For their second date, Jake picked Hollis up right on time.
“Do you want to go to Harbor Island Park?” he asked, lifting a brown paper bag from the passenger seat. “I packed a picnic. It’s a nice night.”
“A picnic?” Hollis smiled, genuinely surprised. “Wow. That’d be great. I didn’t know you could cook.”
“It’s all prepackaged from a deli,” he admitted. “Although I could make you dinner some night.”
“I’d like that,” she said. Hollis imagined him fussing over a stove, making sure everything was perfect for her.
Jake drove them to Harbor Island Park and left his Jetta near the water. The evening was balmy, the kind of night that made people linger. Couples sat close on blankets. Families wrangled children. Cyclists coasted past with quiet bells chiming. The lake stretched out endlessly, calm and reflective.
They walked along one of the paved paths that curved through the park, talking easily.
They found a patch of grass by the water and laid out a blanket. Jake carefully unpacked the food, almost reverently, with sandwiches wrapped in paper, fruit, and bottled drinks. It was a thoughtful gesture that caught Hollis off guard.
“I don’t think anyone’s ever done this for me,” she said.
“Then it’s officially special. Because I’ve never done this for anyone.” He said. “I guess I wanted to impress you.”
“Well, you did.”
Good. I’m glad you like it.”
“I got chicken salad on whole wheat if that’s okay. The chicken salad is the specialty of the Ninth Street Deli.”
“It sounds great.”
Jake and Hollis made small talk while they ate, mostly talking about the food and the beautiful sunset.
“This couldn’t be more romantic if you tried,” Hollis sighed.
“That was the goal.”
They finished eating and sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Jake started a conversation. “You said you were going to go to school, but what’s your end game?”
“Where did that come from?”
“Sorry, the silence was getting awkward for me, and it was the first thing I could think of to say. Didn’t mean to pry.”
“That’s okay. It helps us get to know each other better. But the answer is I really don’t know.”
“You said something about going to school.”
“Yes, but I don’t know where that’s going to get me. Although I did think about becoming a teacher.”
“Really? You’d be a great teacher.”
“I guess. You’re going to be a mechanic, right?”
“No,” Jake said sheepishly. “It sounded stupid once I said it out loud.”
“Why did you think that?”
“Because you have this idea of doing something lofty, so my goal can’t be to become a car repairman.”
Hollis considered this. Was he planning a future for them?
“At least you have a goal,” she said. “That’s more than a lot of people can say.”
“No. Now that I’ve been talking to you, I want to be something better. I’m going to talk to Dr. Prentice and see if she can help me.”
“Oh, Dr. Prentice…” Hollis’s voice trailed off.
“Sorry, I slipped. Dr. and Mr. Prentice aren’t part of our conversations.”
“That’s all right. I’m glad you’re getting the help.”
“So I was thinking about getting a degree in accounting,” Jake said. “Set my sights high, you know?”
“That’s awesome. It sounds like you’re getting it together.”
“I am.”
Hollis pulled her cardigan closer. It was getting chilly as the sun slipped lower on the horizon. Jake noticed immediately and moved closer to her.
“You’re getting cold,” he said. “Do you mind if I put my arm around you?”
“Not at all,” she said.
He did, carefully at first, his arm settling around her shoulders. She leaned into him without thinking, surprised by how natural it felt. They sat like that, bodies aligned, the lake darkening as the last of the light drained from the sky.
“This is nice,” Hollis said.
Jake smiled; he liked where this was going. “Yeah. It is.”
They watched the water for a while. Snuggled together, two teenagers in love.
“You know,” Jake said after a moment, “I don’t usually feel this comfortable with people.”
Hollis glanced up at him. “Me neither.”
He tightened his arm slightly, then caught himself and loosened it again. The restraint was noticeable now. Jake didn’t want to go too far too fast, not with Hollis.
“So, I don’t want to mess this up,” he said.
“You’re not,” she said, meaning it. “I just didn’t expect it to feel like this so quickly.”
He looked over at her, searching her face. “Is that bad?”
She considered the question. The honest answer scared her a little.
“I don’t know,” she said. “It just feels like it’s leading somewhere. Somewhere nice.”
“Yeah. That’s how it feels to me, too.”
He leaned in and kissed her, gentle, unhurried. She kissed him back, her hand resting on his chest, and felt it rise and fall. When he pulled away, he didn’t rush back in. He watched her instead, as though gauging whether he’d gone too far. Or not far enough.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. Then added, “Just don’t disappear on me.”
The words were out before she could stop them.
“I won’t.”
He said it without hesitation.
They sat there until the air grew cool enough so that the park began to empty. When they finally stood to leave, Jake took the picnic basket in one hand and Hollis’s hand in the other.
This was the perfect touch to the end of a beautiful evening.
Later, as Jake drove her home, she realized she was already measuring time differently. In terms of next time, instead of someday. When would she see him next? What was he thinking about when he wasn’t with her?
At her door, he kissed her once more, a longer kiss with a bit of tongue.
She watched him walk back to his car before going in. And as she locked the door behind her, the thought came unbidden, fully formed and impossible to ignore:
She hadn’t planned on needing him.
Hadn’t planned on caring this much this soon.
But whatever this was, it was no longer casual.
It was already beginning to rearrange her.
The next morning, Hollis was halfway through organizing Foster’s files when the phone rang.
She glanced at the display and froze.
JAKE ANDREWS – HENSHAW IND.
Her stomach dipped.
She hadn’t given him her cell number. She hadn’t even thought about how he might get the number for the office. Then she told herself, of course, he would have the number. He delivered packages there.
But the suddenness still rattled her.
Before she could decide whether to answer, Foster stepped out of his office and stopped beside her desk.
“Are you going to get that?” he asked lightly, adjusting his cufflinks. “It’s been ringing.”
“Yes, sorry.”
She picked up the receiver, acutely aware of Foster’s presence inches away.
“City of Orchard Park, Hollis Page speaking,” she said in her best professional telephone voice.
There was a brief pause on the other end. Then Jake’s voice, lower than usual, careful.
“Hey. It’s Jake.”
Her pulse jumped. “Hi,” she said cautiously.
Foster’s attention focused. He didn’t move away.
“I hope this isn’t a bad time,” Jake continued. “I just wanted to check in. See how you were doing today.”
Hollis played with the paper clips on her desk. “I’m at work,” she said.
“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Another pause. “I didn’t realize I was calling your desk phone.”
Foster was more than curious. Was this a personal call? Someone he should be worried about?
“Who is it?” he asked Hollis.
Hollis covered the mouthpiece. She thought fast. “It’s one of the delivery guys from Henshaw.”
Jake heard the muffled sound of her voice and went quiet.
“Tell him I’ll review the samples later this afternoon. He can pick them up then.”
Hollis uncovered the receiver. “My boss says he’ll look at the materials later today.”
Jake figured it out. “Got it.”
Jake kicked himself. Why did he think he could call Hollis at work when the old pervert was hanging around all day? He probably watched her like a hawk.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said. “I can call you later.”
Hollis hesitated. She could feel Foster watching her, waiting.
“Yes,” she said. “Later is better.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you then.”
The line went dead.
Hollis replaced the receiver as if any sudden movement might betray her.
Foster didn’t leave.
Instead, he stood there, mildly suspicious.
“Since when does Henshaw call you directly?” he asked.
“I handle intake and logging,” she said. “It’s faster.”
Foster studied her face to see if there was something more to this. Then he smiled.
“Efficient as always,” he said. “I like that about you.”
He turned and went back into his office.
Hollis sat very still, her heart hammering.
Jake hadn’t known Foster was there.
Foster hadn’t known who Jake really was.
But something had changed.
This was a train wreck waiting to happen. These two men could never meet. Foster could never know about Jake. Dr. Prentice could never find out about her and Jake, or her and Foster. What had she done? Her relationship with these two men was on a collision course.
And sooner or later, they would meet, and all hell would break loose.
After Jake hung up, he didn’t start the engine of his truck right away.
He sat in the cab of the truck, one hand resting on the steering wheel, the other clenched loosely in his lap. He should never have called there. He replayed the conversation in his head, trying to reassure himself that the call hadn’t raised any red flags with Foster.
Jake didn’t need to ask if Foster had been standing there. He’d seen it before. Men in power who got what they wanted by bullying, and then were afraid the truth would come out, that they would lose the very thing they coveted.
Something was going on between Hollis and her boss. Not necessarily sex. Not necessarily love. But something intimate enough that she couldn’t talk when he was in the room.
He told himself he had no proof. That Hollis hadn’t lied to him. That she didn’t owe him explanations yet. And asking the wrong questions too early could break things before they had a chance to be real.
Jake felt the familiar flare of anger rise, but he pushed it down into the inner darkness.
His medication was working. He had come too far to let a bipolar episode fuck everything up.
So he did what therapy had taught him to do.
He paused.
He named the feeling.
Rage. And a primitive urge to protect what felt suddenly threatened. Hollis.
But was he really threatened by Foster?
He reminded himself that Hollis had chosen to spend time with him. They had kissed, held each other, shared their thoughts for the future.
Still, the image lingered: Foster standing too close to her desk, watching her, listening in on her conversations. A man who could take her because she was young and naïve.
Jake took a deep, cleansing breath.
He wouldn’t confront her, not yet. He wouldn’t demand an explanation he wasn’t entitled to. He also wouldn’t let his suspicions get the better of him.
But he would watch.
He would pay attention to everything she wasn’t saying.
And if Foster Prentice thought Hollis Page was something he could quietly keep under wraps, he was wrong.
Jake tightened his grip on the wheel, then loosened it again.
No. Not yet.
For now, Jake chose patience and medication over pointless rage.
But his patience, he knew, would only go so far.