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“Yes, I think so.”
He sat down and carefully pulled me next to him as he took out his book to sketch the parade as the last people trailed behind, helium balloons on their wagons of toddlers and small children. My heart clenched seeing this beautiful scene. Jordan was right to want to capture it. I leaned against Jordan as he drew. I’m sure it inhibited his ability to draw as he put away his book and put his arm around me. It felt right. I felt right, here with him. I rested my head on his shoulder, relaxed in the afternoon.
I must have nodded off for a minute because Jordan was nudging me.
“Katie, it’s getting late. I need to feed Perseus. Come with me, have dinner with me.”
I was fuzzy. How long had I been dozing?
“Sure, that sounds good.”
Jordan gave me a few minutes to get readjusted to where we were.
“How long was I out?” I asked and rubbed my eyes.
“Not long. Those people had to move because you were snoring too loud.”
I shoved him gently on the arm. He got up and held out his hand for me. I took it and he pulled me into a kiss. As his lips touched mine, a familiar feeling washed over me, he knew me better than anyone I let into my life. I’ve shared things with him I hadn’t shared with anyone else since the earthquake.
“Let’s grab a taxi to my place.” He put his arm around me, and we walked towards the street to grab a taxi.
* * *
We arrived at the front of his building. I’ve never gone in the front door before. Near the door, there was a small bronze placard stating “The Wickerson Building Established 1887”
We walked past the doorman who smiled at us but didn’t speak and went to the front elevator. He put his key into the slot that took us to the top floor loft.
“This is your building, isn’t it?”
Jordan looked at me with a smirk.
We reached the top floor and Perseus was waiting for us at the elevator door, which opened into a beautiful foyer. To the right was a closed apartment door. He led me down the hallway towards another door, which was his loft.
“Does your family live here?” I asked.
“Only when they come to visit in town. They took care of Perseus for me last night.” He picked up the orange cat, who followed us around the hallway.
“Why do you work at the bar?” I asked with a smile.
“It’s slow and I can capture my subjects there,” he said.
I raised my eyebrows at him.
“Okay, poor choice of words. I get to meet people and maybe learn their stories.”
I followed him into his loft.
He waited for me to come in and then closed the door.
“What do you think about a fajita salad? How are you in the kitchen?” He put Perseus down and found a can of food in the cupboard for him. He placed it near his water and the cat gobbled it up.
“Love it, not great in the kitchen.” I smirked at him as he found a bottle of wine. The sun was getting lower on the horizon. The weekend was almost over, and this would be our last meal. I wondered if he would wait for me every month to come visit or was this a one time thing for him. He hadn’t mentioned anything, so I didn’t want to push.
He handed me the bottle and began pulling veggies out of the fridge and placing them on the kitchen counter.
“Can you open that and let it breathe? The opener is in the drawer over there.” He pointed to the farthest away drawer from the fridge. I opened the bottle and threw away the wax. I saw wine glasses in the glass covered cupboards and pulled them out. Jordan beamed at me.
“What else can I do?”