Hand In Glove

Chapter 3

Saturday morning, Chloe awoke from her restless sleep. She brushed her wavy golden hair, letting it hang loose around her shoulders. She applied just enough makeup to highlight her green eyes. She put on her favorite jeans, a warm sweater and topped it all off with her brown corduroy jacket and went out for her Saturday morning ritual, breakfast and a good cup of coffee at the Look Around Cafe.

It was late September. The colors were already out but that also meant it was getting colder. Chloe inwardly dreaded the thought of spending another long winter working at the college dorm. She felt stuck at a dead-end. This wasn't really what she wanted to do with her life, looking after college students. But with no alternative, for now, it would have to do. Still, she was restless, in need of a change. Thankfully, it was the weekend. It was her day off and she was going to enjoy her time away from the dorm and all its distractions.

As Chloe walked, she noticed the color of the sky. It was blue like the eyes of the singer last night. She smiled to herself. A part of her felt silly for thinking about him so much. Surely, it was just a little fantasy to keep her company on her walk this morning.

Arriving at the coffee shop, she approached the counter and ordered a breakfast bagel and a latte. The server motioned for her to have a seat. With a polite nod, Chloe walked over to a small table with two chairs and rested her jacket on one of them. Before sitting down, she remembered that there was a little bulletin board in the back of the cafe that usually had some business cards and the occasional job posting on it. Since she was in the market, she thought to have a look.

Unfortunately, she found nothing too interesting, just a retail position and couple of rooms for rent. She had just about given up when she noticed a posting off to the side obscured by a larger ad for a sale of some sort. She lifted the sale ad and read the curious posting. It was a request for a personal assistant.

Well, now that peaked her interest. She went on to read that the position offered competitive income as well as free room and board in exchange for various household duties. One specific request being that the person should be an excellent cook with an emphasis on healthy nutrition. Interesting, she thought. She was good at all those things. In fact, it sounded a lot like what she was already doing except that it would be somewhere else and for just one person instead of a group of college kids. Maybe this was a good option. It was safe, familiar with just enough promise of change.

She searched through her purse for a pen and paper to take down the phone number. Not finding either, she hesitantly reached out and grabbed the sheet of paper and started to tuck it away when she heard a masculine voice from behind her.

"Um, hello?"

She turned with a start to see a strangely familiar face, a strikingly handsome familiar face. Then the realization struck her. Standing directly in front of her was the one and only Ashton Wright, singer for the Stick Shift Lips. He was blatantly staring at her, studying her face in great detail.

Mortified, she wondered if he recognized her. She hoped not, still embarrassed for having cried like a love-struck fan.

He was casually dressed in faded jeans and a gray long sleeved t-shirt. His platinum hair was pleasantly disheveled and his devastating blue eyes were staring straight into hers.

"Hi?" It was all she managed. It sounded more like a question.

He glanced at the folded flyer in her hand. "I hope you're not just going to use that as scrap?"

Confused, she unfolded the paper and looked at him for a clue as to his interest in her plans for it. "No, actually, I was going to call the number about the position."