First Sight (30 page)

“I know;
it
’
s been a few weeks, right?  How was that retreat that you
and
Marissa
went on?”

I started to tell
her about
last week’s activities and
all
the crazy tasks that we’d done, culminating with my first zip
-
lining experience.

“Wow, that sounds really intense,” she said, unrolling her purple yoga mat
.

I unfurled my blue mat next to hers
and slid off my shoes
.  “Yeah, it really was. 
I was scared to death some of the time, but it was actually pretty fun overall. 
It felt weird going back to work
though
after spending so much time
together
. 
I got to know
everyone
so much better,
outside the office
,
and
then suddenly we were back to the old routine again. 
It seemed like everything was
just off-kilter or something
.”

“Huh.”  She looked thoughtful.  “I guess it’s kind of like when you come back from a vacation or something and everything just seems
strange
.
  You’ve been off doing other things, but nothing has really changed.
”

“Yeah,
that’s exactly it
,” I agreed.

“And how was Travis?” she asked with a grin on her face.

I couldn’t help but sm
ile as she mentioned his name.

“
See, you’re
lighting up already
just thinking about him
,” she laughed.

“Have you been talking to
Marissa
?” I
asked
jokingly.

“
Marissa
?” she asked with a laugh. 
“No, why?”

“Oh, she ha
s
her own theories,” I said with a sigh.
 
“Never
mind.”

“Well go on,”
Emily
said, giving me a nudge. 
“Spill!”

“
All right, all right.
 
Travis
…w
as great actually.  He was in my group both days of the
retreat,
we spent every day together…
.”

“Oh really?
  That sounds promising.”

“I don’t know;
it was great
then
.
”
I frowned, remembering our strange encounter earlier.
  One moment he’d been following me into the conference room to make sure I was okay, and a few hours later he’d blown me off in the hallway, not eating lunch with any of us.

“So what’s wrong?”

“
Oh, h
e was
just
acting really weird today.  He usually has lunch with
us
, and
this afternoon
he totally blew me off.”
  I explained what had happened in the hallway and how he’d never replied to the
email
I’d sent
about
meeting for
lunch
.

“Maybe he was just busy and had to work through lunch or something.”

“Maybe…
”
I said, hesitating as
I
considered that
.
  I didn’t have much time to mull
it
over though, because the instructor was soon
standing
at the front of the classroom, leading us in a few stretching exercises.
  The next hour flew by, and before I knew it I was saying goodbye to
Emily
and getting ready to head home.

I got back to my apartment just after 7:00.  It was dark out, and I flipped on the light switch as soon as I walked in, the room immediately filling with warm light.  I hadn’t bothered opening the blinds this morning, and it was just as well, because
the sun had already gone down
. 
I
dropped my gym bag and purse down on the floor in my bedroom
and hopped in the shower.  I hadn’t bothered changing out of my Pilates clothes at the gym.  Sometimes it was just easier to
shower and get changed
at home.

I decided that I wouldn’t be going out again anytime tonight and put on my pajamas.  They were a purple satiny pair from Victoria’s Secret
,
and for a moment
,
I thought that it was ironic that here I was
wearing something cute to bed
, yet no one
was going
to see me in them.  I smiled to myself, thinking that
that
was just as well.
  It’s not like I was dating anyone now to begin with.

I debated what to make for dinner and finally decided on a quick stir-fry.  I pulled some vegetables and chicken from the refrigerator. 
As the
oil was heating in the frying pan
,
I chopped up an onion, some mushrooms, and bell peppers.  I added a little teriyaki sauce as I mixed everything together in the pan, and soon a mouth-watering aroma was filling the room.
  Carrying my plate into the living room, I sat down on my sofa to watch TV as I ate.  A rerun of
Friends
was on, and I found myself laughing at the familiar plotline.

After I ate, I carried
my plate back into the kitchen.  I noticed there was a missed call
on my cell phone
, but I didn’t recognize the number
.
  The
y
hadn’t left a message, so I went back into the living room and settled
in
to relax for the rest of the evening.
 
I had trouble falling asleep
that night
, and I wasn’t sure if
I was still wound up from Pilates or if it
was
just because I had a lot
on my mind.  I felt a little anxious about going to work the next day, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what was wrong.
  After tossing and turning for an hour, I eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

***

The next morning
,
I was a few minutes late getting to the office, and
I
spotted
Elizabeth
,
Marissa
, and Travis
as
I walked in
to our building
. 
Marissa
had just gotten to work, like me,
and
was carrying a bag lunch along with her purse. 
Elizabeth
and Travis
looked like they were
heading out
, probably to get coffee
. 
They were all laughing about something
, and I smiled as I approached them.
  I could see
Marissa
waving her arms animatedly, and
it seemed like she was in the middle of telling them a story—probably something to do with her latest guy, I thought wryly.

“Hi!” I said,
waving as I walked up
.  “What’s so funny?”

Elizabeth
waved hello as I approached, and
Marissa
was still in fits of laughter. 
Travis’s back had been to the door,
but
he turned to
see who was coming
.
 
Marissa
started to explain whatever they’d be
en
talking about, but was giggling too much to continue. 
Elizabeth
was laughing as well, but
Travis
,
however
,
seemed to s
tiffen
slightly when he realized it was me. 
I met his gaze and
watched as he looked at me in stony silence.
H
is eyes,
which
usually
were
so warm, looked cold. 
“I should get going,” he said abruptly
, before turning
and
walk
ing
toward t
he
door.

I
watch
ed
him
leave
,
feeling
puzzled.
 
“Okay,” I said
,
spinning
back around to
Elizabeth
and
Marissa
and holding my hands up in confusion
.  “You both saw that, right?  He
is
mad at me.”

“Yeah, I
did see
that,”
Elizabeth
replied
,
looking confused herself
. 
“That’s really unlike him.”

“Why is he mad at you?”
Marissa
asked.

“I seriously have no idea,” I said,
suddenly feeling
exasperated.
  “I didn’t do or say anything. 
We were all having fun at happy hour, right? 
He drove us home; everything was fine
yesterday morning
. 
Then
all of a sudden
, right before lunch, he basically stopped speaking to me
.”

Elizabeth
nodded,
eyes narrowing as she appeared to be thinking something over,
but she didn’t say anything else.

“Well
,
apparently you did something to
tick him off,”
Marissa
said.

“
Yeah, t
oo bad I can’t remember what it was,” I
said sarcastically.  “Besides, we’re not in high school.  If he’s mad about something he should just tell me, not give me the cold shoulder.”

“He’ll
get over it,”
Marissa
announced, trying to lighten the mood.
  “Let’s go upstairs.
  I want to show you this
d
ress
online
that I
just
ordered.
”  I nodded, decidi
ng that it was probably not worth wasting any more time discussing
it
with them.

“I’ll see you two later,”
Elizabeth
said.  “I still want to get some coffee.  Maybe I’ll see your buddy on the way there.”

“Yeah,” I said, rolli
ng my eyes slightly, “
maybe he’ll enlighten you on what
exactly
his problem is
.
”
 
Marissa
and I headed to the elevators while
Elizabeth
went the other way
.
A
lthough I was still
miffed
,
I
was relieved
that
the others had seen it
,
too, and
I
knew that I
wasn’
t
just imagining things
.

The deadline for our project continued to loom on the horizon, and
after a rather uneventful weekend,
I’d been putting in extra hours at
the office
each night.  It was such a stressful
week
that I hardly had time to
talk
with
anyone
, yet alone deal with whatever was going on with Travis.
 
He
persisted in
barely speak
ing
to me
but
was perfectly friendly with
Marissa
and
Elizabeth
.  I didn’t have the slightest idea why he was angry, but I was so annoyed by his behavior that I didn’t even attempt to find out.  If he wanted to behave in such a childish manner, then I saw no reason to seek him out to
learn
what was wrong.  Certainly any adult would have just spoken to me directly
,
not ignored me whenever I happened to walk into a room.

I
had
arranged a
team
meeting for us
all
to
discuss
the final stages of the assignment. 
The large conference room
had been booked, so
Elizabeth
, Travis,
Marissa
,
and I
were stuck
meeting
in the
small
,
windowless
conference room
that afternoon
.  It was sparsely furnished,
with a round table
that seated four
and a mostly empty bookshelf shoved up against the wall
.  Travis was the only one there
when I arrived
. 
He was leaning back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the table
.
The sleeves of his evergreen shirt were pushed up, revealing his muscular forearms. 
H
e
glanced up
a
s soon
as I opened the door
, and his
dark eyes met mine
, but
it seemed like
they
narrowed slightly
as he realized that it was me.
  The tension was evident on his face, his jaw taught.  He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else right then
.