AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tess, wake up,” she heard right next to her ear.
Opening her eyes, Tess blinked at the man who the baby in her dreams looked like. Looking at Mathias, she wondered if the nightmare would really be her life if she stayed. Would she be able to teach her baby Russian by herself? Would she want to?
“Are you okay?” Mathias asked. He was looking at her in concern.
Shaking her head, she remembered that the baby wasn’t even born yet, so she hadn’t failed in teaching her anything. But the dream had been too vivid, too real.
Taking a deep breath, she looked around her. They were parked outside her apartment. The street was mostly empty except for the few cars of people who lived downtown. “I am fine. I must have fallen asleep.”
“You did. I thought you would rather walk upstairs than have me carry you.” His hand was still in hers, so she dropped it.
“Sorry, I must have been sleeping heavy. I usually do not sleep in cars,” she explained. Rubbing her hands over her face, she sat up straight. The dream wouldn’t diminish.
“Tess, thank you for inviting me out. It was fun,” he said. His blue eyes were focused on her, but he wasn’t smiling like he had been earlier.
She sighed. “It was, and thank you for paying. Have a nice evening.”
“You too.”
Turning, she opened the door and got out, hearing him pull away from the curb as she opened the door to her apartment building. She silently cursed herself for falling asleep on him—what a great date she was.Really smooth, Thorn. After slamming her door shut, she kicked her shoes off and went to her bedroom to change into yoga pants and a T-shirt since it was only 9:00 pm.
Tess took some files from her briefcase to the couch and sat down, opened one, and tried to look at it. Instead, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the couch. Today had been her one chance with Mathias, one chance to make him see that she was worth his time, worth getting to know. But instead, she had just managed to make him indifferent toward her. Simplyfun.
For hours, she had thought it was going well, really well. He had been so nice, like Mandy had said he could be when she had asked her for his number earlier that day. But in the end, he must have realized it was her again. Just Tess, the woman at the bank. The one who denied his loan.
Beside her, the phone rang. With nothing else to do, she answered it without looking at who it was. Without even saying hello to her sister, Ilya was already in the middle of a conversation. There was no preamble with her sister.
“Yes,” Tess agreed patiently, not bothering to remind her sister that she had no idea what Ilya was talking about. Tess lived far away from what was happening so close to Ilya, and it made her realize how much she missed being so far away.
Focus, she told herself and sat up to look at the papers again. Tess read the loan application in English and listened to her sister talking in Russian, and she was suddenly proud of herself for making it work. Maybe she wasn’t giving either task one hundred percent, but at least eighty on both was good enough for tonight.
Tess had just made a note on the paper when there was a knock on the door, causing her to jump. Closing the file folder, she got up from the couch. “I have to go,” she said, but Ilya still continued to talk.
Opening the door, she saw Mathias standing in her hallway.What was he doing here? He should be halfway home already.She waved him in, watching him untie his boots and leave them by the door. Meanwhile, her sister continued to talk.
“I have to go,” she said again, a little louder this time. He turned to look at her, and she pointed to the phone. “Ilya, I have to go.” Ilya still continued to talk.
Rolling her eyes, she saw that he was watching her. God, he was good-looking. Tess pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up on her sister, not for the first time. “Sorry, family.”
“I understand. Mine can drive me crazy also.” Mathias looked around her apartment as if he had never been there before.
“Sorry, it is a mess.” She went over to the coffee table and picked up the folders, putting them in a neat stack before sliding them into her briefcase.
“It’s not messy. There’s nothing out of place,” he replied.
Her phone rang. Glancing at it, she saw it was Ilya. Putting up one finger to Mathias, she answered it, “I told you I was hanging up.” Then she hung up again.
“Sorry,” she said again, “I thought that you would be almost home by now.”
“I’m a bit rusty at this, but I didn’t want this to end. Can we talk some more?”
“Do you want to sit?” she asked, trying to control her smile at his words. “A drink?”
“I’ll sit, but I don’t need anything. You sit,” he said as he sat on her couch, making it look small.
Sitting next to him, she breathed in his fresh scent, like the outdoors. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
“How long have you been allergic to wheat?” he asked, putting his hand on her thigh. It felt nice.
