Fourteen

Bobby

Life went on. After Cole and I had gone out that night, we hadn't seen each other in person. It had been two weeks. We messaged each other daily and some days we spoke on the phone. But the longer I was away from him, the more the pull to him seemed to fade. Life went on.

Driving to a delivery I got a text notification and smiled when I saw it was Cole.

Just checking to see how you're doing.

I waited until I pulled into the parking lot of the business I was delivering to. Hey, things are good. Work is crazy, which I guess is good. How are you?

I'm good. Glad the boss is back. I'm more than happy to just be the manager.

I laughed at that. I understood more than I could even explain. My dad had wanted me to take over this location so he could start another in Sacramento, but I was honest and told him I wasn't really cut out for that, and didn't think I was the best fit.

While he appreciated my honesty, I knew he was disappointed but not as disappointed as he'd have been if the business failed because I wasn't able to keep all the balls in the air.

I'm happy to stay an employee and do what I'm told. Not sure I'm cut out to be the boss.

I watched as he stopped and started his reply a few times. It was strange, we'd only seen each other one day, but there was a part of me that missed him. Call it instant attraction, or possibly that weird thing when you meet a stranger and feel like you've known them forever. Whatever it was I did want to see him again, but I was also afraid that same intense feeling that told me to stay with him at all costs would take me over again. Those feelings had faded, and now I thought of Cole as a friend.

Let's figure out a time we can get together. I really have missed you.

His raw honesty did strange things to me and made me realize those feelings hadn't faded nearly as much as I wanted to think they had.

When is good?

I tapped out before I had a second to think better of it.

How is Friday?

A thought hit me, and I tapped out a reply.

That sounds great. There's a carnival that's going to be outside of Woodland this weekend. We could check it out.

I had zero clue what the carnival was or if he even liked that sort of thing. But the flyer had stuck with me, and it sounded like a good place to go that had food and entertainment. Plus, it was outside so we wouldn't have any awkward silence.

That sounds fun. Send me the details and I'll meet you there.

After tapping out the directions and what time I thought would work for both of us, he replied saying he'd see me there. I glanced in the mirror and was surprised to see myself looking so happy. I guess maybe it wasn't all imagined feelings after all. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face as I collected the order from the back of the van and walked up to the business to deliver it. Today was Monday, and I found I was more anxious than I would have expected to see Cole again.

"Wonder if he's as anxious," I mumbled as I pushed the door open.

"What was that?" the owner of the small restaurant asked as I walked up to the counter.

"Nothing, I have a delivery of menus for a Carmen Alvarez."

"How did it go?" Dad asked when I walked into the print shop and handed him the paperwork from the delivery.

"Good. She was very happy."

"That's what I like to hear." Dad moved over to one of the presses that was running a big order, and after checking the ink and paper were still good, he walked back over to me. "Have you heard from lightning boy?" he asked, using the nickname he'd come up with when he couldn't remember Cole's name. He hadn't asked me for about a week. Once he realized we weren't seeing each other all the time he'd backed off. Which I appreciated.

"I asked him if he wanted to meet me at the carnival we made flyers for."

"Did you? I was wondering if you were ever going to see each other again. It sounded like you had a lot in common."

"I wasn't sure I wanted to. I love chatting with him, but when we're together—" I cleared my throat before looking at anything but Dad.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I'm just looking forward to seeing him again."

"You know, when I met your mother, it seemed there was no way we could end up together. We were from a world apart and we were both young. Neither of us could afford to fly back and forth. And this was before the age of cellphones and computers. But we made it work. We wrote each other letters."

"Real letters on real paper. You've told me this story a few times," I said and smiled at him.

"Sorry, I'm a sentimental fool. But you already know that. My point is, once I met your mother, no matter how much I tried to be her friend—I couldn't. There were too many emotions attached to her, and she made me happy."

"That's how I feel about Cole. At first, I thought I was attracted to him because we'd both shared such a strange experience, but not seeing him hasn't dimmed my feelings for him. He's a great friend, but somehow that word doesn't describe him."

"Go to the carnival and enjoy yourself. Forget about the way you met and see how you feel at the end of the night. Maybe you'll realize there wasn't as much there as you wanted there to be, or maybe you'll realize there's far more than just helping a guy who got struck by lightning." His eyes twinkled and I couldn't stop myself from grinning back at him.

"Okay, I'll see how it goes. But it's highly unlikely I can forget about the lightning."

"Do your best, son," he said and clapped me on the back. "Back to work, we got another order while you were out with that delivery."