Page 86 of Apple of My Eye
Me: What fancy new apartment?
Lily: He just moved into a new place? What is the point of you having an Instagram for the farm if you aren’t using it to keep tabs on your own family. He has a spare bedroom. I mean, it’s ugly because he’s a boy, but it exists.
Me: I can’t go to San Francisco. *Sent with invisible ink*
Lily: Right, because of the minuscule chances you’ll run into Nick?
Me: Only 800,000 people live in SF. Those chances aren’t miniscule.
Lily: Did you seriously just google how many people live there? I bet you did the stupid thing where you only cared about the actual San Francisco zip code.
Lily: EIGHT MILLION people live in the Bay Area.
Lily: I’ve won.
Lily: Tell me when you’ve texted Linden. He owes you. Cash in that favor.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Nick
I hesitate at the door to the coffee shop wondering if this is the creepiest thing I’ve ever done.
It isn’tmyfault that Linden decides to put his whole life on a very public Instagram page where he’s found a niche doing fit checks for tech bros. It isn’t my fault that he does his bi-weekly outfit rundowns at one of the most well-known coffee shops in Cow Hollow. It isn’t completely unlikely that I would also want to grab a latte here. Never mind that I live in Haight-Ashbury, which isn’t exactly close.
I take a deep breath and push open the door, surveying the small space as quickly as I can. Just as I expected, Linden is sitting at a corner table, headphones on, starting intently at a computer screen. He looks incredible, tailored pants, a perfectly fitted short-sleeve collared shirt, a sweater slung over the back of his chair.
I didn’t know until I found his page that so many other men cared about how to dress well for the office. But they do. And Linden has capitalized.
I would have been able to find him even if I hadn’t stalked him on Instagram—he looks just like Eloise. They have the same colored hair, but hers is lighter, probably because she spends more time in the sun. The same sloped nose. Linden glances up at the door as if the bell startled him, and even though I knew it from the pictures, I’m still shocked when I see Eloise’s piercing light blue eyes looking back at me.
I look down as soon as I get my composure, not wanting to be caught staring. I fumble through ordering my coffee and take a seat at the table next to Linden, pulling out a textbook. School feels like a joke now. I’m one of the only ones in my friend group that still studies. But it’s our last semester. And I still feel like I need to earn the perk of graduating early. Even if I already have my full-time job lined up. It crosses my mind that Eloise would have a field day at this line of thinking, my questioning my own need for success even when it’s completely worthless. I think about her so often still. Picturing her thinking about me working in an office, a corporate sellout, puts a pit in my stomach. I’m so focused on my anxiety that I don’t notice the shadow looming over me until Linden clears his throat. I look up, surprised at his height.
‘Is this seat taken?’ he asks.
I shake my head dumbly.
‘This might seem crazy,’ Linden says, with a genuine smile, ‘but you look really familiar. Were you working on a farm this summer?’
Of course, Linden would have seen my videos. Eloise probably sent them to everyone with clear instruction to kill me upon sight.
But Linden doesn’t look like he wants to kill me .?.?. ‘Yeah, the Parkers’.’
‘Right on,’ Linden says, making himself completely at home at my table. ‘I’m—’
‘Linden,’ I supply. ‘Ah, that might have seemed creepy, but you look just like your sister. I’m Nick,’ I say, extending a hand.
Linden’s grin widens. ‘We both look like our dad. I saw your videos. Really cool stuff. I bet that helped the Parkers out a lot.’
Right, I remember. Eloise barely talks to Linden. He doesn’t know she hates me. I shrug. ‘I did my best.’ I glance at Linden’s open, friendly face, my feelings spiraling out of my head before I can get a handle on them. ‘I actually really miss the farm,’ I admit.
‘It sucks to come back to the city after all that fresh air,’ Linden agrees.
‘Why did you leave?’
A shadow crosses Linden’s face, and I immediately walk my question back. ‘Sorry, man, that was intrusive.’
‘No, no, it’s OK.’ He sighs. ‘I think it always felt like Eloise’s space, you know. I’m sure you could tell when you met her—she’s meant to be there. It means everything to her.’
