Katie's Glimpse (The Glimpse Series) (13 page)

When Thursday rolled
around, I was ready to get back to my life. I felt okay. Well, no more pain at
least. I’d spent the day before in class and gave my apartment a good cleaning.
Levi had sent me a text asking how I felt, and I replied that I was back to normal.
His response was a short “That’s good.” and that was the end of the
conversation. I didn’t hear from him again. I tried not to think about it or
let it bother me, but it did anyway. I had to admit, I enjoyed spending time
with him, even though I knew I shouldn’t.

I opened the door to
the office and was pleased to see it wasn’t very busy. Sydney was on the phone
and gave me a smile and a wave as I joined her behind the counter. She must
have been talking to her husband because she practically glowed. I smiled as I
watched her caress her swollen belly, even though the sweet image caused a
spark of sadness in my heart. She said goodbye and hung up. She was grinning,
and I couldn’t help but ask why.

“Zach is taking me
out on a date tonight. We’re going to that fancy restaurant out by the lake,”
she squealed, barely able to contain her excitement. I was about to join in on
the merriment until I saw her smile fall and her face fill with what looked
like distress. “But now I’ve got to buy a new dress. I’m not sure that I’ll find
anything nice enough that comes in tent size.”

I took her hands in
mine and looked into her eyes as I spoke, “I know your husband will think you look
beautiful in whatever you wear. I saw the way you looked when you were on the
phone with him. It’s obvious how much you love him, and I bet he loves you even
more.”

She smiled and squeezed
my hands. “You’re right. Thanks for reminding me,” she replied before releasing
me hands and grabbing her purse to leave. As she left the office, her smile
back in place, I wondered what it would feel like to still be so in love after
five years of marriage. I felt the same old sadness begin to bubble up again
and shook my head. I needed to stop daydreaming because I was never going to
find out.

I heard someone
clear their throat behind me. I turned to see Levi leaning against the wall.
How
long has he been standing there? I hope not long enough to notice me mooning over
something I would never have.

“Hi, Levi. How are
you?”

 He smiled tightly.
“I’m okay.”

I noticed a look of
uncertainty on his face. “Is something wrong?”

 “Nah, it’s just
been a busy day.”

 “Uh, okay,” I
replied, smiling weakly.

He watched me for a
second more. “Have a good rest of the day, Katie,” he said, before walking
away.

 “You too,” I
murmured to myself. Something was bothering him. I didn’t know what it was, but
I could tell it concerned me.
Crap! Maybe with all my recent drama, he is
thinking of firing me.
I couldn’t blame him, though. I was a mess most of
the time. I decided the best thing for me was to try and do some damage
control. I really liked my job and if I was being honest with myself, I really
liked him too.

I didn’t get a
chance to plead my case to him during the afternoon because we were swamped. I
figured I would just have to catch him before I left. Nervously, I waited on my
last customer five minutes before closing time. As soon as he was gone, I
grabbed my purse and made my way to Levi’s office, but he wasn’t there. I hustled
on to the break room but only saw Todd, one of the field workers.

I didn’t know him
very well since he often kept to himself. I offered him a smile and said, “Hey,
Todd. Have you seen Levi lately?”

 He returned my
smile with a blush and replied, “He left a little bit ago. He said something
came up.”

I tried to hide the
disappointment on my face. “Oh, okay. Well, thanks anyway. Have a good night.”
I started to leave when Todd spoke again.

 “Hey, Katie, would
you like to go get something to eat with me?”

 
Okay, I wasn’t
expecting that.
Todd was a cute guy, maybe a little short but cute none the
less. I thought about it for a second.
Maybe getting to know a few people
might be a good thing. It couldn’t hurt to get my mind off of Levi for a little
while.

Todd took my
hesitation as a no. “That’s okay if you don’t want to.”

I smiled sweetly at
him. “Todd, I would love to go out to eat with you.”

A broad grin broke
out across his face, and I had to fight back the giggle that tried to escape my
lips. He looked like he’d just won the lottery or something. “Just let me get
cleaned up. I’ll be right back.” The nursery had a locker room of sorts in the
back. Anyone could use it, but it was mainly for the field workers; they could
get pretty muddy out there.

I sat down in one of
the break room chairs and waited. The longer I sat there, the more I began to
second guess my decision to go out with Todd. He seemed nice, but looks could
be deceiving, and I’d learned that the hard way. I couldn’t back out now. That
wouldn’t be fair to him. The safe thing to do would be for me to call someone
and let them know I’d be out with Todd, but who? I thought about Sydney, but
then remembered her date. I didn’t want to interrupt her romantic night with
her husband. With a groan, I realized there was only one person I could tell
who would understand my need to feel safe, my only real friend in this town. I
reluctantly found the number and dialed. He answered on the second ring.

I took a deep
breath. “Levi, hey it’s Katie.”

He hesitated before
he spoke, “Hey, Katie.” I fell silent for a second as I tried to gather my
courage. “Did you need something?” he asked, filling the awkward silence.

 “Uh, this might
seem strange, but I want you-” I stopped, too embarrassed to tell him the rest.
“You know what? Never mind. I’ll talk to you later. Sorry I bothered you,” I
blurted out.

“Katie, wait. What
do you mean you want me?”

What?!
I played my previous words back and cringed.
I had said it like that.
“Oh,
no. No! I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was that I
want you...to know that I’m going out to dinner with a guy. I got scared after
I agreed because I don’t really know him and just wanted someone to know who I
was with in case....in case something happened to me,” I said and released a
deep breath, suddenly tired of the constant struggle with what was normal for
everyone else. I didn’t hear anything from his end and wondered if he hung up.
“Levi?” I asked hesitantly.

He let out a slow
breath. “I’m here. Um, no, I’m glad you thought to call me. Who’s the guy?” he
asked, his voice sounding tight.

“Todd, uh, I can’t
remember his last name. Dang it! I’m so stupid. I don’t know why I even said
yes when he asked. I came in the break room looking for you and he kind of
caught me off guard when he asked.”

I heard him laugh.
“Are you talking about Todd King?”

King! That’s it,
now I remember. But why did Levi laugh? Is it so hard for him to believe that
someone else might be interested in me?

“Yes. I’m talking
about Todd King and what’s so funny about it?” I didn’t try to disguise the
anger in my voice.

“Hey now, don’t get
mad. I wasn’t laughing at you. I just can’t believe he had the guts to ask you
out. That boy is painfully shy. You have nothing to worry about.”

I relaxed a little.
“Oh, well that’s good.”

Levi spoke again, “Why
were you looking for me at work?”

  “I’ll tell ya
later. I’ve got to go, Todd will be back any minute. Thanks for dealing with my
craziness. Bye.” I hung up quickly, not giving Levi a chance to say anything
else. I didn’t have the time now to go into why he shouldn’t fire me, and I
definitely didn’t want to have that conversation over the phone.

Todd rounded the
corner coming into the break room looking clean and ready to go. I stood up,
and wordlessly followed him to his car. As he opened the passenger door for me,
he finally spoke, “I want to take you to my favorite place. I hope you like
Mexican food, because I love it.”

I snorted out a
small giggle, and he looked at me strangely. I cleared my throat. “Mexican food
sounds great.”

***

 After an awkward
dinner, Todd dropped me off at my car. He asked me to go out again sometime
soon, but I kindly declined telling him I really needed to focus on school
right now. I thanked him for the evening out and headed home.

I sent Levi a text
letting him know I’d made it home safely and thanking him again for helping
with my peace of mind. After a few minutes of waiting with no reply, I gave up
and headed for a shower. As I scrubbed my hair, I wondered if I still had a job
and if not, would Levi hear me out and change his mine. I stepped out of the shower
and dried off quickly, throwing on an old t-shirt for comfort. I grabbed the
dryer and went to work on my hair, brushing it out under the heat until it was
all dry. I looked at my shiny, bouncy hair in the mirror and frowned.
Why
couldn’t it look this good when I had somewhere to go?
I turned off the
light and made my way to the living room. I flopped down on the couch and
grabbed the remote, desperate to lose myself in a good movie. Flipping through
the channels, I stopped when I saw that
A Walk to Remember
was on. That
was one of my favorites.

 Deeply engrossed in
the movie, I almost ignored the knock at my front door. I groaned knowing it
could only be one person. The scene where Mandy Moore sang “Only Hope” was
about to start, and I didn’t want to miss it. I rushed to the door and swung it
open. “Hey, come in,” I said, glancing at him briefly before my eyes returned
to the TV screen.

He didn’t make a
move to come in, so I grabbed him by the arm and tugged. “Hurry up before I
miss the best part.” 

He allowed me to
pull him into the apartment and as I heard the first bars of music play, I let
out a giggle. I rushed to stand in front of the couch, my eyes glued to the TV
screen. There was something about this song that just made me happy.

I hummed through the
first part before I found my rhythm and began to sing the words. I got lost in
the moment and sang my heart out, even nailing the high note. Wearing a giant
smile, I turned around and bumped into Levi’s chest. He had been standing right
behind me. Mesmerized by the song, I’d forgotten all about him. His face held a
look I recognized. He slowly raised his hands and cupped my face. I knew I
should step back, away from his tender touch and longing gaze, but I couldn’t.
I was lost in those deep blue eyes, and never wanted to be found. He leaned down,
bringing his lips close to mine but paused, and I saw the question in his eyes.
He was asking permission. Against my better judgment, I raised up on my toes and
closed the distance between us. His lips were warm and soft against mine. My
emotions whirling, I put a hand on his chest to steady myself and felt the
pounding of his heart. All too quickly, he broke the kiss.

Gazing into my eyes,
his voice low, he said, “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You standing
there with all your defenses down, free for a moment from whatever keeps you
tangled up. Then to hear your voice, you sing like an angel, Katie. I’m blown
away.”

 I tried to catch my
breath and slow my pounding heart. His words and the look in his eyes told me
his feelings for me were strong. That kiss had been a mistake. I couldn’t let
this go on- even if I felt the same way. He didn’t know me, not the real me. He
only knew the parts I let him see, where I pretended to be like everyone else.
I shook my head and stepped back from him. “You don’t even know me. If you did,
you wouldn’t like me very much,” I insisted.

A look of confusion
crossed his face. “What are you talking about? I do know you.” I shook my head
again and watched as he ran his hand over his face. I’d seen him do this before
and recognized it as something he did when he got tense. “Listen, I really need
to talk to you about something, but could you please go put on some pants? I
can’t concentrate with you in just a t-shirt.”

I looked down and
gasped. I’d forgotten I wasn’t wearing any pajama pants. I tugged on the hem of
my t-shirt, attempting to make it longer, as I backed up into my room.

Good grief, I am
determined to embarrass myself constantly around this man.
I found a pair of yoga pants and slipped them
on before marching back out to the living room. I was going to give him a piece
of my mind. I found him sitting on the couch, and noticed he had helped himself
to a soda and was watching the rest of MY movie.

I narrowed my eyes
at him. “If you would call or text instead of just showing up at my door, maybe
I would know to be dressed.”

 He turned to me,
amusement evident on his face. “I did call and text, but you didn’t answer, so
I had to show up. I needed to talk to you.”

 I walked over to
the kitchen table and dug my cell phone out of my purse. I had a missed call
and an unread text message that both must have come while I was in the shower.
I tossed it back into my purse and moved to sit on the armrest of the couch. “Look,
I know what you want to talk about, but just let me say that I really like my
job and would love a chance to show you I can do it.” He had a strange look on
his face but I continued, “Please don’t fire me. I know I had a rough couple of
days there at first, but I promise, I won’t let my issues get in the way of
doing a good job.”