The Journey Home(3)
Author: Kelly Elliott

“Hey there, Cale. How are you today?” she asked with a wink.

I grinned back and nodded my head slightly. “I’m doing well, Dee. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Okay! See you then!” Dee shouted out.

I walked outside, inhaling the crisp, fall air. I loved fall. It was my favorite time of year.

Looking over, I saw Jack talking to some redhead. He pulled out her hand and wrote his phone number on her wrist. I chuckled as I watched her blush and nod. Probably agreeing to call him later this evening.

I sat at the table and looked at him, shaking my head.

He walked up to me, smirking. “What the hell are you looking at?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes as I took a sip of my coffee. Setting it down, I turned around and watched the redhead walk away. I glanced back at Jack and said, “Don’t you ever get tired of playing this game?”

He pulled his head back and looked at me like he had no clue what I was talking about.

“What game?”

I raised my eyebrow. “Jack, don’t you ever think about settling down? Aren’t you tired of the dating scene?”

You’d have thought I’d just asked him to solve world hunger or something.

“No, I never get tired of it. I like my life. Hell, you’d like your life a hell of a lot more if you stopped looking for goddamn one-night-stand-Maddie. The chances of you ever finding her, Cale, are slim. Very, very, very slim. You’ve got to let it go. Let her go.” Jack shook his head. “Cale, you’ve walked away from so many girls because you’re comparing them to her. I get that it was earth-shaking, mind-boggling sex, and you felt a connection with her. But Cale, it’s time to move on.”

I took another sip of coffee and looked away from Jack as I nodded. “Yeah, I know.” I let out a sigh and said, “Looks like I’ll be telling my parents tonight about moving to Beaver Lake.”

“That’s more like it. That’s the old Cale I know. Now go flirt with that blonde who keeps hitting on you at the bar. She looks like she is begging to be fucked.”

I almost spit out my coffee as I looked around to make sure no one had heard him. He stood up and shook my hand before saying, “Good luck with Mom and Dad tonight. Take a picture of your mother when you tell her you’re moving away.”

He started laughing as he grabbed his coffee and took off toward his BMW—but not before he stopped to talk to yet another girl. I stood and grabbed my coffee and headed to my own car. I had to leave for London in two days. Another thing my mother wasn’t pleased with, even though my father asked me to go. She hated my job, since I’d sometimes be gone for weeks working. But I loved it and had no intentions of getting off the road anytime soon.

Another reason not to settle down with just anyone who came along. I stopped and turned to look back at Starbucks when the strangest feeling came over me. But I saw nothing. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I continued toward my car.

Cale, it’s time to move on.

“I DON’T KNOW why you stay friends with her, Maddie. She’s a jealous bitch. Why you can’t see that she actually wants to be you is beyond me.”

I laughed as I made my way to the entrance of Starbucks. I pulled the door open to step inside. I stopped and Monica slammed into my back as she let a very loud “Shit!” escape her mouth.

“Way to stop in the middle of the damn doorway, Maddie. Jesus, I swear!”

I looked around the Starbucks. The weirdest feeling came over me. Like there was someone here that I knew. A quick look around revealed that there was no one. I shrugged and made my way up to the counter.

“One tall caramel macchiato please,” I said with a smile.

I waited for Monica to order before I started talking. “Monica you don’t understand. Zoey is sick. She needs friends, and I’m the only friend she’s got.”

Monica rolled her eyes. “There’s a reason she only has you as a friend. She’s a bitch! Plus, I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her.”

I let out a small giggle. Zoey was a bitch. I couldn’t argue with that. But she needed me and I couldn’t abandon her.

“Hey how was the date last night?” Monica asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “You get laid?”

My mouth dropped open as I looked around the coffee shop. “Holy crap. Can you be any louder?”

Both of our drinks were called out and Monica laughed as she walked up to retrieve her iced green tea. “Yes. Yes, I could be much, much louder.”

I grabbed my drink and smiled at the laughing young girl behind the counter. We made our way out of Starbucks and started to head to one of the shops I worked for.

“The date, Maddie? You can’t get out of answering me, bitch.”

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out quickly. The smell of fall was in the air. I loved fall. “It sucked.”

“Oh Jesus. Why? And don’t say you ‘just didn’t feel a connection.’”

I looked away, taking a sip of my coffee. “Okay, I won’t.”

We walked in silence only about thirty seconds before Monica grabbed my arm. “Are you going to spill it, or what?”

“You just told me not to tell you.”

“No. I said don’t tell me the same damn thing you always tell me. Tell me he had gross, yellow, crooked teeth or that he pissed the bed or that he stunk.”

I let out a giggle. “Nope. He had perfect teeth, almost too perfect. I’m going to guess that, since he workouts regularly, he has amazing self-control therefore has a decent control of his bladder. He did come on to me and invited me back to his place, but I turned him down.”

“Ugh! Maddie, why?”

I shrugged. “He wasn’t…him.”

Monica stopped walking and hung her head.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Him. Him is what’s wrong. This guy, this one-night stand you had two years ago – a guy who, I might add, you pushed away after getting spooked by your intense feelings. This guy, Maddie, has probably moved on. I saw him that night when he walked us to the car. He was good looking, really good looking. I doubt he’s sitting at home hoping to run into your ass on the beach again.”

I took a sip of my coffee and then sighed. “I know, Monica. Believe me, I know.”

I thought back to that night. Cale was indeed handsome with a body that, to this day, made me burn with desire. He was tall and built, but not so built that he looked fake. His messy brown hair and green eyes would be burned into my memory forever.