work.”
He picked his pad up and walked out, wondering what the hell had come over him. It must have been the sleep deprivation.
To make matters worse, on his way back to the crew his phone rang. He pulled it out, didn’t recognize the out-of-state number, but knew who it was. It was that time of year again—Trey’s birthday had just passed and Mother’s Day was coming up.
Rather than answer, he blocked the number and continued back to work as if the last ten minutes never even happened.
He’d learn one of these days to have better taste in women.
Interested
He wasn’t married and he didn’t have a girlfriend. Divorced then. And she had to stop thinking about it.
It was probably because she hadn’t been on a date in over six months. That had to be it. It was a record for her—the woman who never went two days without being on a date if she wasn’t in a relationship. Six months was like a lifetime.
She was proud of herself. Her original goal had been one month, then two. Before she knew it, two turned to three and now here she was, six months later.
She’d used that time well. Her business thrived—she’d made more contacts, developed a business plan, bought a storefront and was moving on with her life.
All by herself. She didn’t need a man to help her. She wasn’t her mother.
Sophia had done it on her own, and she could too.
Her last straw had been before the holidays during a conversation with a friend. “Olivia, you haven’t been on a date in two months. Come out and have fun with us tonight?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got work to do.”
“You’re always working,” Melina had said in her heavy French accent while she adjusted the small black cocktail dress a little higher on her thighs. “Why do you work so hard? Why do you care? Just ask your father for some money, or your mother if you need it.”
Melina had gone to the same boarding school as Olivia. She’d never worked a day in her life and she liked to have other people do everything for her. The same way Olivia had when she first started attending the school in Switzerland.
“Don’t you want to know what it feels like to do something on your own?”
“I know what it’s like. I make the call to my father each month asking for money when I need it,” Melina had said, swishing her hair around, looking at herself from every angle to make sure she looked perfect.
“Never mind, you don’t understand.”
“Maybe not. But what I know is you’re going to call your father or your mother looking for money or help soon, anyway. Why not enjoy life now instead of stressing over it and trying to do it on your own? Girls like you and me, this is what we do. We look pretty, we find a man with money, and he gives us what we want. When we don’t have that, we ask our fathers.”
It was that last comment that burned Olivia. That no one, not even one of her closest friends, knew her well or had the faith in her to do it on her own. To stand on her own feet. To not follow in mother’s footsteps.
But now, here she was months later, still standing on her own feet, proving she could do it, if only to prove it to herself.
She didn’t need a man. She knew that now. But she wanted one. She wanted Finn. The man that was nothing like anyone she had ever dated before, or would think she’d even be attracted to. Maybe that was the appeal.
She could just ask him out for coffee or a drink. Or she could stop thinking about him and get back to work.
Men like him probably didn’t like to be asked out. They probably wanted to call all the shots. It was best to just sit back and see what happened.
***
Finn pulled the first pieces of wood from the piles he’d arranged and was marking off the measurements of the bases before cutting, when Olivia walked out, a pep to her step and a smile on her face.
She bypassed the crew and walked straight to him. “I’m going to get some lunch, is there anything I can pick up for
He picked his pad up and walked out, wondering what the hell had come over him. It must have been the sleep deprivation.
To make matters worse, on his way back to the crew his phone rang. He pulled it out, didn’t recognize the out-of-state number, but knew who it was. It was that time of year again—Trey’s birthday had just passed and Mother’s Day was coming up.
Rather than answer, he blocked the number and continued back to work as if the last ten minutes never even happened.
He’d learn one of these days to have better taste in women.
Interested
He wasn’t married and he didn’t have a girlfriend. Divorced then. And she had to stop thinking about it.
It was probably because she hadn’t been on a date in over six months. That had to be it. It was a record for her—the woman who never went two days without being on a date if she wasn’t in a relationship. Six months was like a lifetime.
She was proud of herself. Her original goal had been one month, then two. Before she knew it, two turned to three and now here she was, six months later.
She’d used that time well. Her business thrived—she’d made more contacts, developed a business plan, bought a storefront and was moving on with her life.
All by herself. She didn’t need a man to help her. She wasn’t her mother.
Sophia had done it on her own, and she could too.
Her last straw had been before the holidays during a conversation with a friend. “Olivia, you haven’t been on a date in two months. Come out and have fun with us tonight?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got work to do.”
“You’re always working,” Melina had said in her heavy French accent while she adjusted the small black cocktail dress a little higher on her thighs. “Why do you work so hard? Why do you care? Just ask your father for some money, or your mother if you need it.”
Melina had gone to the same boarding school as Olivia. She’d never worked a day in her life and she liked to have other people do everything for her. The same way Olivia had when she first started attending the school in Switzerland.
“Don’t you want to know what it feels like to do something on your own?”
“I know what it’s like. I make the call to my father each month asking for money when I need it,” Melina had said, swishing her hair around, looking at herself from every angle to make sure she looked perfect.
“Never mind, you don’t understand.”
“Maybe not. But what I know is you’re going to call your father or your mother looking for money or help soon, anyway. Why not enjoy life now instead of stressing over it and trying to do it on your own? Girls like you and me, this is what we do. We look pretty, we find a man with money, and he gives us what we want. When we don’t have that, we ask our fathers.”
It was that last comment that burned Olivia. That no one, not even one of her closest friends, knew her well or had the faith in her to do it on her own. To stand on her own feet. To not follow in mother’s footsteps.
But now, here she was months later, still standing on her own feet, proving she could do it, if only to prove it to herself.
She didn’t need a man. She knew that now. But she wanted one. She wanted Finn. The man that was nothing like anyone she had ever dated before, or would think she’d even be attracted to. Maybe that was the appeal.
She could just ask him out for coffee or a drink. Or she could stop thinking about him and get back to work.
Men like him probably didn’t like to be asked out. They probably wanted to call all the shots. It was best to just sit back and see what happened.
***
Finn pulled the first pieces of wood from the piles he’d arranged and was marking off the measurements of the bases before cutting, when Olivia walked out, a pep to her step and a smile on her face.
She bypassed the crew and walked straight to him. “I’m going to get some lunch, is there anything I can pick up for
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