Shena’s head was spinning as she drove home. She looked in her rear-view mirror and saw that Derek was right behind her. She sighed to herself. She had told him they could talk at her place because she didn’t want to bring attention to themselves in the parking lot of their job, but as she got closer to her exit she was doubting herself. At this point, she was going to have to at least hear whatever else he had to say since she had invited him to her place. Stupid, Shena thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. She was just as irritated with herself at this point as she was with him.

            They talked for most of the night. Shena was cautious and admitted that if they moved forward she probably would be for quite some time. Derek was not going to be easily dissuaded and expressed his intention to stick it out. That night, he shared more details about how things had been back at home. They were all struggling with his father’s unexpected passing, and last week had been especially difficult as they faced their first Father’s Day without him. Shena’s heart softened, to the point where she actually felt bad for not reaching out to him last week. She chastised herself silently for not being more considerate and held his hand as he quietly talked through his grief.

            They woke up tangled up in each other on her small couch. As they both showered and got ready for the day, she thought about how close she felt to him now. She was still cautious, but willing to give him a chance. She finally told him so while they walked downstairs to grab breakfast from a cafe. Derek broke out into a huge grin and stopped to kiss her in the middle of the sidewalk. Shena didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but she felt lighter and happier than she had been in months.

Derek did his best to ease Shena’s fears and keep her guard down. They spent most of their time together throughout July and August. She met his friends, and they loved her. He met her friends and even got the stamp of approval from Shena’s best friend, Erica. Things were going so well, that Shena finally stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop. She started to doubt that decision when she got a cryptic text from him one day at work.

We need to talk.

She looked across the store to his department. He was staring at her as her phone buzzed again.

Not here, though.

            Shena agreed to go to lunch with him 30 minutes later at a Chinese restaurant down the street. Her stomach was in knots. He had left work five minutes before her, and was already seated when she walked in. He had the biggest smile on his face when Shena walked in, which only furthered her confusion.

“I got an interview!” he said excitedly.

“An interview?” Shena asked, still confused. “That’s what that text was about?”

“Yeah, what did you think it was about?” Derek asked. “I didn’t want to talk about it there, but I wanted to tell you right away.” He paused, before adding, “I know it’s going to be different for us because we won’t see each other every day like we do now, but we’re together now. We’ll still be going out and spending time together.”

“No, it’s not that… I just got this weird feeling when you texted me. Like something was very wrong,” Shena started to explain then changed her mind. She didn’t want to put a dark cloud over his excitement. “But never mind all that. I’m excited for you, D!” Shena got up to hug him.

            Shena helped Derek revamp his resume, and even helped him prepare for the interview by researching the company and doing mock interviews with him. By the end of the week, she was confident that he would get the job. The night before his interview, Derek had come by after work but was planning to stay at his mother’s place. As they said their goodbyes, Shena had a soft smile on her face.

“What are you thinking about?” Derek asked as he held her against him.

“That we make a great team,” Shena answered.

Derek smiled and kissed her on the forehead before opening the door. He paused before walking out and asked, “You know I love you, right?” He flashed his smile and was gone before Shena could even open her mouth to reply.  

            Shena was still on cloud nine the next morning at work. By early afternoon, she was itching to go on lunch so that she could call Derek and find out how the interview went. As if she had summoned him with her thoughts, he walked through the doors of the office supply store. He was still dressed in his suit and tie, and she watched as her female coworkers blushed or lit up whenever he threw a glance or smile their way as he walked towards the offices in the back. She shook her head and smiled to herself, as she waited for him to come back out. As it turned out, Derek had been offered a job on the spot and they needed him to start pretty soon. He had just spoken to their General Manager and, with his blessing, resigned without a two-week notice. He would help them sort things out over the weekend, but that would be it.

“We’ll celebrate as soon as I get back,” Shena said. She had the weekend off and was going on a girls’ trip.

“Of course,” Derek said. He squeezed her hand before walking out, “I’ll see you.”

            The weekend had its ups and downs. Shena enjoyed her time with her friends, but they had wanted to hear all about Derek which kept drawing her attention to the fact that he wasn’t being very responsive to her texts. By the time she got home, she was anxious to see him and celebrate his new job like they had talked about. She called him a few times that Monday and Tuesday morning and received no answer. She was worried and had no idea how to find out if he was okay. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon she received a text:

I’m so sorry. There was a family emergency over the weekend, and I had to fly out-of-town. I should have called you, there’s just been so much going on. I’m finally about to get some rest, but I’ll call you when I can. I’ll be back by the end of the week. Hopefully.

Shena wasn’t happy with the explanation, and she was still worried about him, but there wasn’t much she could do. She didn’t want to bother him while he was trying to handle an emergency.

            The end of the week came and went. Shena had texted Derek a few times and had only received vague responses. By the middle of the next week, she didn’t know if she was feeling more anger or worry, but she knew she wouldn’t be satisfied until they spoke to each other. She was tired of trying to decipher his texts. Shena sighed as she walked into the administrative office at work to grab some supplies and start her shift. All of her coworkers seemed to be more talkative than usual, and there was a general sense of excitement in building. A few girls were in the office holding lilac envelopes and gushing over whatever was inside. They finally noticed Shena on the other side of the office and came rushing over, smiling.

“These got delivered to the store today. There was one for just about everyone, but you can see mine instead of searching through the box,” Ashley said as she shoved the envelope in Shena’s face.

Curious, Shena took the envelope and pulled out an invitation which read:

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Vanessa James and Derek Granger, to be held on November 12, 2017.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

To Be Continued.

Written By: SM Grady

© 2018 SM Grady