Writing Prompt Responses by Melissa Nichols (fun to read .TXT) 📕

So, we’re all going out to a bar tonight. You should think about coming along. Now that your big project is done, you can relax at least for tonight. Come along, have some fun! We all miss you. And who knows, you might even meet someone. It is V-Day after all! Think about it?

I read the text from my friend Marnie as I was walking down the street of New York City to grab some lunch. My boss, who I swear is bipolar, was in one of his lenient moods and let me cut out for a double lunch early. Marnie was right, I had just finished a project for my work, one that my boss had been pushing and pressuring me through for the last four weeks, working me nonstop to get it done. That’s why I think he’s bipolar. When I have a project, he’s on top of me with everything, micromanaging, pushing and generally stressing me out, cutting my breaks to only what the law requires and extending my working hours. But, once that same project is done, he gives me a couple weeks to recuperate. I get double lunches once a day and breaks whenever I want and I can basically choose my own hours. My first year in this position he totally baffled me with this extreme flip-flop, but now I’m sort of used to it. I mean, I should be by now, right? After four years as his secretary, I should know everything about him, right?

So, anyway, I was walking along the sidewalk reading my text when something jerks me around. I could feel the impact on my shoulder just as clearly as I could feel my ankles twist and I just knew that I was going to sprain one of them again. Probably my left. Anyway, I start to go down when I’m suddenly caught. My eyes are closed so I can’t see who it is, but I can feel his arms. Their thick with muscle, not fat, and their long so it’s a good guess to say that he’s pretty tall with long legs. And judging from the lack of muscle in his arms, he’s trim, toned, with narrow hips. Oooh, just the kind of body I like.

“Whoa, there. Are you alright, miss?” He asked in a southern accent and I open my eyes. As I stare into his big green eyes, I’m knocked speechless. This guy is possibly the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. Trm features, green eyes, farmer tanned skin that would have been pale had he chosen a white-collar job, a proportioned nose and a mouth that was just dying to be kissed. Oh and that hair! What a gorgeous shade of black.

I guess I was rather quite for a bit longer than convention dictated because he repeated himself, a bit more concern lacing his beautiful, silky voice.

“Uh.. Oh, yes! Yes, I’m alright. Thank you. Uhm.” I stuttered as I struggled to right myself. I adjusted my skirt, brushing off imaginary dirt as I stalled for time to collect my thoughts. I wiped my hair out of my face as I faced him and I smiled as brightly as I could. “Yes, I’m alright. Thank you very much for your help, sir.”

“Brittany?” He asked, shocking me. I looked at him more closely. I’d never seen him before, I don’t think. I mean, my brain was pretty friend right now, but I was sure I’d never seen him before. So then how did he know my name?

“Uhm…Yes? I’m sorry, but do I know you?”

He chuckled and smiled, flashing his white, straight teeth. Hmm. Odd. I’d never found teeth attractive but damn they looked good on him. No, stop it! This is a serious matter at hand. Pay attention!

“Its me.” He clarified. As if that helped. “Luke.”

Say what? I stared at him in shock, this time truly dumbfounded. I had dated a Luke Winchester a few years ago, but he dumped me a few months into our relationship. He never explained, and that has always hurt. I mean, we may have been together for a short time, but I loved him. I loved him a lot. He’s a great guy. Sweet, caring, intuitive, kind, and always willing to lend a helping hand to anybody in need. What girl wouldn’t fall for him? But he wasn’t this hot before. He was less muscular, more chubby, and he drank and smoked heavily, though he only drank in the evenings to wind down from a busy day. And Luke isn’t a farmer. Or, he wasn’t. He was a blue collar, a mechanic. He was more comfortable around gears and bolts and oil than soil or computers.

“Luke Winchester? Come on, babe. Have I really changed that much?”

“Uh…..” I stuttered again, even more off guard by the fact that I was stuttering so much. Normally I’m a regular Chatty Cathy and I always compose myself with decorum when at work or at a party.

“Wow. I guess I must have.” Luke chuckled again as he scratched the back of his head nervously. That, right there, was what snapped me out of it. That was always Luke’s one tick. When he got nervous, he scratched.

“Luke?”

“That’s me. How are you, Brittany? You’re looking good, I see.”

“I’m doing…good. I’m more interested in you. How are you? How did you…” I looked him up and down again to wordlessly finish my sentence.

“Well, you remember I had my mechanic shop, right? Well, it went bankrupt so I had to close it down and move. The cheapest place I could go was a farming community, so I had to get a job as ranch hand. I still work on trucks and tractors, but my official job is a farm hand for the Circle H ranch. Well, it was.”

“That explains the tan and the muscles.” I muttered and he laughed. “What are you doing in New York if you’re a ranch hand?”

“Yeah, that’s where it gets odd.”

“Odd?”

“Yeah. I was recruited by a woman. To get away from the ranch and be in front of cameras.”

“What, movies? I thought that was Hollywood?”

“No, a male model.” He rolled his eyes. “I honestly am not entirely comfortable with this, but what with the money and the economy the way it is…Plus, I wanted to come see you.”

“Whoa, now. Stop right there.” I held out my hand and he shut up, his green eyes now shadowed with regret and sadness. “Remember that you’re the one who broke things off. You’re the one that crushed my heart. Why did you think that I’d let you come for a visit?”

“I know I didn’t end things well, Brittany, and I’m sorry for that. I never explained, and I was an ass about it.”

“Yes. So?”

“Anyway, that’s why I’m here. Back then, I thought that you didn’t deserve me. You were finishing up school and moving here. A white collar who’s very good at what she does and what she doesn’t do perfectly she learns how to do it better. You were going places, places here you would thrive. I couldn’t hold you back, tie you down to that one-horse town. So I had to let you go so you could be who you are now, despite everything that I felt. And, I thought that with me being a model now and bringing in a good chunk of cash even though I’m still a rookie maybe we’d stand a better chance. At the very least I wanted to patch things up.”

I was silent as he talked and I noted how he avoided eye contact, a habit he had when he was genuinely feeling whatever he said but he thought the avoidance of eye contact made that more clear, how he kept scratching his head, how he dropped his head and posture. And his eyes reflected what I saw before, bringing my own back to the surface. I turned my head sharply so he wouldn’t see my eyes shine with tears.

“I see.” I said as I scrambled to figure out how I felt. I was glad that he was here, had come all this way to apologize, to see that he really did care about me. But I was also angry. He had dumped me, crushed my heart and almost my soul. He had taken advantage of my love and thrown it to the wind. But he did it for a noble cause. He had wanted what was best for me, and even though he hadn’t talked to me about it, he did what he thought was best. I could see in his eyes that I wasn’t the only one suffering for all of these years. So, I sighed and faced him. He cautiously looked at me.

“Well, thank you for explaining. That takes courage.” I sighed a cleansing breath and my emotions settled back into order. “Do you have an hour? How about lunch?”

He looked up, the shadows in his eyes lifted to shine with brilliance. “Really?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Well, sure! Right now?”

“Of course. I know a great little diner that’s this way.” I said as I took his arm and led the way.

Publication Date: 07-08-2015

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