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9
Iwoke to the sound of two men in the other room and the orange blues of a rising sun.
“Just put it over there and leave the lids. She’s not up yet,” Jordan’s voice whispered.
The other voice I did not recognize said, “Please tell Ms. Jones this is on the house. I’ve never gotten to thank her for helping me with my immigration status. She recommended a lawyer who helped my entire family come and live in America. Please, Mr. Wickerson. Let her know how much she has helped me.”
“I will, Ahmed. But, I think she would say that this is unnecessary.”
“The lawyer didn’t charge me. It was a miracle from Allah. She is a miracle.”
“I won’t argue with you there. She’s pretty special.”
I smiled at that. I didn’t remember a man named Ahmed. In my defense, I helped lots of people with references. I must have sent him to William Hawkins, my friend from college. Maybe William was working his pro Bono quota on that case. Ahmed should thank William, not me.
I got out of bed and got dressed. Yoga pants and a t-shirt. I ran my fingers through my hair and smiled at my bed head in the mirror. In the other room, Jordan was standing by the window drinking coffee. I walked over and stood behind him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head on his back. He placed his hand on top of mine and sipped his coffee.
“I got us breakfast. Ahmed delivered it.” He turned and took my hand in his and guided me over to the small dining table. It was beautifully set.
“I heard. He says I helped him. I feel kind of bad that I don’t remember.” I sat down and placed the napkin in my lap. He poured me coffee from the carafe.
“You know, once they know I stayed here with one of our best customers, they’ll fire me from the bar.” He laughed.
“I doubt that. You’re probably one of their best employees.”
“I doubt that.” He said. He lifted the lid from our meals and sat down.
“Do you do this for all your favorite customers?” I teased.
“You are my only favorite customer.” He sipped his coffee, watching me over the rim of his mug. “What do you have planned for today?”
“I hadn’t thought about it. I usually go to the Jefferson Memorial and walk around getting some exercise.”
“Would you be interested in a tag-a-long friend today?” he asked.
I liked that idea very much. I sighed with regret. I didn’t want this weekend to end. I had my work to get back to and if we let this go further, it was going to hurt to let it go. He had his life, and I had mine. This wouldn’t work.
“I don’t have to if you had other ideas.”
“No, I want to spend the rest of the day with you. I like…” I paused. What did I like? I fought against my instinct to pull away. We had the rest of today. What’s the difference if we spent the day together? “I like spending time with you, Jordan.”
“I do too, Katie. You have no idea.”
We finished our breakfast, and he ran back to his loft. I cleaned up and waited for him. I picked up my phone and there were a few calls from my assistant, wondering if she could bring me anything from the office tomorrow morning. I texted her I was fine. She works entirely too hard for me. She said that she would order a car for me by seven on Monday morning. I told her I was fine. I would grab a taxi and get over to the courthouse by nine. They wouldn’t have our case ready until ten, anyway. I could sense the unease in her voice messages. These sorts of cases could go either way.
I would have to move here. That probably wouldn’t matter for me, as I still hadn’t opened the boxes from when I moved last time. It would be a simple move. I smiled at the thought and got into the elevator.
* * *
Jordan was waiting outside the elevator. He had a small messenger bag draped across his shoulder, and his smile was infectious.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I can be.”
“I’ve got us tickets for the walk-on-off-bus, but we will walk to the Jefferson Memorial. Are you good with that?”
I had put on my running shoes, not sure what we would do today.