The Season of Falling

9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Kasey

Making the decision to pretend to date Dean did not clear him from my thoughts. It’s not like I expected him to never cross my mind again, but I had hoped it would at least give me enough peace to get to sleep on time. But I spent way too long replaying our hug. The feel of his hands against my back and his strong arms that tugged me closer. It was a feeling I could get used to. One that I wanted to get used to.

Despite falling asleep to thoughts of Dean, my first thought when I woke up was of Stubb’s Dental and the presentation I’d missed. I hadn’t thought of it once since seeing Dean whisked off to the hospital, but after being reassured that he really was okay, my brain must have switched out of survival mode, or Dean’s survival mode, and made room for other things. Namely, the biggest pitch of my career thus far.

As soon as I got into the building, I made a beeline for Linda’s office. She didn’t answer my knock, and I sighed, resigning myself to being patient, before dragging my feet all the way back to my desk. I needed to know what had happened to my best chance of proving myself and moving up in my career. And she wasn’t in her office at the exact moment I needed her. I plopped down in my chair and started to boot up my computer. As I waited, I glanced over at Matt, my next-door cubicle neighbor.

“Morning, Matt! How are you?” Matt was a nice guy. He had the cutest picture of him and his wife displayed on his desk and the funniest drawing of their family dog. When I’d asked, he told me that his three year old was in her “artist era”, complete with air quotes and a fond glance at his wife’s picture.

“Oh hey, Kasey. I’m doing good. But the real question is, how are you? I was out yesterday, but I heard about what happened last week. Are you okay? Is Dean okay?”

My brows shot up in surprise. “How’d you know about Dean? Did Linda talk to you about it?”

“She mentioned it was a friend, and Dean’s the only friend you talk about. So I figured it was probably him. Is he okay?” He asked again.

“Yeah, he’s out of the hospital now, which is great. He definitely has some healing to do, but he’s going to be okay.”

“That’s great to hear.” Matt exclaimed. “And you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing happened to me.” I dropped my head into my hands. “But do I really talk about Dean a lot?”

Matt chuckled. “Enough that I know you’ve been pining over him at least as long as you’ve worked here.”

“Well, that’s not encouraging.” I laughed, but it came out a little strangled. Before Matt could continue his line of questioning, I caught sight of Linda walking toward her office. I stood abruptly. “I need to talk to Linda.” And without another word to my coworker, I strode toward our boss.

I quickened my pace to catch her before she got elbow deep in meetings. “Linda.” I called softly. She smiled when she saw me coming toward her.

“Good morning, Kasey. How are you?” She hadn’t stopped walking, and I made it to her office door a few steps behind her.

I ignored her question and jumped straight to the matter at hand. “What happened with Stubbs Dental? I was supposed to give that presentation and get put on as lead and then everything with Dean happened and I was out for a week and I completely forgot until this morning.” While I rambled Linda gently grabbed my elbow and steered me into her office.

“Take a seat.” She waited until I was settled in the chair across from her desk before continuing. “You have had quite the trying week. We all understand that and are rooting for you and Dean.”

“Linda,” I began, but she held up a hand to stop me.

“Matt gave the presentation, and I put him as lead on the project. He’s going to do a great job so you don’t need to worry about it.”

“But Linda, I needed Stubbs Dental.” My volume had increased, and I took a few deep breaths before continuing. “That project was my chance to prove myself here, to take steps forward in my career. Matt will do a good job. It’s nothing about that. I just—” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat. “I just needed a win.”

“Your work here has been excellent. Only last week, the clients you worked with from Houser Chiropractic sent an email thanking us for the great job we did. You don’t need to prove yourself, Kasey. I wouldn’t have hired you if I didn’t know that you were capable and could grow here at Burlington Design. I don’t put time or effort into just anyone.” She leaned back in her chair, folding her hands in her lap. She seemed to be sizing me up, and I shifted uncomfortably as she continued.

“You experienced something traumatic. And unlike what many people seem to think nowadays, there is life outside of work. And it’s important. It’s important for you to rest, do things you love, and live that life. Stubbs Dental could have been good for you, yes. And you would have done amazingly for them. But that wasn’t your only shot. There will be more clients and more pitches and more teams to lead. For now, you can focus on being part of Matt’s team, on your life outside of work, and on that handsome friend of yours.”

I wanted to argue about how much I needed the chance, but I knew Linda. And even though she was so nice and she cared about her employees, she was also the boss. And in the end, what she says goes. So I kept my mouth shut, at least about that.

“How do you know that Dean’s handsome?” I asked instead.

She smirked. “I also don’t hire people with bad taste.”

I laughed and stood to leave. “You’re just handing out the compliments today.”

She smiled and gestured for me to go. As I walked back to my desk, my phone vibrated, and I slid it out of my pocket. When I saw Dean’s name on the screen, a huge smile broke across my face. I declined the call but quickly typed up a text.

Me : Sorry, I’m at work and can’t talk right now. Can I call you when I go to lunch?

Dean : For sure. Sorry I forgot that not the entire world gets summer off. *laughing emoji*

Me : Yep, some of us have to put in work all year round.

Dean : And some of us can get our work done in nine months.

I stifled a laugh. This was an ongoing joke between Dean and me, and I was glad that he remembered it and that he was feeling well enough to joke around. Another text came through.

Dean : I never thanked you for dinner yesterday. I really appreciated it. And that hug wasn’t nearly thanks enough.

My cheeks heated, and I was glad that Dean wasn’t sitting there with me to see it. Did that mean that he’d enjoyed our hug as much as I had? I wasn’t used to any sort of flirting with Dean, but he’d started it.

Me : Well at least we can agree on that.

Dean : There’s always more where that came from. ;)

I pressed my hands to my cheeks, still grinning broadly and unable to stop. How long had I dreamt of a moment exactly like this? Where Dean was texting me, flirting with me, and making my stomach do all sorts of acrobatic moves. I could hardly believe it was true.

My attempts at work were mediocre at best. I mostly went through the motions for the next few hours. I worked on some sketches, emailed a few potential clients, and made a dent in the paperwork that had piled up in my absence.

More often than not, my thoughts drifted to Dean. I wanted to spend more time with him in this new alternate reality where we were dating. And by the time lunch rolled around, I had the perfect idea.

“Hey.” Dean exclaimed when I called him.

“Hi, how are you today?” I asked.

“Pretty good. I’ve just been hanging out mostly and going through my browsing history on my laptop to see if it will jog my memory.”

“Anything good?”

“Nah, mostly baseball scores and pottery stuff.” He laughed.

“Everyone’s got their thing, and I guess a boring search history is yours.” I wedged the phone between my ear and shoulder and started to unpack my sandwich. “Did you need something when you called earlier?”

“No, I just missed you and wanted to say hi.”

For a moment, I couldn’t speak and just sat there in silence, my sandwich halfway to my mouth. Dean had told me he missed me before, but it was usually joking since we saw each other often throughout the week. But this sounded so sincere.

I swallowed hard and willed my voice to be steady. “I missed you too.” I didn’t even have to pretend because it was true. I always missed Dean when we weren’t together. I wasn’t ready for an awkward silence so I hurried to speak again. “I actually had a question for you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I’m going over to my Grandpa’s for dinner tonight. Do you want to come?”

“Absolutely.” Dean exclaimed. I could practically feel his excitement through the phone. “Should I bring anything?”

“Don’t worry about it. Grandpa always refuses my offer.” I laughed. Once we hung up, I texted him the time and address, in case he couldn’t remember, and then headed back in to try and get some work done.