When a Bird Flies

Chapter 6

"Heard you met Addison," Alice says to me as we fix our lunches on Monday. I'm surprised by her words, since I haven't really thought about him since that night. But now the image of his honey-colored eyes flashes through my mind, and I shake it off.

"Yeah, he seems nice," I say casually, mixing the dressing into my salad.

"He's been one of my brother's best mates since I can remember. He's a good guy," she says, and smiles at me as if she's giving me her blessing.

"Well... that's good to hear," I reply without looking at her and take my salad to the table. She follows and sits next to me. Everyone else seems to be busy in their own conversations.

"Thea," Alice says before raising her eyebrows in a way that says come on, tell me the truth.

"It's not like that, Alice," I chuckle. Sure, Addison is attractive and seems like a good guy, but I meant it when I said I didn't want to be in a relationship right now.

"Well, if it were-"

"Which it's not."

"But if it were, I'd be happy for you."

"Thanks. Can we change the subject now?" I ask, and she rolls her eyes playfully before nodding her head and moving on to ask Robbie what he thought of her party.

After lunch, I put all my focus and attention into my work. I distract myself from Alice's words echoing in my head and especially distract myself from any thoughts about Addison. I don't even really know him, why would she think I wanted to date him when I had just met him?

When the clock strikes 5:00pm, everyone packs their things and heads home. I say goodnight to a few people that pass by, but I don't pack up. I've barely gotten any work done today, and I want to finish at least half of this manuscript before I leave. It's one of the fattest ones I've ever edited, and I know it'll make me fall behind this week. Time passes as I edit and suddenly I feel someone tap my shoulder. I look up and see Mr. Andrews.

"Seven o'clock, dear. Time to go home," he says. I nod my head and glance out the window--the sun hasn't even started setting yet.

As I walk out of the building, I realize how hungry I am and decide to find somewhere nearby to grab something to eat. I walk down the street and spot a small bakery a few blocks from my office. A small chime sounds as I enter the bakery and the smell of freshly baked bread fills my senses. Nobody is at the front counter, but I barely notice it when I see all the different pastries and breads to choose from. After a moment, I hear the kitchen door open and I look up.

"Sorry to keep you- Thea," Addison stands in front of me, a smile on his face as he wipes his hands with a dish towel and throws the towel on his shoulder.

"Addison," I say, pleasantly surprised. His smile grows a bit bigger, and there's the dimple.

"How've you been?" He asks. I give a small laugh, since the last time we saw each other was only three days ago and I'm guessing that not much has happened for either of us since then.

"I've been well, just finished work at Harris," I gesture toward the office.

"Oh, so that's how you know Alice!"

"Yeah, she says that you're really good friends with her brother."

"Felix and I go way back, yeah," he nods his head, then after a moment he quietly says, "I was wondering when I'd see you again."

I can feel my cheeks blush at his words and I panic, searching everywhere for a different subject.

"So... this is your Man Cave, huh?" I tease. He laughs, and it's a contagious and bubbly laugh that makes him seem younger.

"Don't act like you're not impressed," he replies with a smirk, "I think you're just jealous of my bread baking abilities."

I can't help but laugh as I reply, "Oh am I?"

"Mhm." His cocky grin makes me laugh more. He laughs along and for a moment I'd be perfectly happy if time stopped right now.

"Prove it, then," I say, crossing my arms. The atmosphere has turned playful and friendly, and if someone entered the shop and saw us laughing like this they would probably assume we've known each other for years. His dimpled smile lingers as he grabs the tray of samples on the counter and moves it towards me. I take one of the samples and bite into it, chewing with a fake-skeptical look on my face. The pastry is called a Bakewell Tart, and it's actually incredible. But he can never know that.

"Well?" he asks, his eyebrows raised in expectation. I keep an unimpressed expression, forcing myself not to give in and stuff my face with the rest of the pastry.

"It's okay," I shrug. He grins so wide that almost all of his white teeth show, and I know he's on to me.

"Just okay?"

"Yep."

"You sure you don't want to finish it?"

"Absolutely."

"Think you'll just throw the rest away, then?"

"Maybe."

He crosses his arms and nods towards the trash bin. "Do it, then."

I look at the delicious pastry in my hand and feel the need to surrender, but I accept his challenge and walk towards the bin. I stop and look back, and he nods again as if to say go on. I open the bin and hold the pastry over it, but at the very last second I cave.

"I can't!" I exclaim before shoving the rest of the tart into my mouth. Some of it is still on my face as I walk back over to him, and for the first time ever I see Addison laugh so hard that his head flies back. One of his hands holds the counter for support while the other holds his stomach. His eyes are shut tightly, making the skin around them crinkle. It's a pretty lovely sight, and it's all so contagious that I start cracking up too.

After our laughing fit, he hands me a napkin and I wipe any leftover Bakewell Tart off my face. I throw the napkin away and look at him. The expression on his face is almost hard to read. He's still smiling--not enough for the dimple to appear but still smiling--and he looks pensive, like he's thinking about something really important and it needs his full attention.

"Do you have any plans after this?" he asks. A small red flag in the back of my mind goes up. I don't want to accidentally make him think I want a relationship, but I really want to get to know him. I want to be his friend. I decide to say exactly that.

"Addison, um, you're great, really. But-"

"I wasn't asking you out, Thea," he interrupts, and I feel like a complete idiot. Just because he asked me if I had plans doesn't mean he was asking me out. Who knows, he could just want to be friends too.

"Oh, no of course you weren't."

"I want to get to know you," he gives a small smile. I smile, relieved that we're on the same page.

"Want to grab some dinner?" I ask. He chuckles and nods his head. He takes his white apron off and hangs it on the kitchen door before he follows me out of the bakery, flipping the sign on the front door from Open to Closed.