While You're Awake (4 page)

Keegan’s text messages had
helped Ava sleep for a few hours of the night, and for that, she was incredibly
grateful.

If only she hadn’t woken
up at four in the morning, heart racing as she stared into the darkness and
shook her head, trying to dislodge the echoes of buzzing. The details of her
dream faded quickly, but the phantom sounds hovered restlessly around her.

After lying in bed for
another two hours, she got up and showered. The coffee shop opened at 6:30, but
she didn’t know when Keegan was working today. Besides, she didn’t want to seem
overeager and pathetic.

Even though she certainly
was both.

At 7:30 she gathered up her
laptop and purse, leaving behind the specters of loneliness and fear.

When she entered Coffee
by Angels, she immediately sought out the young man with the dark golden hair
and kind eyes. Keegan looked up from where he bent over a frother, made eye
contact, and winked. His grin spread slowly, like warm milk blending with
strong coffee. Ava breathed in deeply, letting the tension melt away into the
large room filled with heavenly smells and the musical process of grinding
coffee beans.

Today Keegan’s beekeeper
uncle would get rid of the bees for good—and she had this wonderful moment to
carry her through the hours of editing she needed to accomplish. Things would
work out just fine.

She approached the
counter to place her order. Since Keegan was still occupied with the drink he
was making, one of the other baristas handled the cash register.

“A large dark chocolate
mochaccino, please,” Ava requested.

The barista swiped Ava’s
credit card. “Name?”

“Ava.”

“Your drink should be
ready shortly.”

With a nod, Ava went to
stake out a table. She allowed one backward glance at Keegan, who was occupied
with another order.

After plugging in her
laptop, she only emerged from her work twice: once when Keegan brought her
drink and stayed to chat for a few minutes about his uncle and the last episode
he had seen of
The Office
; and another time when the buzzing of a fly
near her ear caused her to sit up straight and almost take another tumble to
the tiled floor.

Before she knew it, a
glance at her phone told her it was time to head home to meet the beekeeper.
She gathered her things and waved at Keegan, disappointed when she realized he
was too busy to catch her departure.

But it wasn’t as if this
would be the last time she’d see him. This coffee shop she had only rarely
visited before could easily become her new workspace. She’d just have to find
ways to save money elsewhere so she could splurge on designer coffee more
often.

Or maybe summer would
bring out more novelists looking to work with a freelance editor and make
progress on their stories.

She tucked that fantasy
close to her heart and made the drive home in silence. Along the way, daydreams
faded into nerves, causing her stomach to grumble and her head to pound. Her
body reacted like it did whenever she had a dentist appointment. No matter how
she tried to convince herself that this was nothing like that sort of
experience, she couldn’t get the buzzing—like a dentist’s drill—out of her
head.

Ava took a deep breath as
she pulled into her gravel driveway and spotted a truck not so different from
Keegan’s. This man was coming to help her. It wasn’t as if she’d have to deal
with any of the bees herself.

A middle-aged man with
bright blond hair bordering on gray and a stocky figure a little thicker than
Keegan’s opened his driver’s door and stepped out.
Breathe
, Ava reminded
herself as she got out of her car and went to greet the guy who made his living
taking care of her worst nightmare.

∞∞∞

Keegan was tempted to
text Ava to see how things had gone today, but he wondered if that would be
expecting more from their friendship—the one they had only formed
yesterday—than she was willing to give. So he waited until after he got off
work and then called his uncle via Bluetooth on his drive home.

“Hey, Stuart. How’d it
go?”

“Didn’t find any bees,
but I saw where they’ve been getting in. There was a vent with a torn screen.”

“Were you able to replace
it?”

“Yep. Had to go pick up a
few supplies, but I got things straightened out this afternoon, and she should
be good to go. I checked all her window screens, too, and I don’t see anywhere
else they’d be able to get in.”

Keegan drummed a tune
with his thumbs on the steering wheel, thinking. “You didn’t hear anything in
the walls?”

“Nope. But feel free to
give me a call if she tells you about any more bee troubles.”

“Will do.” Keegan went on
to ask about his uncle’s business—how things were going and whether he had lost
any colonies lately. After a few minutes, he thanked Stuart and disconnected
the call, sliding the speaker off his ear.

A big part of him felt
relieved. Ava should be safe, and no more honey bees would end up where they
didn’t belong. But as he pulled into his assigned parking space in front of the
apartment complex where he lived, he wondered if Tired Girl would abandon their
friendship now that she had no more need of it. The thought left him feeling a
little off-balance.

A familiar barking
greeted him as he opened the front door, and he smiled even as he hushed the
eager German shepherds that leaned up against his legs and beat their heavy
tails against the carpet. Well, at least his dogs still needed him. “Hey, my
Sun and Moon. How was your day?”

Moon, the sleeker of the
two golden boys, gave one deep bark and grinned up at him, his long tongue
lolling out of his big mouth. Keegan spent a few minutes rubbing their soft
heads and tall, fuzzy ears, then took them outside before settling in for
another night of
The Office
.

[Tired Girl]: Hey, are
you still up?

Keegan groaned and rolled
onto his side, attempting to read the text through the horrendous glare that
blinded him. Tired Girl. It had been two weeks since he’d last talked to her,
although he did see her in line once on a really busy day at the coffee shop.
His heart picked up its pace as his vision cleared, and he couldn’t determine
whether the cause was worry or excitement.

What was she doing
texting him at three in the morning?

[Angel Boy]: I
wouldn’t say “still” but yeah. What’s up?

Her reply came within
seconds of Keegan sending his.

[Tired Girl]: I’m so
sorry!! I didn’t want to wake you. I hoped you would just ignore it if you were
already in bed.

He smiled as he sat up
and ran a hand through his short hair. He typed back his own response, now
wide-awake.

[Angel Boy]: No
worries. Everything OK?

[Tired Girl]: Yeah.
I’m just having trouble sleeping. So I thought I’d be nice and share my problem
with you.

The brilliant white light
of his phone reflected off the window behind him. As he zoned out, pondering
Ava’s insomnia, he noticed his own reflection on the screen. Brow furrowed.
Lips drawn tight.

[Angel Boy]: Did the
bees come back?

He rubbed his cold feet
together under the sheets, waiting. Worrying.

[Tired Girl]: No…I
don’t think so. I thought I heard buzzing but it was probably just a fly. :\

Keegan grunted, half
amused, half concerned.

[Angel Boy]: Do you
need to talk? On the phone not texting.

[Tired Girl]: Oh I
don’t want to keep you up. But that’s really nice of you to offer. :)

It wouldn’t have been too
great a sacrifice, really. He’d missed talking to her. Was that even possible
after only a few meetings?

[Angel Boy]: Well let
me know if you change your mind. See you tomorrow at Angels?

He fiddled with his phone
while he waited for her reply, mindlessly scrolling through his scarce Facebook
feed. When the text alert chimed through the room, he released a long breath.

[Tired Girl]: I think
so. Sorry again for bothering you! Thanks for keeping me company for a bit.
Good night. :)

[Angel Boy]: I’ll look
for you. Dark chocolate mochaccino right? No problem. Good night TG

[Tired Girl]: TG?

[Angel Boy]: Tired
Girl

[Tired Girl]: Ah. Of
course. I’m obviously *too* tired. Good night then, AB. :)

Good night.

As if sensing his
alertness, one of the dogs whined and let out a sharp bark from their spot in
the living room.

“Go back to sleep,” he
called through the closed door. Pulling the sheet over his head, Keegan
attempted to do the same. But it took him a good long while.

∞∞∞

Ava sat up in bed, heart
thumping madly, an angry bee trapped in her own body. She willed the beat to
stop drumming in her ears so she could hear properly.

There. Was that
buzzing
,
the sound muffled by the distance between her bedroom and the living room, not
to mention the vent walls? Or would the vent cause sounds like that to amplify
and echo?

Now she knew where they
had been getting in before. That should make her feel better, right? And
Keegan’s uncle had repaired the screen. She was safe.

Her finger throbbed
mercilessly, and she let out a little whimper as she checked her phone. Six.
She had slept for all of three hours. Well, less than that, really.

It would be useless to
try to go back to sleep. So she rolled out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and
zipped into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

After a shower, she ate
some cereal with blueberries, then sat in front of her laptop. Fingers hovering
over the keys. But creaks and an odd sort of humming sound kept her hands a
whisper above where they needed to be, little tremors rendering them useless.

Music. That would help.

The conquering tones of a
OneRepublic song blared from her laptop. Then the soulful melody of another.
And she still hadn’t made any progress on the manuscript awaiting an editor’s
TLC.
Her
TLC.

Moisture stung her dry
and itchy eyes. If she were going to an eight-to-five job, she would have to
work through this mental block. She couldn’t give up just because she worked
from her currently less-than-cozy home.

The coffee shop.
Keegan would be there. He had said he was expecting her, right? So she wouldn’t
seem silly if she went in. Certainly no sillier than she’d acted by giving in to
her desperate fears and loneliness last night.

It took her less than twenty
minutes to gather her things and relocate her office to Coffee by Angels. After
she set down her laptop bag at an empty table, she stepped to the counter to
order, but Keegan waved her away. The response startled her. Surely he wouldn’t
shoo out a paying customer, no matter if that customer happened to be a needy
girl who had woken him up at three in the morning.

She bit her lip, but
after catching Keegan’s big grin—raising the lines around his sturdy nose—she
slowly unclenched her teeth before she could draw blood. She even managed a
lopsided smile.
He has my order memorized.

He was such a nice guy.
And she had already inconvenienced him enough.
No more texting
, she
reprimanded herself.

With that vow, she
returned to her seat and managed to immerse herself into her most urgent
editing project, pointing out plot holes and grammatical errors as she
went—without neglecting the all-important encouraging words when she came
across a particularly lovely line.

Just as she completed a
long comment with suggestions for expanding a character’s backstory, a cup
clanked on the table. She glanced up to find Keegan standing proudly beside his
offering. “Dark chocolate mochaccino.”

A closer look revealed a
simple flower design—maybe a daisy—made with chocolate sauce drizzled over the
sweet coffee.

This had to be the
happiest moment she’d had since…

She pushed away thoughts
of bees and offered Keegan the brightest smile she could muster. She bet her
face would positively shine after getting that beautiful coffee in her system.

He placed his hands in
his apron pockets and studied her, his own cocky but cute expression fading
into detached scrutiny. “Ava,” he finally said, softly, “you look like you’ve
been beaten.”

When he took a step
closer, she returned her attention to the computer screen. The cursor blinked
right where she’d left it. Ah yes, she had just finished writing that comment.

The slightly rough,
mostly gentle sensation of a thumb gliding across the skin under her right eye
caused her to swallow with force. Her gaze slid up to Keegan’s, and her breath
caught as he left his thumb in place and leaned in for a closer look. What was
he seeing? The near-purple shadows? The redness of her eyes?

She squirmed, feeling
self-conscious. Keegan pulled away, but not before his fingers grazed her chin,
causing her heart to hiccup.

“Sorry. I just—I hate to
see you looking this weary.” Keegan crossed his arms and tipped his head toward
the still-steaming cup. “Drink that. Doctor’s orders.”

“Yes, sir.”

Her response made him
smile again. He turned to leave, then hesitated, stepping out of the way of a
middle-aged man in business-casual attire heading for the exit.

Ava quirked a brow at
him, hoping to appear calm and playful.

Keegan’s hands found
their way pack into his apron pockets. “Would you like me to call my uncle to
see if he could come check out the house again?”

“No.” She shook her head.
“No, it’s totally fine. He already took care of the problem. He doesn’t need to
come back.”

“Then what if I stopped
by after work, just to do a quick check? Would that be okay?”

She glanced away from the
earnestness on his boyish face and began tapping lightly, absentmindedly on the
keys. He was worried about her.
Tap tap tap tap.
He shouldn’t be.
Tap
tap tap.
He shouldn’t have to go out of his way for a virtual stranger.
He’d already done enough.
Tap tap tap tap.
But how could she say no?

“If you’re sure…I’d
appreciate it.”

“Sure. No problem.” He
smiled, stepped back, then hesitated again. “By the way, do you have any other
fears? Of animals, I mean.”

She blinked, curious.
“No.”

Keegan demonstrated the
real-life version of the cliché phrase “grinning from ear to ear.” With an
encouraging wave at the coffee sitting neglected beside her, he returned to the
counter.

Ava drew the cup into her
hand and sipped the warm mochaccino, eyes closing in a rush of relaxation and
rejuvenation.
Bless you, Angel Boy.