I leaned against my car with my arms folded in my chest while waiting for Max to come out of the house in front of me. I was about to go to the Bakeshop that Kaitlyn Harris owned to talk to her about the earrings, but Max had another plan. He wanted to check first if Kate still have the earrings on her possession, or if the earrings that was given to her by her ex-boyfriend was really Debbie’s earrings.
“Excuse me,”
A soft, sexy feminine voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I saw a beautiful dark-haired woman standing a few feet away from me. She looked a little nervous but her eyes were smiling. They were the most expressive eyes I’ve ever seen.
“Can I help you?” She asked “You’ve been looking at my house for more than five minutes now. Do you need something from me?”
“No. Um, yes. Sorry,” I smiled sheepishly “I am lost and trying to find my way back to Los Angeles. My GPS was broken, and I was actually thinking if I should knock on anyone’s door to ask for direction.” I stammered.
“I thought you were planning how to rob my house or something.” She smiled, and I felt like my heart skipped a thousand beats. “Going back to Los Angeles? Well, take a left turn five blocks from here then you’d be on the free way to LA.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry if I freaked you out.”
“No harm done.”
“I’m Nickolas Carter, by the way.” I offered my hand to her “But, please call me Nick.” I quickly added when I saw her frown a little. I didn’t even know why I said my full name.
“Kaitlyn Harris then,” She said while shaking my hand “But you can call me Kate.” I swear to God I saw her winked.
“Have a safe trip back to LA, Nickolas,” She waved her hand at me “I mean, Nick.” She laughed before she turned around and walked back towards her garage. She smiled at me again before riding her car. I watched her drove off.
I turned around when I heard someone cleared his throat, and I saw Max grinning at me. “What took you so long, man?” I asked
“I’ve been here for like five minutes already. You were too busy introducing yourself to a beautiful woman.” He teased, and unfortunately I blushed. “It’s positive, I saw Debbie’s earrings on her jewelry box.”
“Let’s go talk to her then,” I said then made my way into the driver’s seat. Max was sitting comfortably on the passenger seat in no time.
“Your smile makes you look stupid, Nick. Excited to see and talk to the girl again?” Max laughed “You remind me of my teenage years except that you’re on your late 20’s already.”
“Am I that obvious?” I asked “I really want to see her again.”
“Well, just try not to look and sound stupid later.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I laughed
“Uh oh, trouble.” Max said but before I could react I heard someone tapped my car’s window.
“Are you ok, son?” The lady, who was probably in her fifties, asked when I rolled down the car’s window.
“I’ve been watching you from my house, and I got worried because you were talking to yourself.”
Max laughed out loud, and I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. I took a deep breath and smiled.
“Thanks for your concern, Ma’am. I am a singer and was just rehearsing one of my new songs. I couldn’t help but laugh when I realize how stupid the lyrics were.” I gave her my trademark smirk hoping the Carter charm has an effect on her.
“That’s good to know,” she said while nodding her head “Drive safely.” She waved her hand before crossing the street.
“Have a good day,” I shouted before starting the car. I shook my head, and glared at Max who couldn’t stop laughing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh, Hello again, Nickolas,” Kate greeted me with a smile when I entered her bake shop “Let me guess, you need directions again?” She teased.
“No. I actually need a coffee and two of those colorful cupcakes.” I pointed to the cupcakes that were displayed on the glass cake refrigerator.
She folded her arms, and raised her left eyebrow
“What do you really want, Nick?”
“What?”
“You don’t look like the kind of person who enjoys colorful cupcakes. So, what do you really want from me?”
“Can we talk privately?” I asked in a low voice while
looking around. Kate had seven customers inside
her bakeshop.
She stared at me for a few seconds before she sighed “Follow me.”
I followed her outside of the bakery shop and into the park nearby. She sat on one of the benches, and she looked at me before pointing at the empty space beside her.
“This better be interesting, Nickolas.”
“I actually don’t know how to tell you, Kaitlyn, and I really hope you’ll believe me. A friend of mine was searching for her great grandmother’s earrings. She said it was an important family heirloom. It was passed on to her mother, but unfortunately her father sold it when her mother was hospitalized. I went to the antique shop last week where it was sold, but they told me it was bought by Joseph Clark three years ago.” I stopped to see her reaction when I mentioned her ex boyfriend’s name. Her eyes widened a little but other than that, she kept a straight face. “Someone told me Joseph gave them to you as an anniversary gift, and I was hoping I could buy it from you. Do you still have those gold earrings with big, oval aquamarine gems?”
“You’re not making this up, are you?”
“No. Kate, I really want to help my friend. Those earrings are very important to her, and I don’t want to disappoint her.”
She took her cellphone from her pocket and handed it to me “Save your number. I need time to think about this and I’ll let know you know.”
I typed my number, saved it under ‘Nickolas Carter’ name, and handed it back to her.
“I hope to hear from you soon, Kaitlyn.”
“Have a nice day, Nickolas.” She smiled, stood up and left me sitting there.
“Don’t worry about it, Nick. I’m sure she’d call you soon.” Max offered me an understanding smile. I nodded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Two days later
Los Angeles, California
I was starting to enjoy my warm shower when I heard my phone ring. I would have ignored it and let my voice mail get the message if I wasn’t waiting for Kate’s call. I quickly grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my waist. The water was still dripping from my hair and body when I walked inside my room. I picked up my phone that was on the bed, and smiled when I saw ‘private number’ on the screen.
“Hello,”
I frowned when I heard strange static noises on the other side of the line. It was followed by a heavy breathing. It was starting to freak me out.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading! :)
