Seeing Shadows (14 page)

"I actually wanted to see if you could help me out tomorrow," Simon said, quirking the side of his mouth. "I don't know where anything is around here, and I could use your help showing me where stuff is, like the supermarket. Grant's pretty busy gearing up for the show tomorrow night and Marcus has another soccer practice."

"Well," I said, trying to stall and think of an excuse. I couldn't use work as an excuse because I was sure Colleen would blow my cover if I tried to lie. I wasn't ready to chance that embarrassment. Besides, I admitted to myself that I had missed seeing Simon. It was odd because I had just met him and spent only a few hours with him for a couple of days. But it had felt like I had been going through withdrawal this past week because of his absence. I figured there was no harm in helping him out. That's what friends did. And this would be a good test of our budding friendship. "Sure, why not," I agreed. "I'm free."

"Great!" Simon exclaimed. "Let's say around eleven in the morning? I'll come pick you up."

"Okay," I said nodding slowly, hoping I wasn't making a mistake. "See you tomorrow at eleven."

Simon nodded at Colleen and Marnie. "Nice to meet you," he said, although I had never even introduced him to Colleen. He turned back to me. "See you tomorrow," he said with a wink. And then he was gone.

Marnie had watched the whole exchange with rapt eyes, and after Simon left she began screeching again. "Oh my God!" she yelped. "He's even hotter close up. And he's into you!"

I groaned. I did
not
want to get into this discussion. "I've gotta make sure my tables are okay," I said, turning to check on my customers.

Marnie opened her mouth but Colleen cut her off. "Marnie, table two is glarin' at you," she said. "You better go see what they want."

As Marnie reluctantly walked away, Colleen gave me a conspiratorial wink. I groaned inwardly. Why was everyone winking at me these days? But I felt anticipation growing as I finished the rest of my shift, not wanting to admit to myself that I was looking forward to tomorrow more than I should have.

The next morning I was having second thoughts about spending time alone with Simon and tried coercing Sarah into coming with us.

"Come on, Sarah," I pleaded. "Why don't you come with us? We can get some grocery shopping done too."

"No way," Sarah replied, looking up from spooning cereal into her mouth. "We just went grocery shopping. Anyways, I have a group meeting for my Visual Arts class at one o'clock."

"Maybe we'll be back by then," I wheedled. "We can get you back in time for your meeting."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I thought you said you were fine being friends with Simon."

"I am," I said with a sigh. "I think I'm just overreacting."

I plopped down on the couch and checked my watch. It was ten to eleven and I needed to stop working myself into a tizzy. I told myself that this was no different than spending time with Grant or Marcus.

"How does Simon's apartment look?" I asked. Sarah had spent most of last night helping him unpack, along with the rest of the group.

"You should see his stuff. It's like he's a real grown-up. He has real furniture, not just stuff like a futon," Sarah said, waving her hand towards ours. "It looks like an actual apartment, not just for a college kid. And I forgot how nice Sherry's place was. Although I don't think she was ever home unless it was to throw a party. I wonder how much the rent is?" Sarah gave me a sly look. "I'm sure Simon will be more than happy to show you his apartment if you just ask."

I rolled my eyes at her. "I was just curious since I hadn't seen it since the last party I went to at Sherry's, which was ages ago."

"Where are you guys going today besides the supermarket?" Sarah asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Simon said something about running errands. I guess maybe to pick up stuff for his apartment."

Sarah wiggled her eyebrows. "Have fun. But not too much fun. We wouldn't want you to get carried away and cross your self-imposed friend boundary."

"Ha," I scoffed. "I thought you knew me better than that."

Sarah gave me a smile that was tinged with sadness. "I do. That's why I think Simon would be good for you."

"Sarah," I warned.

"Okay, okay!" Sarah said, laughing and getting up to put her empty bowl in the sink. "I just meant in a friend sense."

I was saved from having to answer by a knock on the door. I took a deep breath and answered it, promising myself that I would play it cool today. Project Friendship was commencing.

"Hey there," Simon said with a grin. Every time I saw him, it was as if I forgot how unfairly beautiful he was. A guy shouldn't be allowed to be so good-looking. Simon's blue t-shirt that peeked through his unzipped coat magnified the blue of his eyes and his dark brown hair was perfectly tousled, as always. "Ready to go?"

"Yup," I replied with an answering smile. "Let me just grab my coat."

I slipped on my coat and picked up my purse that had been lying on the couch and called out to Sarah.

"Sarah, I'm leaving now. I'll see you later."

Sarah popped her head out from the kitchen. "Hi Simon. Bye Simon." She cocked an eyebrow. "Bye Caitlin. Don't have too much fun!" She cackled and stuck her head back into the kitchen.

I frowned as I closed and locked the door behind me. "Don't mind her, she's always obtuse in the morning."

Simon grinned as we walked down the stairs. "I think she's just worried about my intentions."

"It's okay," I replied. "I told her that we had decided to be friends." Simon opened the passenger door of his car. Chivalrous to the end, I thought. Simon had an Audi but for the life of me I didn't know what kind. I knew nothing about cars. I just knew it looked expensive.

"Nice car," I commented when he slid into the driver's seat.

Simon shrugged. "It gets me where I need to go," he said, turning the ignition. "And what's this about us being friends?"

I paused, watching him as he backed out of the driveway. "Aren't we?" I asked, not sure how to take his question.

Simon glanced quickly over at me and then looked back at the road. "Sure, we're friends," he said quietly.

"Great," I said a little too brightly, not sure why it suddenly felt awkward. I watched him as he drove. "Hey, it seems like you already know where you're going."

"I figured we could grab something to eat first," Simon replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "Grant mentioned a place called the Cove for brunch. I didn't think you would want to go to Colette's since you're there all the time."

"But what if I've already eaten?" I asked, feeling a little annoyed that he assumed that I had been waiting for him to eat.

Simon gave me a half-smile as he glanced over at me. "Have you?"

"Well, no." I said slowly, knowing how immature I sounded but not being able to stop. "But what if I had?"

Simon laughed. "I would have had no problem with you watching me eat."

I pursed my lips in mock displeasure but couldn't completely suppress my smile. "I'm sure you're used to girls wanting to gaze at you, whatever you're doing."

Simon laughed even louder. "I don't know where you got this funny idea that I always have girls hanging on me."

"Come on," I scoffed. "All I need are eyes to see all the girls staring at you." I gave him a thoughtful look. "Not that it's a bad thing. Abe was a pretty good looking guy and he used it to his advantage. It fits the rocker image, I guess. The more girls think they have a chance with you, the more it'll fuel the Henchmen's popularity."

Simon frowned as he watched the road. "I don't think that's how I want to become popular."

"Oh," I said suddenly, thinking that I may have offended him. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I don't mean that's all you have going for you. I'm sure you guys are going to sound awesome. I just meant that it doesn't hurt. It's true that looks matter, especially in the music industry."

"How come you're so hesitant to perform in front of other people then?" Simon asked, his thumbs tapping out a rhythm on his steering wheel that only he could hear. "Sarah says you're really good but you never play or sing for anyone."

I laughed. "Sarah is being generous. She thinks it's impressive when I play chopsticks. And what does that have to do with our conversation?"

"Because you said looks matter," Simon replied, stopping his drumming and looking over at me. "And you're beautiful. So why would you be afraid to perform in front of people?"

My breath caught at his statement. The fact that Simon thought I was beautiful took my breath away. I thought I was passably attractive, but I often felt like I was drab and faded into the background. The fact that I cultivated this image didn't help my looks. But having someone like Simon think I was beautiful was hard for me to process. If I was being honest with myself, it wasn't because it was someone as good looking as Simon telling me this. It was because it was
Simon
telling me this. From the moment I had met him, I had felt an instant connection to him, beyond having seen him in a vision.

I forced myself to laugh. "You'd change your mind if you ever heard me sing," I said. I leaned forward and started scanning through the radio stations to distract myself. "Anyways, luckily I'm ravenous and the Cove is great. I haven't been there in a while because I always seem to end up at Colette's when I eat out, even when I'm not working there."

Simon just smiled and I turned up the radio as a favorite Radiohead song came on. We spent the rest of the car ride listening to the local alternative station, commenting on the songs that played, until we turned into the parking lot of the Cove.

The Cove was a cozy restaurant that specialized in Italian cuisine but it also had a great brunch. Before I finished unbuckling my seat belt, Simon had bounded around the car to open my door.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. "You really are a gentleman."

"What can I say," Simon said with a wink. "My momma raised me right."

"Mmm," I murmured in reply as I stepped out of the car.

The Cove was already half full even though it was pretty early for brunch. Since it was in a college town, and college students seemed to think waking up before noon on a Saturday was unthinkable, a lot of the restaurants didn't get crowded until later in the afternoon. I saw a good number of locals in the restaurant, with a smattering of students.

We were seated in a corner booth and our waitress' eyes latched onto Simon the moment she came over. She looked our age, which was common since a lot of the restaurants near campus employed students.

"Hi," she said breathily, her gaze locked solely on Simon. She laid a menu in front of each of us, although I had to grab mine before she hit me in the face with it, since she was just shoving it in my general vicinity and not actually looking in my direction.

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically, but I might as well have been invisible for all the notice that she gave me.

Our waitress leaned her hip against the table, a smile on her face that I assumed was supposed to be seductive. I should have been insulted by her actions, considering Simon and I were here together and it would be a pretty easy assumption to make that we were a couple. But the outlandish batting of her eyelashes made me suppress a laugh instead. Anyways, we weren't a couple.

"Hi," Simon said, not looking up and scanning the menu.

"My name is Crystal. I'll be your server today," she said, tilting her head and letting her blonde hair graze her cheek, trying for what I thought was a coquettish smile. I cringed as I watched her. Was this considered flirting? I was happy that I had never really engaged in it if it made you look this dumb. "Can I get you anything to drink?"