Page 12 of A Secret Chance
“You don’t need to buy me a new sweater.”
“Yes, yes, I do,” he yelled as he crossed the street. When he reached the other side, he turned and opened his arms wide, “If you don’t come, I’ll be forced to pick it out myself.”
Lauren’s hammering heart stopped completely. The whooshing in her ears had stopped too. Everything went silent as Lauren stared at the man across the street. There was something drawing her to him, and before her brain could catch up, her feet started crossing the street on autopilot. He was like a magnet, drawing her in.
“Shall we?” He crooked his arm and she accepted it, sliding her mitten in to rest on his wool coat. “After all, I’ve heard that these sidewalks can be slippery.”
“Your shoes are probably worse than mine,” she managed to stammer. Her heart had started working again and resumed its hard pounding.
“Yeah,” he laughed. “Why do you think I’m holding onto you?”
She laughed. He continued his gentlemanlike behavior by opening the door for her and gesturing for her to enter ahead of him.
“Where are your finest sweaters?” the man asked the clerk.
“On the wall there.” The clerk pointed to the right-hand side of the store.
They made their way through the sea of Gore-Tex ski coats to the wall of base layers and sweaters.
“How about this one?” he asked, holding up a hideous floral cardigan.
“Maybe for my grandma.” She took it from his hand and hung it back up.
They both reached for an emerald green sweater at the same time. He set it in her hands. “This is the one.”
She flipped over the price tag. This was one of the stores her sister shopped in, not her, and she almost fell over when she saw the four-hundred-dollar price tag. “No,” she handed it back to him. “It’s too much.”
“Just try it on.” He held his hands tight to his body like a T-rex so he couldn’t accept the sweater.
She couldn’t shove the sweater back into his hands no matter how hard she tried. He glanced at his watch again, and Lauren realized that if she didn’t hurry, she was going to be late too. She sighed. She couldn’t show up to the meeting with Caldwell wearing a stained shirt. “I’ll try it on, but I’m paying for it.” She turned and stepped into one of the change rooms. She clicked the lock shut rested her forehead on the back of the door. This man was bringing out feelings in her she thought had disappeared forever. Her hands were shaking as she peeled off the offending coffee-stained sweater and wiped at her chest with the sleeves. She pulled the silky green sweater over her head. It felt like butter against her skin, fitting her like it was made just for her. If she put it on her credit card, she could have it paid off soon enough, she rationalized. She pulled off the tags, rolled her ruined sweated into a ball and put her coat back on. She stepped out of the changing room and glanced around the store, disappointed but also relieved that the dark-haired man wasn’t anywhere in sight. She made her way to the cash register, her breath shallow and her heart pounding in her ears as she glanced around the store, trying to catch sight of him. But from the displays of cross-country ski hats to the leather gloves from Norway, there was no sign of him, he was gone.
She pulled out her wallet, but the clerk shook her head. “That man already paid for it.” Her eyes sparkled as she winked at Lauren.
“Can you refund it and put it on this card?” Lauren shoved the card at the clerk.
“Nope,” the girl smiled and shook her head.
Lauren slid the card back into her wallet and bolted out onto the street. She frantically looked left and right, but there was no sign of the man. “Shit,” she muttered to herself. She hadn’t even gotten his name.
