I missed Calum. Not the way he talked to me, he was a condescending ass. Not the way he treated me, he was a selfish prick. I missed lying next to a warm body. I missed holding hands as I walked down the street. Having someone to call when my day went to shit, having an automatic plus one. Those were things I missed. So maybe I should say I missed the idea of him.
Calum was beautiful, charming at first, outgoing, charismatic, he was a ladies man. At the time I felt like he was a gift from God, but that faded by month two where he had me feeling like shit about myself and it ended by month five when I found him sleeping with some college coed in my bed.
Kicking him out should have stripped him from my life, but no such luck. My curse was the fact that I shared a building with his older brother, Colin, a beast of a man with a rare smile and an aloof disposition. He was nice, I'd always liked him. It just sucked that he hosted my ex until he found his new love interest.
On the twelfth of February, I was racing to my building, with a notebook over my head to ward off the torrential rain, when a massive frame swung the door open and held it for me.
I laughed and stood to the side so I could shake myself off without flooding the main walkway. "Thanks," I said without looking up. "Man, remind me to invest in an ark." Looking up my smile faded at the sight of Colin's face. "Oh, hi."
"Hi." His echo did just that, the deep baritone echoed in the large space. "Did you swim here?"
That made me laugh, he might be wet, but I was soaked. "I would have taken a cab." I shrugged, "but I forgot my wallet on the counter. I had just enough change for the subway. Lucky me. Honestly, I should know better. It's the third time this year."
Colin moved to the elevator and hit the button for the elevator. We waited in silence then he pulled out a little metal case and gave me a business card . "Put my number in your phone and call me next time. You're going to catch your death."
Smiling had always been easy around him, he was a thoughtful kind of guy. Looking up at him I took the time to admire God's creation.
Where Calum's hair was a dark honey blonde, Colin's hair reminded me of hazelnuts, not blonde but not really brown, somewhere in between. Colin's eyes were a stormy grey like the clouds before a storm, where his brother's were blue like a morning sky.
Colin and Calum were both tall, but Calum was lean like a runner, and Colin was wide like a linebacker. Not heavy set, just wide. Calum's easy smile was handed out to everything with a heart beat, where Colin's wasn't rare, but it had to be earned.
"Thanks, I'll do that upstairs. I'm afraid to touch my phone, I'm oozing water from every pore." We shared a laugh. Inside the elevator he hit the button for his floor then mine. "How's life?" I asked.
His look darkened and that brow furrowed. "Don't you mean how's Calum?"
"Ah no." my eyebrows went up. "I'm asking how you are. I don't give a damn how he is. I'm kinda hoping he'll move on so I don't need to worry about running into him every time I'm in the elevator."
"He did." Colin's answer was like a weight off my shoulders and I gave him another smile. "Moved in with some actress in the East end."
"Oh thank God." I leaned back against the wall. "You just made a hellish day heaven." The doors opened on his floor and I sighed. "All that and you never answered my question." I stepped off the elevator and leaned against the wall. "How are you Colin."
He looked surprised, but he joined me and held up the wall across from me with a strong shoulder. "I'm alright, work's busy, but that's good. Keeps me out of trouble. How are you?"
"Going a little stir crazy." I laughed and had the pleasure of seeing his face light up with a small smile. "My freelance work is slow this time of year, so I have all this extra time at night and it's driving me batty. I'm the kind of person who just needs to do something so I've purged my closet, my book case, and painted the bathroom. I tried to take up crochet, but who the hell can sit for that long."
Colin's chest rumbled with laughter and I felt a little burst of pride that I could make him chuckle. He looked at his watch and with a little disappointment I stood. "Sorry, I won't keep you."
"I have a call with my mom at six, there's a time difference so I don't want to miss it, it'll be too late to call her back." He looked genuine, it didn't feel like he was just trying to get out of the conversation.
"No worries. I'm going to pull out all the stuff in my cupboards and bleach them tonight."
Colin laughed again and moved to push the button for me. He waited with me and when the doors opened he said, "The next time you're stranded without your wallet, call me."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"Good night Allie," I got another warm smile.
"Good night Colin."
-
Two days later, on the day of lovers, I was a little blown away when a single potted orchid was delivered to my work. There was no note, and I spent all day trying to figure out who it was. This was crazy, stuff like this didn't happen to me.
