Page 18 of Kiss and Tell

That sick feeling in my gut returned.

I was resolved. No more flirting. No more innuendo.

It didn’t matter that Connor’s very presence lit up a spark of desire inside me. It didn’t matter that his smile made my heart pound in a way it never had before.

I was going to keep things professional between us, even if I had to shoot him down a hundred times.

Six

I’d pulledseveral all-nighters trying to get ready for my next meeting with Connor. I wanted to have something to show him, but I didn’t want it to be anything less than my best work. After days of brainstorming, I finally threw together some ideas that I hoped would resonate with him.

I found my way back to the same gentrifying neighborhood, making a note to stop at one of the stationary stores and pick up a new notebook on my way back home. As I walked down the street toward the bar, the dark, grimy facade stuck out like a sore thumb. This place really needed a lot of work.

When I got closer, I saw a guy standing near the doorway, hands in his pockets, peering into the cracked windows. His light brown hair fell over his forehead in waves.

“Hey, sorry, but the bar is closed,” I told him.

“Oh,” he said, sounding forlorn. “When does it open?”

“We’re closed for renovations. It won’t be open for—” I mentally did the math, wondering if this job would take as long as the business brief had allotted, before replying “— a few months, maybe.”

The guy looked startled.

“Were you a regular at this place?” I asked. There had been signs everywhere letting the patrons know it was going to be shut down for a while under new management.

“No, I was just looking for…” he trailed off. “Never mind.”

He hung his head low to the ground and scuffled off down the sidewalk. The poor guy was going to have to find some other place to get a drink.

As I pulled on the door handle to enter the building, I heard loud noises like thumping, crashing and someone hooting with delight.

I stepped through and immediately breathed in a cloud of dust. I coughed violently, waving my hand in front of my face to clear the air.

“What’s going on?” I called out through the hazy cloud surrounding me.

“Sorry!” Jessie’s voice called out, sounding muffled. “Should have warned you.”

She appeared in front of me wearing one of those cotton face masks doctors used during surgery. She lowered the mask to her chin to free her mouth to speak.

“We’ve started the demolition process,” she explained with a wave of her hand.

“I didn’t know that was today,” I said.

I looked past her to find most of the room empty of its usual tables and chairs. The few booths that had lined the walls were now simply large chunks of debris scattered across the floor. Some guy near the back was holding a sledge hammer. With a wide stance and a heavy swing, he brought it down onto the bar, smashing a hole in the very center of the wooden counter.

The guy let out a holler and a cheer of pure joy at the damage he’d wrought. He turned to Jessie with a shit-eating grin and a thumbs up. She returned it with an indulgent smile.

“That’s my boyfriend, Gael,” she said. “I asked him to come help out.”

“That’s nice of him,” I said.

”He was more than willing to take part in the destruction, believe me.”

“This is awesome!” Gael called out. “Instead of getting kicked out for trashing a place, for once I actually have permission.” He laughed maniacally as the sledgehammer came down once again.

“Connor’s in the back, if that’s who you’re looking for,” Jessie said.

“Thanks.” I stepped over some large chunks of wood and picked my way through a trail of foam stuffing that had once been inside the soft booth seats.