Chapter Eight

Finding Common Ground

  Opposites do attract, but it is also important in relationships to build a common bond. Knowing where your partner is coming from in their past life and understanding which path they are choosing to take for the future is key. No matter how different two people may be it isn’t until we truly find common ground that we embark on a journey that ultimately binds us together. 

1. Have a three minute conversation with your significant other examining your current similarities. Then continue the conversation and explore where the similarities lie in your future.

1. Break down the walls of vulnerability and tell your partner what you like about them. Don’t be shy. 

1. It is important to understand your partner without verbal communication. Spend the next minute staring into each others eyes in silence.

“Gag.” I mumbled as I tossed the book back into my purse. Celeste never mentioned anything about exercises in this book. It was intimidating enough trying to naturally weave these questions into a conversation, but now this Nottingham guy wants me to physically put in work?

I sat in the passenger seat of Nolan’s truck as I watched as he exited the gas station and walked towards me. His grin turned into a full on smile as he opened his door.

“Ding dongs!” He exclaimed as a package of snacks came flying at me. I yelped as I protected my face with my hands.

“Excuse me?” I peeked through my fingers and carefully picked it up by it’s corners.

“I haven’t seen these in years! I use to eat them all the time when I was a kid.” Nolan excitedly ripped open the packaging as if he were looking for The Golden Ticket. His attention diverted to me after he’d taken a bite and realized I wasn’t reciprocating the same pleasure he was obviously feeling. “Don’t tell me you’ve never had a Ding Dong before.” 

“What are these things?” I looked at them in pure curiosity. 

“Harper.” He took the package from my hand and opened it. “It’s the cheapest form of happiness you can buy.” He took one out and handed it over. “It’s a tiny chocolate cake filled with goodness. How have you never had this before?”

“Oh my God.” I covered my mouth as I chewed an embarrassingly huge bite. I stared at Nolan with wide eyes.

“You’re welcome!” He laughed as he shifted his gears and headed back onto the high way.

The weather seemed to be clearing up the further we drove into the Midwest. It was astonishing to see dead brittle trees slowly growing into life every hour that we continued to drive down the road. Once we’d gotten to our next destination, er, I mean Nolan’s next destination, it was early in the evening and the sun was just a couple of hours away from saying it’s goodbye.

Nolan had another meeting at his family’s store. We both went inside where he introduced me to the team and then disappeared behind closed doors. I waited with a few of the ladies that worked in the bakery. They seemed to be a bit older and definitely a chatty bunch with a lot to say about Nolan. Of course I pretended not to listen only to have my ears glued to the conversation.

“Such a shame he won’t settle down.” A tall red headed woman shook her head as she kneaded a slab of dough.

A shorter, more stubby, woman carrying a tray of unbaked bread walked behind her and said, “would you blame him after…her?”

Who ever “she” was didn’t seem too popular around here. The other women contributed a rumble of grunts in an agreement of how annoyed they were by the thought of this girl.

I didn’t realize the expression my face was making until the youngest looking one of the old lady bakery gang noticed my amusement. “Oh, not to say he wouldn’t settle down with you. It’s just he’s been through some things. Really though, you seem like a great fit for him.”

“No, no,” I shook my head vigorously as I laughed. “Absolutely not.” I hesitated to explain our situation at first, but decided to go with, “we’re just friends. He’s helping me move.”

They all nodded their head as if I were telling a horrible lie.

“Well whatever the situation is…” The tall red headed woman shrugged, “we’re just happy she’s no longer part of the picture.” 

I smiled and turned towards the younger looking woman. “So, what’s the story on this girl?” I whispered. To my surprise she didn’t answer. I didn’t want to come off as desperate for information, but I kind of needed something to work with if I wanted my article to have any sort of substance. 

I stared at her blankly as I waited for a response. Instead her eyes moved up and over my shoulder. 

I turned around to see Nolan standing behind me. He smiled, “ready?” I took a gulp of air hoping he hadn’t heard me and nodded my head. Nolan thanked the team again before we left.

Once we were on the road again I decided to give into the exercises from Nottingham’s book. Maybe they could help me break down Nolan’s walls a little bit more. 

“Isn’t it funny that we both have sisters that are married with children?” I wasn’t sure why I placed such a heavy emphasis on the word we as if Nottingham were here listening to our conversation. 

Nolan’s lip curled in as he nodded. “It seems pretty normal for people our age to have siblings that have already settled down, don’t you think?”

Alright Mr. Sass, I really need you to cooperate with this exercise. 

“Yeah, no, for sure.” I stumbled on my words as I tried to find a way to recover. “I just meant, you know, we’re both career orientated, we’re both family people, we aren’t focused on finding a significant other…” This wasn’t actually as hard as I thought it would be. 

Nolan cut me off before I could continue the list. “Are you referring to what the ladies in the bakery were talking about?”

I tried to play dumb.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to spare my feelings. Besides the acoustics in the bakery are a little more intensified. I’ve tried telling them that before, but they already have a hard time hearing.”

“Look, I wasn’t trying to snoop in your business.”

“It’s okay. It’s human nature.” He sighed. “If you must know, my last girlfriend was a bit of a… control freak. She would come on these drives with me to make sure nothing else was going on, and trust me I’m not that type of guy. She just didn’t understand why I chose to drive instead of fly.”

“Wow,” I whispered. “Was she not aware of…” I wasn’t sure how sensitive of a topic Nolan’s mother was. It had taken a lot for him to finally open up to me about it, and I didn’t want to push any buttons.

“I guess I never built that foundation with her.” He paused for a moment before he continued. “Anyway, the ladies think I should settle down, but it’s unsolicited advice really. I’m just trying to step up in my career. I guess it isn’t off the table, but maybe when I meet the right one, you know?”

“Yeah.” Weirdly I knew exactly how Nolan felt. Finding my significant other wasn’t a priority, my career was. I may not have been comfortable in the murky water of L.A’s dating pool, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want what my sister seemed to happily have. Timing was everything. “I know.” I sighed as I looked out of the window.

A few stars twinkled in the sky as the sun was finally gone for the day. 

“You know what I like about you, Nolan?” I asked as I kept a heavy gaze on the stars. “I like how honest you are.”  I heard a slight release of air through Nolan’s mouth almost like a muted laugh. I turned towards him to catch half a grin on his face as he drove. “You aren’t closed off. You tell it like it is. It’s refreshing.”

I looked ahead when I felt the car slowing down to a stop. We must have been approaching a big city. Traffic was backed up and at a stand still. This is my moment, I thought to myself. I was one awkward stare-off away from completing the exercise. 

“Hey, I think I have an eyelash in my eye.” I lied. ”Do you mind checking it?” 

He leaned in as he turned towards me. My eyes were glued to his. I almost felt like I was violating him by how deep I was able to look into his eyes. I wasn’t expecting this to be so hard. Knowing the little bit I knew about him made me question the reflections bouncing back at me. How could his ex girlfriend look into these eyes and not see it’s purity? How could someone bring life to these eyes and then abandon them? How could…

Oh shit. I blinked my eyes quickly before I pulled away. “I think it’s out.” I lied again. “Thanks anyway.” I mumbled as I sunk into my seat. I shut my eyes tightly and turned away. There was no way I was actually starting to form feelings for a man I hardly knew. 

Chapter Seven

“I’m fine, Mom.” I leaned my body up against the wooden beam in the entry of our hotel lobby. It stopped snowing overnight and the city was finally able to sand their roads. The minute we heard the news Nolan changed into his business suit and packed his bags. His meeting was about a half an hour away and he still had an hour to make it in time. 

I looked like the Vivian Ward to Nolan’s Edward Lewis. Okay, maybe I didn’t look like a prostitute, but I definitely looked like a slob with my layers of over-sized jackets, gloves, and beanies next to Nolan’s suit and tie. 

My mom called just when we made our way down to the lobby to check out. I hadn’t updated her on my trip since leaving California and she was growing concerned for my well being.

“Harper, your father is saying to stay where you are. He’ll fly out there to get you.” 

“Mom, it’s okay.” Nolan nudged my shoulder to get my attention as he walked towards the car. I picked up my bag and trailed after him. “I’m on my way to a car shop now. They’ll have it fixed in no time and I’ll be home in a couple of days. No worries.” I breathed heavily between each sentence. Running in the cold wasn’t something I was accustomed to.

“Are you sure, dear?” I could clearly hear my dad in the background talking about how horrible my car was and my mom repeated it as if it were her own words. “How many times have I told you to get rid of that piece of junk? It’s not fit for a single female living across the country.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Mom, I gotta go. The tow truck is here.” She hesitated at first and then finally said goodbye. I exhaled a long and irritated breath when I jumped into Nolan’s truck. 

“So, is that all you see me as? A tow truck?” He laughed. 

“Sorry.” I tossed my phone into my bag and buckled myself in. “If I told them I was riding along with a stranger who picked me up off the side of the road…” I looked at him with wide eyes. “I should have never told my parents my car broke down in the first place.”

Things between Nolan and I were still a little weird. After our late night conversation at the hotel bar we went back to the room to sleep and that was the end of that. Nolan had a moment of vulnerability and I chose not to open up quiet as much as he did. I knew he was thinking about it just as much as I was. 

I’d never spent the night alone in a hotel room with a stranger, so I was awake most of the night skimming through chapters. I memorized a few of the questions hoping I had enough time to seamlessly incorporate them into our conversations. I didn’t even know if I’d get through all twenty one questions. We were on our way to the next city where we were planning on splitting ways. That would be the end of that.

I leaned my elbow on the arm rest as I stared out at the soft white snow on the sides of the road. There had to be someway I could extend our time together. 

“Do you mind coming to my meeting?” Nolan asked. His concentration was on the slippery road ahead of him. He only glanced over when I hadn’t responded. “I was going to drop you off at a car shop before my meeting, but that was before this whole thing,” he waved his hand around referring to the snow storm. “…happened.”

This. Was. Perfect. I could go with Nolan and it would give me more time. Maybe not enough time, but I could figure that part out later.

“I’m not sure,” I pretended to be uneasy about it. “I’m not exactly dressed for the part.” 

“It’s fine, don’t worry. It’s not like a corporate thing or anything.” 

“Oh.” I sat back relieved. 

“If you don’t mind I’ll just go into the meeting and you can wait…around…maybe do some shopping in the area.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Sounds good to me.”

“Hey, so, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” My lips tensed as I turned from the window to face Nolan. He looked over at me again, briefly. “I just thought I’d ask since we’ve, you know, gotten to know each other a bit. Why are you moving back to the East Coast?”

I waited a few seconds to answer. I still hadn’t figured out the proper way to say it without sounding bitter.

“I moved to L.A after college hoping to land a job, but the market was a little more shallow than I was hoping it would be. Unfortunately, no job equals no money.” It was the first time I talked about my struggle and didn’t completely break down in tears or have an urge to rip something off the wall. “I guess going back home is the safest bet right now.”

“Sometimes the safest bet is the best bet.” Nolan smiled reassuringly. 

A spark went off in my brain as I remembered one of Alexander Nottingham’s questions. 

“Yeah, yeah…” I muttered and proceeded to clear my throat. “I guess I’m grateful for my family…I’m sure you’re just as grateful for something too, right?” I was smiling on the inside. Practicing the questions a night before really helped.

“Of course, family.” Nolan looked at me like he had no doubt about his answer. “I guess my mom skipping town was a good thing in a weird and twisted way. It knit us a little bit tighter.”

“Knit us a little bit tighter.” I laughed as I mocked his drawl. “You sure are from South Carolina.”

“Mhmm,” Nolan shook his head. “If you weren’t going home to the East Coast I’d think you were from the Valley.”

My jaw dropped just before we both laughed and I playfully smacked his arm. “Oh come on!” 

The funny thing about Nolan was that I thought I had him figured out, but his colors ran deeper than the surface. With each new shade I was discovering I noticed something different about his physical features.

When he talked about his nieces and nephews I couldn’t help but envy how light and soft his hands appeared. They were large with long fingers, just like any man’s, but something about them told a story of how gentle they touched. It was only after he mentioned his mother that I noticed how deep his blue eyes really were. Almost hypnotizing. 

And now, knowing that he was a family man I realized how his face sat on a perfect structure. A clean cut jawline speckled with stubble.

“What’s wrong?” He looked back and forth between the road and me. His brows were furrowed and his smiled crooked. He’d caught me staring at him.

“Nothing.” I shook my head. My cheeks flushed with a burning sensation as I turned back towards the window.

It almost took us the full hour, but we made it to Nolan’s meeting just in time. The city we drove into was lively despite the weather. Crowds of people walked around in winter coats completely unbothered.  

I was a little confused when Nolan pulled into a shopping area. It seemed like a strange location to have a business meeting. 

“Fletcher’s?” I stared up at a large sign above the neighborhood market place. “Wait.” I gripped his arm as he shifted the gear to park the car. A smaller sign in front of the parking spot read:

 Reserved for Nolan Fletcher.

“Hold on one fucking second.” I stared ahead at the store and then back at him. “You’re Nolan Fletcher? As in Fletcher’s?”

Nolan laughed. “No I’m Nolan Fletcher the third, grandson of Nolan Fletcher…as in Fletcher’s.”

“You have to be kidding me.” I let go of Nolan’s arm and sat back in my seat. “I use to shop at Fletcher’s in L.A. I was genuinely devastated when I realized I won’t be able to shop there anymore. Wow, Nolan Fletcher picked up a woman off the side of the road.”

“No, no, no.” He shook his head. “Don’t you go and think you can just write an article about me.” 

If only he knew.

“Oh,” I tried to look appalled. “You’re not anyone famous. You just happen to be related to an American tycoon.”

Nolan narrowed his eyes at me. “He’s hardly a tycoon. Who uses that word any way?” He rolled his eyes as he pulled the keys out of the ignition. “Tycoon.” He laughed. “Gramps would love that.”

Nolan stepped out of the truck and slipped on his sports coat. 

“So, is this what you meant by management?” I asked as I jumped out of the truck and followed him inside. “You manage a chain of neighborhood marketplaces that just happen to be owned by your family.”

We were interrupted by a group of people saying hello as he entered the store. He waved, smiled, and nodded to each one. “Since I’m the only one in the family without anything tying me down,” he spoke through the side of his mouth. “I’m responsible for traveling to each of our stores to get updates and make sure everything is running smoothly.”

“So pretty much you’re the Prince Harry of the family.”

“I guess you could say that.” 

“Mr.Fletcher!” A broad shouldered man walked out in front of us. “So good to see you. How was the drive?” 

Nolan shook his hand. “Great!” He turned to the woman next to him. “Do you mind showing my friend around while I’m in the meeting?”

She nodded and pulled me away to the main store area while Nolan and the man went into a back meeting room. 

“I’m Jenny.” She stuck out her hand to shake. “You must not be from around here.” She giggled as she looked at my attire. 

“No,” I smiled. “Just passing through.”

Nolan’s meeting lasted a little over two hours. I knew this because I stared down at my phone every ten minutes until he walked out. Jenny made sure to tell me every last detail imaginable about every section of the store. That wasn’t it. She went on to tell me how she landed the job and how it’s changed her life in the last three years. 

“Oh God, Nolan.” I practically yelped when I saw him. “I never thought I’d be so happy to see you.”

Nolan looked at me then Jenny and then back to me. “Isn’t Jenny such a doll?” He smiled knowing full well she’d talked my ears off. 

“Mr. Fletcher, you’re so kind.” 

Nolan and I headed back to the car. 

“Well, that was something, huh?” I gave him a look.

He shook his head. “I didn’t exactly tell you because I didn’t want this to happen.”

“Okay, okay, that was the last time. I’m sorry.” I held up my hands in defeat. 

“Let’s try to find an auto shop.” He tapped at his GPS screen. I felt my heart beat stop for a brief second. I was hoping by now I would have found a way to extend my trip with Nolan. I was finally getting a vibe that this whole twenty one question thing might actually work.  “Perfect! There’s one down the street.”

He switched the gears on his truck and drove over. 

We pulled into the auto shop lot where a mechanic came and unhooked my car. He was an older African-American man that couldn’t possibly be taller than five foot seven. He introduced himself as Al and took my car back into the garage. Nolan and I waited for the diagnosis in a tiny little room attached to the shop. 

It had been about half an hour when Al finally came into the waiting room. Nolan had stepped away to take another business call, so I was by myself. 

“Ma’am it looks like there’s a few loose parts. A couple of wires came undone, but we’ll have it fixed and oiled up in no time.”

My eyes widened. This couldn’t be the end of my trip with Nolan. I looked over Al’s shoulder to see him hanging up his call and walking back towards us. In a panic I reached into my purse and pulled out any loose dollar bills I had and handed it to Al.

“Please Al, please tell that man that my car can’t be fixed.”

“What?” He looked confused by the cash pressed up against his chest. “I’m sorry, you don’t want me to fix your car? Why bring it in?”

“I don’t have time for questions Al! Just take the money for your time and tell the man my car can't be fixed!”

Al mumbled under his breath as he collected the money and shoved it into his overall pockets. “Well, okay then…” 

Nolan walked in and noticed the devastated look on my face. “What’s wrong? How long will it take?”

“I’m sorry sir, but it looks like the car can’t be fixed.” Al did a horrible job at sounding convincing if you ask me, but Nolan seemed to buy it.

“What?” He looked at me confused and then back at Al. “There has to be something you can do?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Al looked at me and shook his head before he walked away.

“That was weird.” Nolan stood motionless. 

“What am I going to do?” I sat back down and held my head in my hands. “How am I suppose to get home now? My parents were so right.”

Nolan walked back and forth until he came up with an idea. “Hey, you said your dad would be able to fly here right? Maybe he can come and you could box up your stuff to ship there?”

Thankfully my hands were covering my eyes as I rolled them. Nolan wasn’t as stupid as most guys I knew. Damn him for being logical.

“Wait, you said you have a stop in New Hampshire right?” 

Nolan nodded. 

“You think you could swing a state over to drop me off?”

He laughed uneasily. “I have quiet a few stops to go before I get there. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to wait that long. Your family will be worried.”

“It’s no big deal.” I brushed off his comment. “Besides having my dad come out here would be a waste. Not to mention how expensive shipping these boxes would be.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess if you don’t mind the long trip than I don’t mind the company.”

“Deal.” 

Chapter Six

I stood at the front door of our hotel. I would have stormed out, but the weather was only getting worse. Instead I folded my arms and angrily stared outside. I’d never felt so violated before. To think that another human being had gone through my things as I sat inches away in a death like slumber. It made my skin crawl with discomfort. I couldn’t help and snarl my lips just thinking about it. 

I inhaled a deep breath when I heard Nolan behind me. 

“Harper.” His tone was low as if he were testing the waters. Maybe he thought I would have calmed down by now. I mean he did wait a good fifteen minutes before he came down here. “Look, I know you’re mad, but I didn’t mean to piss you off.”

I spun around with my arms still folded. “You didn’t mean to piss me off?” I growled. “You didn’t have my consent, Nolan.”

“Whoa!” He held up his hands with an uneasy look on his face. A young, slightly chubby, blond woman and a scrawny brown haired man who were sitting nearby in the lobby turned their ears towards us. “You’re making it sound a lot worse.”

The blond woman rose from her seat with furrowed brows and walked towards us. She was wearing a low cut t-shirt over sweat pants that were tucked into her boots. The closer she was walking she no longer looked as young. The harsh spotlights in the lobby shined on her revealing slight wrinkles around her eyes. She grabbed my arm and gently turned me towards her. “Is this man bothering you, miss?”

I was pleasantly surprised to see a woman coming to the side of another woman in distress. I unfolded my arms and grabbed her hand back and with the most sincere look responded, “Thank you for asking, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

She lifted her brows and gave me a good look. I nodded as if we were speaking in some secret silent language. “Okay,” she let go of my hand and began to slowly walk away. “We’re in room 805 if you need anything.” Our eyes were locked for a couple of seconds. “Anything.”

I smiled and nodded again. She went back to sitting in the lobby with her husband. Or at least I assumed he was by the chunky rock on her finger.

“See,” Nolan whispered hoping the couple couldn’t hear us. “I told you you’re making this into a bigger deal.” His anger and frustration was slowly building until we were equally irritated. “I was just trying to help you out. If you can’t see that by now, then I’m sorry. We can just part ways from here.” He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out the hotel room key. 

I never thought I was an emotional person, until Celeste proved to me I was. There were so many times I could have broken down and cried back when I was trying to make it in Los Angeles. Instead, I would roll my eyes and rant about how annoyed I was. “For someone who claims to have a dark soul, you’re pretty emotional.” She said to me one night when I waltzed into her apartment after an interview had gone bad. “You would think it wouldn’t bother you.” I spent the next five minutes explaining that I really didn’t care, that the interviewers were stupid, and their publication wasn’t worthy of my work. They were the ones missing out, not me. Celeste looked at me and smiled. “Think about what you’re saying. Before your interview you were excited and said this was your dream company. Now, they’re the worst people ever? Why? Because they took something away from you and it sparked an emotion. You’re so consumed with it that you can’t think of anything else.” Of course I rolled my eyes. “Just because you aren’t crying or showing your sadness in a more traditional way doesn’t mean being annoyed, irritated, and angry aren’t valid emotions.” This all happened around the time Celeste was reading Dr. Phil’s new book. Let’s just say I got a lot of unsolicited advice. 

Celeste’s words didn’t really resonate until this moment. I was so consumed in my anger and annoyance I hadn’t even realized how our conversation might have sounded. I watched as Nolan pulled out the hotel room key and handed it to me. Maybe he was just helping out like he said he was. Why was it so hard for me to believe that there are good people out there? 

My lungs let out a burst of air that filled my closed mouth and ejected through my nostrils. Nolan’s brows tensed as he looked up at me. I bit my lips to stop them from curling up, but I couldn’t. They quivered rapidly as my cheek muscles spasmed. An unattractive rumbling escaped my mouth. I could feel my face burning with embarrassment. I inhaled sharply as I covered my face with my hands.

“Are you…crying?” Nolan sounded confused.

I really couldn’t help it now. I tried to stop myself, but it backfired. I snorted with laughter until my eyes watered.

Nolan’s confusion turned right into a frightful concern. “Are you laughing? This really isn’t funny.”

I couldn’t answer the question because I didn’t know why I was laughing. Everything that had built up inside of me was finally pouring out. From my eviction notice, to my car breaking down, to being stuck in a hotel room with a complete stranger. This could only be my life.

“I’m sorry.” I gasped for a breath and tried to calm myself down as I wiped the tears from my cheeks. “I just realized what our conversation must have sounded like.”

Nolan’s fingers ran through his hair as he tried to understand what was going on.

I inhaled a long breath this time and composed myself. It was really taking some distance from Celeste to realize just how much of an affect she had on me. So, I did exactly what I didn’t want to do. I let my frustration go. “I’m sorry, Nolan. I let my anger get the best of me. Even though I still don’t know you that well I’m sure your intentions were good.”

It was Nolan’s turn to start laughing. His was more of an uncomfortable laugh. “Wait, are you being serious?” I forced the corners of my lips up and nodded my head. “You are bat shit crazy, woman! My God, you were just yelling at me five minutes ago, burst into laughter, and now you’re apologizing?”

“I’m trying to be the better person.”

“Well, okay then.” He tensed his lips and shrugged his shoulders. 

“Okay then.” I mimicked his stale expression. “I’m just gonna go to the hotel bar now. I could really use a drink.” I handed the hotel room key back to Nolan and walked away.

By the looks of the empty bar room it was hard to believe the hotel was fully packed with guests. There was a few people scattered around, but the bar itself was empty. There wasn’t even a bartender in sight. I grabbed a stool and sat down anyway.

As I waited to order my drink I pulled out my phone. There weren’t any messages or missed calls. No, “How’s the drive, Harper?” Or, “haven’t heard from you in a while. Is everything okay?” I sighed as I shut the screen off and laid my phone down. This was only the outcome of being antisocial all those years. Putting my career, or lack of, before everything else. Now, when I’m feeling the most vulnerable, I have no one to check up on me. 

“Can we get two Old Fashions over here?” I spun around surprised to see Nolan pulling up a stool next to me. His knuckles knocked the wooden bar so loudly my eyes began to squint from the noise. Just like magic a bartender popped out of the back, “sure thing,” he nodded and proceeded to make our drinks.

“Wow,” I mumbled as I slumped back into my seat, “wish I knew that trick.”

“You learn a thing or two when you have to travel for work from city to city and bar to bar.” He smiled and winked. Nolan must have sipped on the same realization I had earlier. He came here as a completely different person from ten minutes ago. I heard him take a long drag of air in through his nose. “I apologize for going through your things. I was only trying to find something that could help me help you.”

“I know.” I pushed my hair that was falling along my face behind my ears to see him better. “I’m just a hot head. I can't stand to have my privacy invaded. I guess I'm a true Scorpio. I like to do this thing where I explode and then think and rationalize after the damage is done.”

Nolan’s eyes widened as he looked away. “Yeah, no kidding.”

We both laughed. It wasn’t like the forced laughs we’d been sharing. More of a genuine, I’m putting my guard down, type of laugh. 

“So, if you're traveling for work, why drive everywhere?”

A few seconds of silence passed before the bartender handed us our drinks. We clinked our glasses and took a sip. My face cringed as I forced myself to not spit all over the place. 

Nolan laughed at my expression. “What, you’ve never had an Old Fashion before?” 

I grunted. “I usually like my alcohol masked with fruit flavoring.”

“Ah, like most women. I should’ve guessed.” He proceeded to drink as if it were water. His glass was empty by the time he set it back down on the bar. “I grew up in a small town in South Carolina. It’s just like how you hear where every body knows each other. I don’t know much about my birth mother except that she was a beauty queen. Every one in town talks about what a sight she was. She married my dad when they were still pretty young. Anyway, three children and some years later she realized life as a housewife wasn’t for her, so she packed up her stuff and left. I was two at the time and it wasn’t until after my seventh birthday that my dad married someone else. She’s the only mother I’ve known. But, when things around me become too consistent I begin to close myself off and suddenly I understand why my mother did what she did. I’m sure she’s a lovely woman, but it feels like I’m siding with the villain. Like, maybe one day I could do the same.” Nolan waved his hand to catch the bartenders attention and gestured for another round of drinks.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Nolan.”

“I’m not telling you this for your sympathy or anything.” He smiled shyly as he stared down at his empty glass. “I’ve been giving you the short end of my answers for all those random questions you’ve been asking me and it looks like we might be here a while." I shrugged uncomfortably as I realized I wasn't so sly with my investigative skills. "When I travel for work flying from place to place makes things so easy, so routine. I drive because one wrong turn can lead to a new adventure. Something that let’s me appreciate the highs and the lows. I guess, in more cliche terms, I travel to break out of the norm.”

The bartender brought us over a new set of drinks. I knew exactly why Nolan was opening up to me. He knew I would catch on eventually and I did. We were two vulnerable souls sitting in at an empty bar. I held my drink in my hand and looked over at him. Maybe, it was the bourbon, but something made me feel like I was doing this for more than just to test a stupid theory.

We clinked our glasses as I whispered, “to new adventures.”

Chapter Five

I sat in a tiny arm chair in a quiet hotel lobby. My eyes were pacing back and forth as I watched a very stressed Nolan walking from one corner of the lobby to the other. His hands occasionally made wide gestures as he talked on the phone. Talk is too calm of a word. He definitely wasn’t talking. Maybe aggressively speaking to someone on the phone would better describe the type of conversation he was having. 

It had already been an hour since we’d gotten here. An unexpected winter storm had shut down the city closing the main highway through town. I couldn’t help but wonder if this would have happened had I not been here. So far I seemed to have been bringing all the bad luck from California with me.

I walked up to the lobby desk to see how much progress they’d made. “Excuse me,” a young women looked up at me surprised. Although, the longer I stared at her the quicker I realized she wasn’t surprised, but that her French braid was tied a little too tight. “Do you know if the room is ready yet?”

She nodded her head and raced her fingers crossed the keyboard. “Not yet, ma’am. We’re still trying to find available rooms. It looks like most of them booked up just before you came in.”

I huffed as I leaned my elbows onto the desk defeated.

“I guess everyone's taking caution of this storm. We haven’t had any extreme weather like this in years.”

“You don’t say.” I rolled my eyes realizing that it was in fact my horrible luck that landed us in the position. “Thanks anyway.”

“No problem.” A soft smile stretched across her cheeks as she continued on with her work. 

I took my bag and went back to my arm chair. Nolan was sitting on a couch now on the other end of the hotel. He seemed to have relaxed a bit more than before. I took this opportunity to pull Twenty One Questions out of my purse. I skimmed through the first few pages and found the next question. 

     Do you ever practice what you’re going to say before talking on the phone? Why or why not?

The question couldn’t have been more perfect. After my last attempt of asking a random question I needed a good leeway into this next one. 

I glanced up when I heard the noise of shoes against the floor. Nolan had finished his conversation and was walking towards me. He sighed heavily as his body plopped down in the arm chair across from mine. I hurried to close my book and toss it back in my bag.

“Any updates?” He asked. 

“Not yet.” I shook my head. “Most of the rooms booked up before we got here.”

“Great.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he stared at his phone. “There isn’t another hotel for ten more miles. I doubt we’ll be able to leave now.” We both looked over our shoulders out the window. “It looks like it’s getting worse.”

Just then the young woman from the front desk called for our attention. “Excuse me, mister, your room is available now.”

“Room?” Nolan asked as he made his way to her. 

“Yes, I’m sorry we only have one room available at the moment. It’s a double occupancy room if that makes any difference.” Her brows furrowed with anticipation of Nolan’s reaction. 

“We need two rooms. One isn’t going to work.”

“Yes, but this is the last room we have available.” Her voice was becoming softer with each word. “We’re at full capacity for the night.”

Nolan closed his eyes for a couple of seconds before he turned to me. “Are you okay with sharing a room?” 

“I would prefer not to,” the expression on his face seemed exhausted. “But if it’s our only option.”

“Okay, here’s your key card. It’s on the fifth floor. Our elevators are out of service, so you’ll have to take the back stairwell up.”

Nolan and I exchanged a single glance. A simple act of kindness from his end was turning into a major regret, or at least I could assume it was. 

It took us a couple of minutes, but we finally made it up five flights of stairs with our overnight bags. I was embarrassingly out of breath. Looking over at Nolan the travel up didn’t seem to wind him as much. I made sure to stay a few steps behind him as I inhaled a deep breath to  bring my heart rate to a normal range. I was hoping Nolan wouldn’t turn around because this wasn’t a pretty sight. I really should have taken Celeste up on all those attempts of trying to get me to workout with her.

Our room wasn’t as big as I thought a double occupancy room would be. It was small and severely outdated. Nolan pulled the window curtains and a smoke cloud of dust erupted. We both coughed covering our mouths. 

“Do you mind if I open up the window for a bit?” He asked in between gasping breaths. I nodded my head trying hard not to open my mouth. 

He struggled at first, but then pulled the window all the way up. A gust of freezing air filled the room. My fingers crawled up from my mouth to covering my whole face. I reached down to grab my coat and threw it over my shoulders. 

“It took them over an hour to find us a room that looks like it hasn’t been used in this century.” Nolan mumbled. 

The sun had already set by the time we dusted out our room and closed the window. The cold air still lingered through the room and beneath my skin. I sat on my bed wrapped in layers of scarves and my blanket, as dirty as it might have been. We couldn’t get very far outside so we decided to order room service.

“I’ll have the rib eye steak, a side of french fries, a slice of chocolate cake, oh maybe I should order a Cesar salad to balance it out. Yeah, yeah, definitely add a Cesar salad.” Nolan turned to me. “What do you want?” He asked. My eyes were bulging out of their sockets realizing all of that food was just for him. 

“Just the chicken Alfredo is fine.”

Once he hung up the phone I debated on when I should bring up the next question. It almost seemed a bit ridiculous. What did this Alexander Nottingham guy think when he came up with these random questions. How was knowing when the last time Nolan sang or how he prepared for a phone call suppose to make him fall in love with me? 

“So, is everything alright?” I asked Nolan. He looked at me unsure. “You seemed a little stressed when you were on the phone earlier in the lobby.”

“Oh.” He brushed off my question and went back to whatever it was he was doing on his laptop. “Just business. You know how it goes.”

This was my chance to casually bring it up. “Do you ever practice what you’re going to say on the phone?” I tried not to look at him when I said it. I noticed him look up at me for a second and realize that the level of importance for the question wasn’t very high.

“I guess sometimes.” He shrugged.

“Like when?” 

He turned towards me completely this time leaning his chin on the palm of his hand. “Maybe when I’m talking to someone in a higher position than myself. That isn’t very often though.” His eyes looked up at me again. “Do you ever do that?”

I stayed quiet for a moment. “I guess If I know I’m going to be called for an interview.”

“What is it that you do again?”

I furrowed my brows suddenly remembered this morning at the diner when Nolan let it slip that he knew I was a writer. “I’m a writer, but how did you know that?”

“How did I know what?” He looked away.

“That I was a writer. I mean, it isn’t very obvious when someone is a writer.” I slung my legs over the bed and stared at him.

“I…I…” He stumbled on his words as he tried to figure out what to say. He shut his laptop and finally confessed. “When I found your car on the side of the road I tried tapping on the glass. You didn’t move so I tried opening the doors. The only one unlocked was the back door. A few of your things fell out, so I just looked over them to see if I could find anything out. You know, maybe some personal information in case I needed to call someone. The papers were some that you had written. Plus, all the books and the nagging questions. I figured you were a writer.”

“Nagging questions?” My eyebrows were half way hiked up. “I’m sorry I don’t just jump on road trips with random strangers.” I huffed as I crossed my arms.

“Well” Nolan shrugged. “We don’t exactly know each other and we’re in a hotel room together.”

“I could say the same about you.” My patience was wearing thin. “I can’t believe you opened up my car door and went through my things. Do you not understand how violating that is?” I grabbed my head as my thoughts spun around. “Oh my God. What am I doing here?”

“Okay, take it easy. I was just looking out for you.”

“Looking out for me? How do I know you didn’t do more than that? How do I know this wasn’t your plan all along? How do I know you're really taking me where you said you're taking me” I felt my breath becoming shorter with each realizing thought. “I need to get out of here.” I grabbed my bag and shuffled past Nolan.

He stood up trying to stop me. “Wait!” He held out his arm, but I ignored him. 

I flung the hotel door open and ran right into the bell hop’s tray of our food.