Kara Before that moment when I saw him again, it had been two long weeks of exhaustion. I threw myself into work, accepting shifts left and right, asking my co-workers if they needed me to cover their shifts at the nursing home. I did my assignments and was even acing a couple of my exams. Yay, me! Pretty soon I'd be a candidate for summa cum laude. He was practically non-existent to me. He was like my runners. I knew I was wearing them all day, but I never notice them. They were just a part of my body. And I didn't really become aware of them until I took them off at night. At school, Caleb and I had this signal now. I'd passed by the lecture halls and I'd see him there. He'd shake his head at me, meaning Bigfoot wasn't back yet. I didn't even ask him, but for some reason he thought I was still interested to know. I wasn't. I still had his blue sweater. If I didn't wash it for the first couple of days—k, more than a couple—because I wanted to keep the scent clinging to it, I figured that was nobody's business but mine. Eventually I just buried it under my bed and hoped dust mites made it their personal paradise. That was where he deserved to be. I'd donate it if I could—or burn it, but he could come back to me later and add it to my bill. The ordered part for his motorcycle was supposed to arrive earlier last week, but Dylan had ordered the wrong part. And now we had to wait for the part again. I had sent SOS a text as a professional courtesy. But I didn't even care anymore. I was over feeling insecure. Wondering what I'd done wrong, obsessing if there was something wrong with me that pushed him away, when it was his issues that were to blame. There was nothing wrong with me. I was more than enough. I was a strong, independent woman who was not afraid to struggle to reach her dreams. And if he could not appreciate that, well, hasta la vista, baby. There were other fishes in the sea that could handle a woman like me. I was done with him. Capital D, O, N, E. Dun. That statement was put to the test after I was leaving my shift at the coffeeshop. It was late afternoon and it was the weekend. The sun was still up, the weather uncharacteristically nice. I was used to rainy weekends now, as if mother nature was playing a sick joke. Teasing us with good weather during the week, only to give us rainy weekends. She could be a real bitch. But today, she was my glittering fairy godmother. So I decided to be a wild child and go shopping. Okay, window shopping. If Tala was available right now, I thought as I crossed the street to the strip mall, I'd pick her up so we could crash a party. The students in our program were always hosting a party every weekend. It was easy to find on social media. I used to go to these things before, back when the shop was doing good and I didn't have to work so much. My childhood friend Damon had a band and would drag me to the venues he went to. I even worked at a bar before where Damon had gigs every Friday night. The tips were great, but the night life wasn't for me at the time. It would be nice to let loose and experience it at least once. I thought I had forgotten that part of myself, but... I stopped in my tracks. Wow, I hadn't felt this in a long, long time. I actually really wanted to shed my grandma skin and just have fun. What do you think made you find this part of yourself again? The one who likes to have fun and forget her responsibilities for a while? Or should I ask... who? No one. I just realized that it was nice to be wanted—and to actually want someone, but not just anyone. It was important to choose the right person, because being with the wrong one could easily ruin you. What would it be like to date someone who was actually kind, sweet, understanding, who wouldn't disappoint me and run away, who wasn't complicated, who was open and genuinely wanted to get to know each other? "Do you normally stand in the middle of the parking lot and daydream?" I blinked and stared at broad shoulders wrapped in a baby blue dress shirt. My eyes travelled up and up and took in the brown neck, the square jaw that was freshly shaven, the handsome face with soulful brown eyes, and the soft black curly hair. "Because it's cute," he finished. He smiled and a dimple on his right cheek popped out. I smiled back at him and wondered why he was flirting with me when I very probably looked like Oscar the Grouch after my shift at the coffee shop. I should've reapplied my lipstick before I left, mop up some of the grease my skin seemed to think I need on my forehead and nose, but I wasn't planning to go anywhere but home after work. "Kara? Kara!" My eyes unwillingly moved from his face behind him. It was Tita Didi from church. The adorable but shameless matchmaker who kept on pushing me to date her cousins and nephews. "Tita," he said. I glanced back to the man when he started talking. Oh no. Was he one of her nephews? "I told you I'll get the car. You didn't have to walk all the way here," he said, looking at the older woman with exasperation and fondness. She waved her hand. "I need the exercise." Then she turned to me, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "You met my nephew Thomas? This is destiny. This is perfect, perfect! I've been wanting to introduce the two of you. Do you have work tonight, Kara, sweetheart?" "No, but—" "That's good. Let's go have dinner together, kids. Come on, come on." She wrapped her short arm around my waist and propelled me to one of the sushi restaurants at the strip mall. I threw Thomas a helpless look and he just grinned, looking pleased at the situation. "Kara, this is my nephew Thomas. He's a nurse and he's going to study medicine next year. And he's so handsome and he's single, Kara." Okay, Tita Didi. Calm your tits. Please don't make this awkward. I wondered if she thought I was man-hungry or she just really wanted to pair me up with someone out of the goodness of her heart. "I told you about Kara, right, Thomas? She's just so amazing. You two have a lot in common so why don't you get to know each other better and enjoy dinner?" she asked as she rose, hung her designer bag on her arm. "Just the two of you today, okay? I forgot that I'm supposed to meet my friend at the hair salon in five minutes. It's just next door so don't worry about my ride, sweetheart," she told him. "My friend will drive me home. Enjoy each other and just have fun, okay? Bye, kids." She gave us air kisses and left. When she was gone, I gave Thomas a knowing look. "You know she's full of it, don't you?" He looked at me for a moment, his lips tucked together, his brown eyes shining with laughter. And then he let it out. He had a deep laugh that rumbled in his chest. "I'm sorry. She does this all the time." He looked embarrassed. It was adorable. "I know. This isn't the first time she'd ambushed me like this." His eyes shone with laughter. "No one is safe from Tita Didi." "Last time she'd set me up with a guy who didn't blink." He looked at me for a moment, not saying anything, not blinking. Ah damnit. This was another weirdo she'd set me up with. And then his eyes shone with laughter and blinked several times that I couldn't help but laugh. "Hi, guys." The server came and placed the menu on the table, along with order cards and a pen so we can choose what kind of sushi we like. "Can I get you something to drink first?" he asked. Thomas looked at me. "Ladies first," he said. "I'll have a milkshake, please. Double the whipped cream." I needed it today. Because I deserved it. I'd just have to run to my car right after this ambushed date and go straight home to the bathroom.