Page 27 of Trust Fall
“I’m not sure it is, but yes, I will be. Usually, I do some work at home on the weekends I’m not spending time with Sophie, but this week I won’t be. I left all my work things at the office on Friday to give myself a full weekend completely off. So, I’ll probably read, after I call Lana, otherwise she’ll kill me and make my life hell tomorrow if I don’t.” Cleo chuckled and glanced at Ivy briefly.
“I guess being your own boss can make that a little easier for you when you need to or want to. I’ll be watching some TV after a similar call with Lucas and Gabby.” Ivy glanced down at her hand in Cleo’s and smiled. To think she’d gone her whole adult life without experiencing this simple act felt mind-blowing to her at that moment.
“Are you doing ok over there?” Cleo raised an eyebrow but was smiling.
“Absolutely,” Ivy breathed out as her eyes locked with Cleo’s and they began to slow to a stroll. “Can we do this again, maybe? If you want to?” Ivy felt Cleo’s fingers gently squeeze her own.
“I’d love to,” Cleo said with a grin, then her smile faltered, and her brows furrowed slightly, and Ivy rubbed her thumb over the back of Cleo’s hand to offer her reassurance to say what she needed to. “I said earlier that it’s been a while since I was last on a date, I just need you to be patient with me, because I need to take this slow.” Ivy held her breath slightly as she waited for Cleo to continue, knowing she probably wouldn’t necessarily elaborate on her reasons, but waited to see what Cleo was willing to open up to her about. Cleo stopped walking and turned slightly to face Ivy as she spoke. “I just mean, I was hurt in the past, badly, so it’s going to take me some time before anything physical might happen between us. I just wanted to put that out there at the start, so that if you weren’t wanting to wait, then you could back out now.” Ivy saw the mix of emotions pass overCleo’s face as sadness bled into something Ivy couldn’t put her finger on, before resolving on hope.
“Oh Cleo,” Ivy said as she continued to rub her thumb on the back of Cleo’s hand, “we can go as slow as you need to. I hope you didn’t feel like I’d have expected anything to happen today? I know I said earlier that I only did one-night stands in the past, but I’ve not been that person in years.” Ivy searched Cleo’s face for any sign of relief and wished she could take the remnants of sadness from Cleo’s eyes and replace it with a much happier emotion. At least a less painful one.
“Thank you,” Cleo breathed out a little as she said it in barely more than a whisper. “I figured there were no expectations today given how bashful you seemed to be before.” Cleo smirked, and Ivy felt her face burn with embarrassment. “I just wanted to let you know where my head is before we go any further.”
Ivy sat the picnic basket down at her feet and reached for Cleo’s other hand. She held Cleo’s gaze for a moment and hoped that they would convey the sincerity she meant as she spoke. “I can wait as long as you need to. We’ll go at whatever speed you choose. I just really want to get to know you more.” Ivy noticed Cleo’s shoulders relax, and as the tension ebbed away, so did the sadness that had lingered in her eyes at her admission of old hurts. Ivy sighed a small relief.
“Thank you, again.” Cleo took a small step forward. “I want to get to know you too.” With that, she leaned forward, hesitating for a moment above Ivy’s cheek, then placed the softest of kisses against her skin that Ivy had ever felt. In that moment, if this was her last, Ivy was the happiest she had been in her entire life.
Chapter 25
Cleo
“Jeez Cleo, talk about a perfect first date!” Lana’s voice carried through to Cleo’s office, announcing her arrival that morning before she stood in the doorway seconds later. “EvenConnorwas impressed, and we both know how swoonyheis, so it must have been good.”
The smile on Lana’s face didn’t hold a torch to the one on Cleo’s as she thought back to the day before. It really had been perfect.Ivyhad been perfect.
She had been nervous, unsure whether she was ready to try again. Then yesterday afternoon had shown her what she’d been missing. She still couldn’t get over the ease with which they had shared conversation, and for several hours without one awkward silence. She hadn’t even realized the time, or how empty the park had gotten until they noticed the drop in temperature. She had been too distracted wanting to get to know everything there was to know about Ivy, and Cleo couldn’t remember that ever happening with anyone else before. Not even...
“Oh, are we at the daydreaming stage already?” Lana’s laugh cut through her thoughts as she looked up at her friend who was standing in front of her desk offering a coffee cup, with a grin. “A gift from your girl.”
“She’s not my girl, we’ve not discussed it, we’ve only had one date. Thanks for the drink though,” Cleo was flustered as she reached out for the cup, and Lana sat it on her desk instead. Cleo let out a sigh and reached for the cup before Lana started rotating it, revealing a note written on the cup.
“I don’t think you’ll need to discuss it for long,Ms. Foster.” Lana smirked, “I’m going to get started, shout if you need anything.” At that, Lana left.
Cleo lifted the cup and read the short message:Thursday night? Let me know ;)
The message was surrounded with little drawings of stars. Cleo picked up her phone from her desk and snapped a photo of the message on her cup, and attached it to a text to reply to Ivy:
Cleo:When and where? :)
She placed her phone back down on her desk, knowing Ivy would be too busy to reply given it was Monday morning, and every worker in the area would be looking for their caffeine boost to help kick start their week. Cleo spent the next few hours working through her emails and making calls about various projects as she tried to keep herself busy and not constantly thinking of the amazing woman who was occupying her thoughts.
It was lunch time before Ivy’s reply came through, and Cleo couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face at Ivy’s name popping up on her screen.
Ivy:8 p.m. outside the old book shop on the corner of 8thand Keller. Looking forward to it already :)
Cleo sent a reply agreeing to the time and location, before she searched the address online. Confusion hit when she realized the shop was a small vacant property. What did Ivy have planned? Cleo was equally confused and intrigued, but like Ivy, she was looking forward to it.
The afternoon flew by in a blur and suddenly the sky was darkening outside.
“Lana, did you hear back from the council about the Gibsons’ extension alteration? I haven't received the paperwork. They said needed my signature for approval to proceed.” Cleo asked, she heard Lana walking toward her office door.
“So,” Lana started as she walked over to Cleo’s desk, “the first alteration is fine, the second seems to be as well, but they have a problem with the type of windows the Gibsons want to use that face their neighbors. Apparently, there’s an ancient bylaw that nobody’s heard of that only impacts their street and the one which runs behind it, and their new windows won’t work. I’vesent you a link to the image of the bylaw book which the council has sent for you to work with.”
The apologetic look on Lana’s face didn’t bode well. “There’s more, isn’t there.” Cleo didn’t ask, it was more of a statement.
“A few bad news points, actually. The Tanner’s build has been postponed by three months due to double-booking by one of their contractors, and they want to take the time to make sure they don’t want to make any changes before the foundations get poured; the retail units over on Fern are near completion but the contractor has reached out to question the placement of some of the electrical sockets – something about the height of them from the ground in some locations? And finally, our favorite client’s assistant has been hounding me about your response to his request for you to find him a selection of commercial locations.” Lana’s face said it all.
Cleo took a breath, “OK, I’ll take a look at the Gibsons’s bylaw issue and see exactly what that’s all about. The contractor for the Fern project already knows the plans are correct as that particular issue was discussed over an hour of life I wish I could get back. As for Mr. Copeland, well, I’ll deal with that later.” She let out a sigh.
