Monday morning rolled around and I staked out Hillcrest Realty. I saw Nora’s little gray boring ass car sitting in the parking lot—the same one she’d driven out to the property the first day I saw her. I’d only seen one other person enter the office—Mr. Hillcrest. One of them would have to go to lunch or out to run an errand at some point. Until then, I’d wait.
As I waited for her to either leave or be left alone, I wondered what happened to the girl that used to drive the Jeep. She had an old Jeep Wrangler that she took the top off of the second the weather permitted. The damn thing had been painted so many times that no one knew what color it was supposed to be. She said it was blue so that’s what we went with, even if I saw more green when I looked at it. We rode around in that thing—among other things—the entire summer she turned sixteen. Listening to some old Bon Jovi CD that was stuck in the dash player. It wasn’t my favorite music, but at the time it was all we had and she loved it.
Her then blonde hair flying freely around her as we cruised down the back country roads. Her suntanned skin in cutoffs and a tank top teasing me all day long. The smattering of freckles across her nose making her appear way more innocent than she was. I knew back then as soon as the sun was down and we could find a spot to park she’d be all over me. She’d climb into my lap and we’d be unbreakable until curfew. Then we would have sneaked out and met each other if we hadn’t gotten our fill of each other by midnight—which happened on more than one occasion. I missed that girl. That wild, carefree girl who wanted to be with me. And, I missed the guy that I was then. The one who would have broken all the rules to get one more kiss. To get one more light touch to her smooth skin. To get one more good night, not good bye. I wanted those people back. To hell with the girl who wanted to hate me and the guy who pretended like he didn’t want her more than anything.
I walked down the block to the little coffee shop on the corner. If I was going to be on a stake out I needed the correct supplies—a small black coffee and a couple of donuts. As I was walking back, I saw Mr. Hillcrest leaving the office and felt the smile spread across my face. I finished my donut in two bites and made my way down the street. I’d picked up a chocolate Long John for Nora—remembering it was her favorite. Maybe I could persuade her to talk to me with a deep fried, frosted piece of dough.
Just as Mr. Hillcrest was pulling away, I opened the door to their office and walked in, a little bell dinged as I entered and I heard her call out from the back office.