Page 46 of Unofficial

"But he sent you flowers?"

She nods. "He decided a couple days ago he wants me to give him another chance. That he's suddenly different and wants to be committed."

"You're dating someone else, aren't you?"

"Yes, his name's Landry. At least, I think we're still dating. He didn't like it too much to find Kade at my house when he showed up the other night."

"How do you feel about Landry?"

Sighing, she feels the conversation switch from professional to personal. Something that rarely happens with Paul. "Do you really want to talk about this?"

"I've seen you change from happy to sad to content. If you don't want to talk about it, I understand, but I’m also willing to be an ear. I might have some sage advice for you."

Why not? "I like Landry. On paper, he's everything I should want. He wants a relationship that will go somewhere. And he likes me."

"But?"

"But... there are just little things that seem so stupid."

Reaching back, Paul shuts the office door. "In my experience, it's the little things that become the deciding factors with decisions like this."

"Okay, so I like to cook for people. My best friend says food is my love language, and she's probably right. Whenever I'd cook for Kade, my ex whatever, he'd always insist on cleaning up. No matter whether we were at his place or mine, he would always do the dishes."

"And Landry doesn't."

"It sounds so silly, but it bothers me so much. It's almost like he just expects me to do everything because I'm the woman in the relationship or something. And I'm more than happy to do it. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel I'm above it or anything, but the fact he never even thinks to offer to help gets me."

Paul nods and smirks. "My wife and I had that same argument when we first married. Trust me, it's not silly."

"He also has these moments where he seems really closed off. Distant. And he can kind of be an ass sometimes. It's rarer than it used to be when we first started getting to know each other, but it happens enough to still take note of. I call it out when I see it, and he knows he does it, but he doesn’t always seem to care."

"What about the ‘situationship’ guy?"

Jess can't hide the smile creeping onto her face. "He's only a jerk when he's kidding. And he's not distant. There's no wall that he puts up. Not that I ever noticed outside of learning he didn't want to be committed to just one woman a while ago."

"The presents you've gotten these past two days are from him, not Landry, aren't they?"

"It feels like too little too late considering he broke my heart, Paul. I was devastated when I realized we weren't exclusively dating each other. He claims he's done some work on himself, and he wants to show me he's ready. But how do I trust him?"

"I get that," he says and leans forward. "But we, better than others, should know that sometimes a little work can do wonders. We do it every day. We take something existing, make a few changes, and it's a whole different space. Something magnificent. Change does wonders for everything."

She lets out a breath and leans back. "What if he only thinks he wants me back because I'm with someone else? That he can't handle that I've moved on, but if he gets me back, he'll decide he doesn't want me again?"

"What if he doesn't just want you because you're with someone else? People aren't always on the same timelines we are. My wife wasn't when I met her. I'd almost given up, but I knew deep down she was who I was meant to be with. I'm glad I took that chance."

Jess's eyes damn near pop out of her head. "What?"

"Gloria's five years younger than I am. I met her when I worked at my first architecture firm after college. She worked part-time cleaning offices while she went to college, and we started dating. She was barely nineteen. She was a freshman, and she wasn't ready to settle down. She felt she hadn't experienced enough of life yet, and we broke up."

"I had no idea."

"I don't tell many people. I'd started seeing this woman I'd met through a friend. She was nice. Pretty, smart, and she liked me. Boy, did she like me. But at the end of the day, she wasn't Gloria.

"And one day, Gloria came to find me at work. She'd quit by then, so seeing her was a shock. She told me she was ready now. She'd taken some time, experienced a little more life, and she didn't want to experience any more of it without me. It'd been about a year, and I almost told her I'd moved on. In my heart, I knew I hadn't. And if I'd let my pride and my fear of being hurt again take over, I wouldn't be with her today."

Jess smiles and puts her chin in her hand. "I wish love was easy."

Paul laughs and stands to walk over and pat her shoulder. "Don't we all? You'll figure it out. Just follow your heart. It feels things the brain doesn't see."

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