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Alissa was relaxing on the couch reading a book when her cell phone began to vibrate. Picking it up, she noticed AJ’s number come up on the screen.

 

“Hi AJ!” Alissa said enthusiastically and reminded herself to tone the excitement down a little. “What’s up?”

 

“Hey, I thought that maybe I could swing by this afternoon and finish that walk with you. Are you up for some company?”

 

“Sure, just let me know when you get here.”

 

“K. I’ll see you in a little while.”

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AJ decided to stop by the studio and see what Nick was working on before he started over to Alissa’s.

 

“Hey Nicky!” AJ yelled walking through the studio into the back room.

 

“Hey J! Surprised to see you here!” Nick said.

 

“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on stopping by but I had a conversation with my mom this morning and it’s been bugging me since she left.”

 

“Do I want to know what the conversation was or not?” Nick asked concerned when he saw the look on AJ’s face.

 

“We were talking about the woman from the other night. Alissa?”

 

“Oh yeah, her. Did you ever find out how she was doing after the accident?”

 

“I did, finally.”

 

“What do you mean finally?”

 

AJ sighed. “Well the first time I went to talk to her, I was an ass and instead of apologizing, I actually blamed her for making me mad. Pretty much went downhill after that.”

 

“You’re kidding me right? You went to apologize and acted like an ass? Shocker!” Nick said swatting AJ in the head.

 

“Cut it out little boy!” AJ laughed as he threw a pillow at Nick’s face. “Seriously though. I decided I was going to try to apologize again after my mother pointed out that I acted as usual for me. Before I got the chance to talk to her again, I ran into her and an ex arguing on the other side of the parking garage.”

 

AJ started to get angry remembering the way Adam yanked on Alissa’s arm and caused her so much pain. “He was a complete asshole, yelling in her face and wrenching her broken arm twice. I grabbed him and threw him to the ground. I wanted to beat the shit out of him but I managed to control myself.”

 

“That sucks! What’d she say to you after?”

 

“She was crying and thanked me for helping her out. I felt like an even bigger asshole because I had just yelled in her face like that a few days ago.” AJ said quietly.

 

“Hey man, she was getting to you and you lost your temper. It’s not like you hit her or something.”

 

“I know but I still acted like a jerk.  Then, my mother stopped by this morning and when I told her what happened, she said she was glad I finally apologized and now I could forget about it and move on.”

 

“Sounds like a plan to me but by the look on your face, you’re not thinking the same way.”

 

AJ sighed. “I thought I would just be done. I called her last night to make sure she got home safely and ended up asking her to get coffee.”

 

“J, why do you do this to yourself? Just be done with it and move on. You hardly know this woman and it’s not like you want it to turn into something.”

 

Nick was shocked when AJ didn’t say anything. “You don’t want this to turn into something do you?”

 

AJ sighed again and waited a minute before answering. “Not at first. I just wanted to take care of this and move on. But then, I saw her in the street, crying, hurt and I just didn’t know what to think. Then I thought about it all night. I finally realized why her card had been bothering me so much.”

 

“Why is it bothering you so much?”

 

“When I got that card 10 years ago, I was shocked by what it said. I had been waiting for someone to say those words to me and there it was, written down right in front of me. After reading it over and over again, all I wanted was to have that woman in front of me. I didn’t know whether I wanted to yell at her, hug her or propose!” AJ said cracking a smile.

 

Nick looked stunned. “I hope you’re not thinking about proposing!”

 

AJ laughed again. “Absolutely not! I’m not sure what I want. I thought I’d help her out and then move on. Then I wound up asking her out last night!”

 

“Man, you asked her to coffee not a date right?”

 

“Not sure what I asked her to do. All I know is that I want to see her again.” AJ said quietly.

 

Nick waited for a few minutes before he said anything else. “I don’t know whether to be happy for you or not.  I don’t want you to get invested in some woman you don’t even know.”

 

“How am I supposed to get to know her and figure out what I want if I don’t get a little invested?”

 

“AJ, I get it. How does she feel though?”

 

AJ hung his head. “I don’t know. She agreed to meet and take a walk with me later on today.”

“AJ, as your friend and brother, I need to say this to you. Have you stopped to think about what would happen if you got all invested and it turns out that she doesn’t feel the same way?  I mean maybe her card sounded like that to you, but man, that was 10 years ago. A lot can change in 10 years.”

 

AJ thought about it for a minute. That idea never occurred to him. Was Nick right? Did he really want to get invested in this whole thing and get disappointed in the end?

 

AJ shook his head, jumped up and walked out of the studio without saying anything to Nick. When he got outside, he dialed Alissa’s number and waited for it to ring. He might as well just get this over with.

 

After the third ring, he heard Alissa pick up.  Before she could say anything, he said “Hey, I’m not going to be able to come by today. I’ll try to call you in a few days.”

 

Without waiting for a reply, AJ hung up the phone, climbed into his truck and sped off.

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Alissa hung up the phone completely stunned. What just happened?