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to come in while she was working; or, maybe it was a coincidence.  
     
    On her day off, she was sitting at home painting her fingernails. With each stroke of nail polish, she continued thinking about Chad. She reminded herself that even if he was slightly interested in her, she had baggage—and a lot of it. Would he even want to be with a recovering heroin addict? She tried to reduce her high expectations, but she kept coming back to the fact that he asked her for her number. Biting the inside of her cheek, she continued to question why fate would’ve brought them back together after all these years. She sat back in her kitchen chair as she replaced the cap on the bottle of nail polish and crossed her legs. Hoping he would call, she drew in a deep breath and let out a sigh.  
     
    Suddenly, her phone rang loudly, pulling her back into reality. Picking up the phone, she eyed the number on her caller ID. There was no name attached to it, so it wasn’t one of her contacts; she cocked her head to the side, wondering if it was him. Dismissing the thought, she answered the phone.  
     
    “Hello?”  
     
    “Audrey?” he asked though he recognized the voice.  
     
    “Yes. Who is this?”  
     
    “Did you forget about me already?” he flirted.  
     
    “Is this Chad?”  
     
    “Oh, I see you haven’t forgotten about me. What are you doing?”  
     
    “Not much, just sitting here waiting for my nails to dry,” she said, fanning them in the air as she cradled the phone with her shoulder.  
     
    “I’m glad I’m not a girl,” he laughed.  
     
    “So what are you up to?”  
     
    “Eh, I was thinking about how hungry I’m getting and was wondering if you had plans for tonight.”  
     
    There was the confident, cocky Chad she remembered. “What makes you think I want to go to dinner with you?” she joked.  
     
    “I figured that we all get hungry and it’d be nice to catch up. If you’re not busy,” he quickly added, hoping he hadn’t offended her.  
     
    She switched the phone to her opposite ear. “Actually, I could go for a bite to eat. What’d you have in mind?”  
     
    He paused for a moment, “Do you still like Indian food?”  
     
    He remembered! How could he still remember her love for Indian food after, what, almost eight years? “I do! How did you remember that?”  
     
    “I just do,” he said, not wanting to give himself away and how much he’d thought of her over the years. “So what do you think? You want to go out to dinner with me tonight?”  
     
    “I don’t know,” she hesitated for a moment just to make him sweat. “Nah, I’m kidding. I’d love to go. Which restaurant did you have in mind and what time?”  
     
    “There’s this new place, it’s right off Broadway. I thought we could try it,” he suggested. “How about 7:00?”  
     
    She glanced up at the clock, “Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll look it up and meet you there.”  
     
    “Actually, if you’d like, I can come pick you up. Text me your address.”  
     
    “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out of your way. It’d only take me about twenty minutes to drive there.”  
     
    “It’s no bother. Send your address and I’ll put it in my GPS. I’ll pick you up around 6:30.”  
     
    A flood of emotions ran through her as she hung up the phone. It had been quite a while since she’d gone on a date, which excited her, but she was scared of getting close to someone again. Having a close relationship with her sisters was one thing—and even that was guarded—but she didn’t know if she could allow another person into her inner circle. A throaty laughter escaped her as she searched through her closet for something to wear. Imagining what might happen on their date caused her heart to race as adrenaline surged through her. Staring at her clothes, she began twisting her necklace around her finger as she debated how she could keep her distance from him. Almost instantly, her