Page 5 of The Things That Hold Us

She makes my coffee, throws a chocolate chip muffin in a bag, and hands it over to me, letting me know that she'll be by the shop later on her lunch break.

“See you then.” I say with a smile over my shoulder as I leave.

When I get to the shop, I see there's a large package with ‘fragile’ labels all over it already sitting against the entrance of the shop waiting for me. I walk up grabbing my keys out of my bag, unlock the door and grab the box, bringing it inside with me. I place my bag and the box on the counter and grab my box cutter, eager to see what came in this time. I carefully cut the box open and pause when I see what’s inside.

Teapots.

It's a bunch of teapots.

I picture the man from yesterday and wonder what he would have thought of all of these, or what the person he was shopping for would've thought about them.

He was ungodly attractive, andsolarge. Not so much muscular-large, just..large.I’m a tiny girl though at the short height of 5'3, so maybe he’s normal sized to everyone else and just giant to me. And his hair. God, his hair. Most men these days all have the same hair, but his is long, and was pulled into a bun, which I find incredibly attractive. All I could think of is what it would feel like between my fingers.

I shake my head, trying to get control of my thoughts. I don't know what's gotten into me. I’ve never drooled over a manlike this. Maybe it's because I know I’ll never see him again, or because I’ve just never seen a man that…manly.

Either way, I am not ready for everything that comes with that. Not yet, anyways. And he was shopping for his girlfriend, or at least I think it was for his girlfriend. Whoever she is to him, even if I did want to act on anything, I know I won’t.

Luckily this is such a small town where everyone knows everyone and I’ve never seen him before, so it’s likely he was just passing through and I’ll probably never see him again.

But part of me hopes that I do.

Chapter Two

drinks and dances

“Cass, I have told you 100 times now, I do not want a huge birthday party. I don't even know enough people to invite.”

She’s been begging to throw me a birthday party for a month now, and I keep giving her the same answer.

NO.

I’m just not a party person. I would much rather be at home with some take out, a movie, and wine. Cassie, on the other hand, would rather spend her time shaking her ass on a dance floor to some annoying pop song.

It amazes me how well we get along with how different we are.

“Please, Charlie. I promise we can make it a more chill party, and you can even sit on my couch with a wine bottle in hand.”She does the puppy pout at me, and I swear I don't know why I bother arguing.

I smile at her, and she starts squealing.

I hold up a hand, stopping her, “I’m not saying yes. I’m just saying we’ll see. I really don't feel like being at a party for my birthday, but I know it makes you happy. So maybe.”

“Eeek! I know you said maybe, but I’m taking that as a yes. I promise, it’ll be fun.”

She pulls me in and squeezes me.

“Don't worry, I’ll do all the planning. You won't have to lift a finger. Except to drink your wine. Which I too will provide.”

This should be interesting.

We continue eating our lunch while she shows me party decorations and tells me about the new guy she is seeing.

“He’s covered head to toe in tattoos, how hot is that?”

I laugh, “Ok, he’s hot, but is he nice to you or do I need to kick his ass?”

“Charlie, he’s insanely nice. Like, unnaturally nice. I sometimes wonder if something’s wrong with him.” She chuckles.

“As long as he treats you right he’s got my vote. When do I get to meet him?” I ask, taking a big bite of the sushi she brought me.

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