Mixed Connection (Cypress Lake Reunion #1)

6. Chapter 6

6

Anders

*shares song* Usher: “You got it bad”

I know Anders is speaking because I can hear the hum of his voice but I can’t bring myself to focus even though I know I should be listening. Coming to Shaken Tropes was supposed to kill two birds with one stone: meet Anders about the project we are going to be working on as well as see Cassidy.

What I wasn’t expecting was finding out my best friend already knew her or that my eyes would follow her everywhere. Seeing her here, being in her element, makes me relive all those times I would see her in the hallways at Cypress Lake.

Janelle was one of my closest friends at school, she was almost like a sister. We kept up with one another as much as we could while she was overseas, but letters and calls were still few and far between. When we were in school, wherever Janelle was, so was her friend with the loud, boisterous laugh and bouncing curls—Cassidy—and my eyes found her often while she scanned the pages of a book or joked around with her friends.

I crack my knuckles, a bad habit I can’t seem to be bothered with breaking, thinking of how those curls would feel wrapped around my hand.

During all those years at Cypress Lake High, Janelle and I only shared a few classes, I was never lucky enough to share the same classes with Cassidy. Maybe sharing a class or two would have forced me to act on our seemingly mutual crush. We may not have had the chance to share a chemistry class but seeing her bounding down the halls, talking about anything at all with her friends, she was beautiful. Every single time I caught a glimpse of curls, I hoped one of her smiles would be aimed at me. I was the funny guy-friend to all my friends who were girls, and I didn’t want the girl that I had the ultimate crush on to be the one to reject me, my ego was a struggle bus at best. Though it could be viewed as creep behavior, I admired her from afar.

Being funny granted me many female friends, just not the type that allowed me anything more than being friend-zoned. Being a teen, I often found myself with hurt feelings before I reasoned with logic. The girls in school didn’t owe me anything. Which was fine, because the more I put myself aside and focused on the blossoming friendships, the more I realized that lifelong friends were all we were truly meant to be. Each of those friendships was missing that spark all those romance movies portray. That same spark that these now-women, who are still some of my closest friends, have found and built their beautiful families around. I want to believe it’s that spark that I now feel flickering for Cassidy.

My eyes search the bar for Cassidy and I find her, walking towards a table of women with a stack of books in her hands. The joy on the women’s faces as they welcome Cassidy to their table brings a warm smile to my own face.

I’m no saint, I have dated here and there, but no one has ever clicked and I’m not one to waste someone’s time or string them along. I am in no rush unless it is the right woman. Maybe, the right woman is standing before me, passing around drinks and offering book recommendations like it is as easy as breathing. The one with bouncing curls and soft lush curves that I could grip my hands into.

“Man, how do you have it bad already?” Anders’ question pulls me out of my thoughts. “Didn’t Cassidy just give you her number?” His laugh makes me shake my head.

“I knew working with you was a bad idea,” I joke. “I can’t help it, she’s all I can think about since the reunion. And why didn’t you tell me you knew her?” I question my best friend

“You were out pulling in new clients. Then the team and I finished up here right before you came back, it just never crossed my mind to bring it up. You know how much I enjoy collaborating as much as possible with clients and building a friendship; I had no idea Cass had a connection with you.

“So, she’s the one that gave you the wrong number?” Anders raises his brows, leaning into the table. “What has you so focused?”

“Cassidy makes it so easy to just be myself around her. From her welcoming demeanor to not letting me off easy with jokes. Man, she gives ‘em right back.” I bite the inside of my cheek to stop the laugh from escaping as I think about our texts. My hand itches to grab my phone and text her again, anything to keep her thoughts on me. When I turn my head back towards Anders he’s looking right at my face and shaking his head. Yeah, I’ve got bad, but I couldn’t care less.

“So, where do you want to start so we can get this house reno done?” Anders shifts gears and is all business. He’s always been the type to need to know the plan so every detail is executed perfectly. During our college days, while I focused on my architecture degree, he honed in on engineering, which helped him when he went for his general contractors’ license. He was always an all-or-nothing type of guy.

“I want to gut the entire place, make it so it has everything someone would want or need in this area. Luxury meets cozy night in… is that a thing? That has to be a thing,” I respond and watch his face light up with ideas. I can already tell we are going to be here a while. This is why we’ve always worked so well together, I can give him the vaguest thought and he runs with it, ready to make my vision come to life.

Like magic, a server stops at our table, seeming to appear out of thin air. Her ash-blonde ponytail swings as she turns to Anders. She has on a loose, pink t-shirt with “Shaken Tropes” written across the front and a small, white name tag off to the side sporting a single letter, “B.”

“How are you two doing?” She hands me their menu before continuing, “Can I get you anything, maybe a refill on your drinks and something to eat?”

“I didn’t realize you all served food here,” I say, looking up from the small menu. She smiles brightly and nods her head in response. Anders gives her our drink orders and she leaves us to browse the menu.

Sorting through his bag, Anders pulls out a notepad and pencil and unfolds a blueprint that shows the entire layout of the house of conversation. “Let’s figure out what spaces you fully want to transform and I’ll sketch out a rough plan. I find it helps the vision become more real, even if it is just paper and pencil,” Anderson explains.

“Alright, let’s do it.” For the next hour or so, we discuss the plans for the house and how we plan to achieve them. We want to gut both bathrooms and put in a large tiled shower with a deep tub to nestle inside one of them, and the other, a large walk-in shower. Anders suggests an outdoor kitchen fitted with a large grill, fridge, and those twinkling lights everyone loves so much. He gives me a few ideas for the living room area that I wouldn’t have thought of, like creating a sunken space. It will add to the coziness that I want to incorporate into the home.

After our second serving of loaded potato skins and garlic parmesan chicken wings, we call it a night. Anders lets me know he is going to send an email to our designer so they can decide how to move forward with colors and furniture for staging. I can already imagine inviting Cassidy over, having a movie night while we bundle up under a blanket on an oversized couch. I make a mental note to gather inspiration photos to provide to the designer. This all reminds me that eventually, I’ll sell this house and buy another, continuing to build my portfolio, but I’ve got a while before I have to give my next move too much thought.

Vibrations pull me from thoughts and I pull out my phone while staring at Anders’ sketches of the backyard landscaping. He wanted me to look them over and sleep on any new ideas or takeaways I may want to add.

Cassidy

You still watching me, creeper?

I’m getting way too much pleasure out of knowing she enjoys my eyes on her. Really, she’s the only thing I want to look at and I smirk as I start to type out another message to her.

You’re all I see.

And I intend to sit right here. I wave over B and place an order for another drink and one last round of potato skins. Leaving isn’t an option for me, I haven’t gotten my fill of Cassidy, not yet.