play dress up with me.” I assured him.

“She did a great job.” He said smiling.

“Thanks, but next time let
’
s go for something a little more casual, okay?”

“So there will be a next time?” he asked hopefully.

“Only if you want to go out again” I qualified, realizing I had assumed he did.

“Of course!” he exclaimed “Tomorrow night too soon?”

“I have to work,” I laughed “but I’m off again Thursday”

“Thursday it is” he said triumphantly as we pulled to a stop in front of the dorms.

He walked me to the door, and I got a little nervous as we stopped to say goodbye. I hadn’t been on many first dates before and never one this formal, I was afraid he might expect a goodnight kiss. I wasn’t ready for that yet. I had a good time with Jared tonight, but I still wasn’t sure if my feelings for him were romantic. I needed more time.