Beautiful Mistakes

~Chapter 5~

Gabe

The cool evening air is a welcomed shock to my senses as I step outside my office for a walk. It's rare for me to be outside enjoying the fresh air as it hits my nostrils and fills my lungs with its chill. My usual routine is: home to garage, garage to car, car to underground parking, underground parking to office and repeat in reverse order when the day is done. I don't normally allow myself the luxury of downtime when there's always work I could be doing, but it's needed today.

It's been an incredibly busy and challenging day, made even more so by my constant thoughts of Sydney. It's been a few days since our meeting, but I can't seem to get her out of my head. I could be sitting with the engineers discussing research and development when the letters on my laptop screen come together to form a word cloud of her face. Or I'd be pitching a new project to investors while imagining her seated across from me, playing with her hair nervously the way she did at the restaurant. Let's not forget the time I answered the phone, hoping and wishing it was her voice on the other line, only for it to be Trevor complaining about the web developer, so I won't blame him when the site's upgrades have a delay.

Everywhere I turn, everything I see is Sydney, and, honestly, it's getting unbearable and downright embarrassing. So, here I am, walking the three blocks from my office to Central Park, hoping to clear my mind with an outdoor run so I can get my life back.

As soon as I reach the park, I put in my AirPods and take off in a light jog to get my heart rate going. I like to do interval running, alternating between sprinting and jogging, though I imagine I'll be favouring the sprints as I try to outrace my thoughts of Sydney. The park isn't too busy, but I can still feel the stares from the women and men around me as I run past them wearing my white shirt and grey sweatpants. After returning to the office from the gym a few months ago, Samira told me grey sweatpants were a "thing" these days — whatever that means — and ever since she's said that, I'm conscious of the looks I get when I wear them. I'm not trying to be cocky; I just find them comfortable.

One hour later, I've burned a lot of calories, but my mind is still held captive by Sydney Miller. I'm no idiot — I know when I'm fighting a losing battle — so I do what any rational person in my position would do. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I scroll through my contacts and hit call.

"Hey Gabe, what's up?"

"Nick, it's been a long time, man."

If a phone call with Nick doesn't knock some sense into me, nothing will.

"It has. These kids have me living a life that's not even mine anymore." There's some chatter in the background before Nick makes a loud shushing sound. "Anything wrong?"

Where should I start? How about with the fact that I can't get your sister out of my fucking head, and you'd kill me if you knew this.

"No, why would you think that?"

"Hmm, probably because you're not normally the one to call first. Something about you hating talking on the phone and wanting me to text instead."

He's got me there. I spend so much of my workday on phone calls and virtual meetings that the last thing I want to do when I have some free time is talk on my phone. Text me while I'm watching TV, like every other normal person, or you won't be hearing back from me.

"I see you waste no time throwing jabs my way. But no, nothing's wrong. I just..." Just what? I don't know. Part of me was hoping Nick wouldn't even answer the phone and that hearing his voicemail would be enough to remind me why I shouldn't be thinking about his sister the way I have been. But my plan backfired — knowing we have her in common makes me think about her even more. "You wouldn't believe who I ran into this week."