“I’ll call you when the dust settles.” She walked from the office in purposeful strides.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” Karen called after her. “I mean, you don’t think you’re being a little rash?”
Jamie saw Mrs. Starkey watching her from her corner office and relished the quizzical look on her angular face. “Have a nice day,” she called back to no one in particular, letting the door slam shut behind her.
She was home before ten o’clock. She’d thought of stopping at the Breakers, then thought better of it. If Brad wanted to get in touch with her, he knew exactly where to find her. Besides, his premature departure had pretty much said it all where she was concerned. And who could blame him? It was bad enough to sleep with a man on your first date, but she hadn’t even waited that long. Their first
encounter
, for God’s sake. “What’s the matter with you?” Jamie was muttering as she walked up the outside steps to her apartment. She waved at a stooped old man at the far end of the hall. The man stared back at her, as if he had no idea who she was. And maybe he didn’t, Jamie realized, hearing her stomach rumble, and knowing she had nothing in her place to eat but leftover pizza. She should have picked up some cereal and milk. Maybe even some eggs. A cheese omelet sounded awfully good right now. With a toasted sesame seed bagel and a cup of strong, black coffee, she thought, as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted teasingly down the corridor toward her. What a shame she’d never gotten to know her neighbors. She could have stopped in for a friendly cup.
Except she didn’t have any friends. And she didn’t have a job. “And I don’t have any coffee,” she wailed, unlocking her front door and stepping inside her living room.
The smell of coffee rushed to embrace her, and for a minute Jamie thought she’d wandered into the wrong apartment. Except that the red, secondhand sofa her sister had passed on to her after she’d redecorated was still sitting against the far wall, at right angles to the black leather chair she’d bought on sale at Sears, and her mother’s expensive glass table was still littered with the latest batch of fashion magazines.
So, this
was
her apartment. And the handsome man emerging from her tiny galley kitchen and walking toward her, a mug of steaming black coffee in his outstretched hand, was the man she’d spent the night making mad passionate love to, and here he was, still anticipating her every want and need, and so obviously, this had to be a dream. In fact, the entire morning hadbeen a dream, a dream that was just now starting to get good, and so naturally, this was the moment she’d probably wake up, which was the last thing in the world she wanted to do. Please don’t let me wake up, she was thinking as he placed the coffee in her hand and bent to kiss her softly on the lips.
“You came back,” he said, kissing her again.
He feels so real, Jamie thought. He sounds so real. “So did you,” she heard herself say, her voice pushing her out of her fantasy and into the real world.
Brad Fisher was still there.
“I woke up early and thought I’d surprise you with one of my special breakfasts,” he told her, nodding in the general direction of the kitchen. “But the cupboards were pretty bare, so I hightailed it over to Publix to pick up some bagels.…”
“You got bagels?”
“Thought I’d make it back before you left for work, but my car broke down, and I had to get it towed, and by the time I got back, you’d already left.”
“You got bagels?”
He smiled. “Somebody sounds hungry.”
Jamie stumbled toward the sofa, sank down on the pillow, took a long sip of her coffee. It was the best coffee she’d ever tasted. “How’d you get in?” she asked.
Brad shrugged. “Door was unlocked.”
“I forgot to lock the door?”
“Apparently.”
“First I forget to set the alarm clock, then I forget to lock the door. My
“You’re sure you want to do this?” Karen called after her. “I mean, you don’t think you’re being a little rash?”
Jamie saw Mrs. Starkey watching her from her corner office and relished the quizzical look on her angular face. “Have a nice day,” she called back to no one in particular, letting the door slam shut behind her.
She was home before ten o’clock. She’d thought of stopping at the Breakers, then thought better of it. If Brad wanted to get in touch with her, he knew exactly where to find her. Besides, his premature departure had pretty much said it all where she was concerned. And who could blame him? It was bad enough to sleep with a man on your first date, but she hadn’t even waited that long. Their first
encounter
, for God’s sake. “What’s the matter with you?” Jamie was muttering as she walked up the outside steps to her apartment. She waved at a stooped old man at the far end of the hall. The man stared back at her, as if he had no idea who she was. And maybe he didn’t, Jamie realized, hearing her stomach rumble, and knowing she had nothing in her place to eat but leftover pizza. She should have picked up some cereal and milk. Maybe even some eggs. A cheese omelet sounded awfully good right now. With a toasted sesame seed bagel and a cup of strong, black coffee, she thought, as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted teasingly down the corridor toward her. What a shame she’d never gotten to know her neighbors. She could have stopped in for a friendly cup.
Except she didn’t have any friends. And she didn’t have a job. “And I don’t have any coffee,” she wailed, unlocking her front door and stepping inside her living room.
The smell of coffee rushed to embrace her, and for a minute Jamie thought she’d wandered into the wrong apartment. Except that the red, secondhand sofa her sister had passed on to her after she’d redecorated was still sitting against the far wall, at right angles to the black leather chair she’d bought on sale at Sears, and her mother’s expensive glass table was still littered with the latest batch of fashion magazines.
So, this
was
her apartment. And the handsome man emerging from her tiny galley kitchen and walking toward her, a mug of steaming black coffee in his outstretched hand, was the man she’d spent the night making mad passionate love to, and here he was, still anticipating her every want and need, and so obviously, this had to be a dream. In fact, the entire morning hadbeen a dream, a dream that was just now starting to get good, and so naturally, this was the moment she’d probably wake up, which was the last thing in the world she wanted to do. Please don’t let me wake up, she was thinking as he placed the coffee in her hand and bent to kiss her softly on the lips.
“You came back,” he said, kissing her again.
He feels so real, Jamie thought. He sounds so real. “So did you,” she heard herself say, her voice pushing her out of her fantasy and into the real world.
Brad Fisher was still there.
“I woke up early and thought I’d surprise you with one of my special breakfasts,” he told her, nodding in the general direction of the kitchen. “But the cupboards were pretty bare, so I hightailed it over to Publix to pick up some bagels.…”
“You got bagels?”
“Thought I’d make it back before you left for work, but my car broke down, and I had to get it towed, and by the time I got back, you’d already left.”
“You got bagels?”
He smiled. “Somebody sounds hungry.”
Jamie stumbled toward the sofa, sank down on the pillow, took a long sip of her coffee. It was the best coffee she’d ever tasted. “How’d you get in?” she asked.
Brad shrugged. “Door was unlocked.”
“I forgot to lock the door?”
“Apparently.”
“First I forget to set the alarm clock, then I forget to lock the door. My
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