Page 44 of Mailroom Delight
Chapter 11
Jason
* * *
Iwas hoping she wouldn’t have left.
I really wanted to wake up next to her and see the morning sun beaming down on her golden skin.
But, she was gone, and my heart sunk further when I went to work, and she wasn’t there.
I thought she’d resumed her avoidance tactics and would have settled for finding her somewhere in the building, hiding from me, but searching for her everywhere revealed she didn’t come in today.
I must have asked Bernice a million times if she’d seen Paige. And, to the point where she got annoyed with me and told me to call Paige if I was that worried.
Calling had crossed my mind several times, but I feared what would happen if I did. I feared her ignoring my calls and the phone ringing to voicemail. I feared speaking to her and hearing her say that last night was a mistake.
I feared losing the one person I’d ever really connected with.
Last night was unreal, and my life had been turned upside down since I walked into my new role weeks ago.
I’d had this fascination with Paige and her advice column, but thinking back now I guessed that maybe it was her I was fascinated with.
It took me weeks to meet her, and she literally fell into my arms. As if she was mine from back then.
Her staying away today said a lot, and I didn’t know if I should push the issue with her. I didn’t think last night was a one nighter, and I didn’t want it to be.
Maybe she did though.
Thinking that drove me crazy all day, and eventually I was faced with the decision of what to do.
I didn’t want her to have to resort to staying away because of me, and I didn’t want her to stay away from me.
My madness drove me to do the one crazy thing I swore I would never do. I got personal. I looked up her address and drove straight to her house.
She would be in her right to call the police on me if she wanted to, but I had to see her.
The minute I parked I jumped out of my car and ran up the steps leading to the front door.
It was night but in the soft porch light I saw beautiful roses that looked well cared for. I could imagine her tending to them and giving attention to each one. I could imagine her liking gardening and being adventurous in what she did just from looking at the flowers all around hanging in baskets and planted in hedges clustered together.
Paige could have hired a gardener to do it, but I wanted to imagine it was her.
It just made me want to know more, more about her, and everything.
It took every last ounce of my courage to ring her doorbell and waiting felt like torture.
I waited for two agonizing minutes before the door opened.
She looked shocked to see me, and there was also something that resembled excitement in her eyes. But it was only there for a spark and it left before I could really take note of it properly.
“Jason.” She said my name with a softness that I felt, and as I looked her over I realized I had more feelings for her than what I realized.
It was actually funny to acknowledge that, because anyone who knew me knew I was the perpetual bachelor.
I’d lived for fun and always said I’d be that way until I met the magical being that could change me.
Change me the way Paige changed me. I never needed to ask myself if I’d found that magical being.
