A Code For Love Read Online Chapter 6 – The open Google search on my phone for flights from New York to Vancouver stared back at me with a menacing taunt.
It had been four days since I left Cypher, or rather four days since Cypher left me, and three days since I sent in my application to Spectrum.
After Linh found out I got scammed, she called James to help with the old job offer. I spoke to him briefly over the phone, and he was generous enough to polish my resume before I sent it in. James informed me that the application deadline had passed, but he had a good relationship with HR and got my late application to them.
So, I had been refreshing my email and monitoring my calls like a mad woman. Linh had witnessed my manic behaviour the past few days and tried to help. She encouraged me to apply to two other well-known technology companies, but both rejected my application.
Apparently, a measly two weeks of work experience and no reference letter from the thief that was my boss was not a good look. Although, my experience with building my software and countless school projects would work to my advantage. I wasn’t sure how I would fare with Spectrum, but with James as my reference and my app at the forefront of my application, I had a solid chance.
I was seriously considering getting a job at a fast-food restaurant or a grocery store because the ad revenue from my app was not paying my bills. At least I had the work experience to land those jobs. I would have to find a new place in some seedy part of town that was dirt cheap. Alternatively, I
had enough money in my savings to break my lease and buy a ticket home, not a dime more.
On the bright side, James had called me yesterday to tell me Spectrum had made their decision, and it would be out within a day or two. They were eager to have the new engineer start, so if I got the job, I would start working right away. Considering I was spending my time sulking around my apartment like a child who lost their blanket, this would be perfect for me. I kept my fingers crossed because the sinking feeling in my stomach had not worn off, and I wasn’t sure it ever would.
“You need to get laid.”
I choked, the cheese sample in my hand dropping to the floor when Linh’s words broke through my punitive thoughts.
It was a Friday morning, and Linh had dragged me to the farmer’s market she had been dying to go to.
“Excuse me?” I coughed.
“What?” She feigned innocence. “I’m just saying that you seem stressed because of work and after the breakup with—” she stopped, seeing the glare I shot her way, “him you’ve been off. I think you need to start dating again. It’s been a long dry year, Naz,” she said with a pitiful look, putting extra emphasis on long and dry.
“Don’t give me that look. I got scammed, don’t have a career, and can barely afford my apartment. This is not some fruit salad where I’ll happily add a man to my mix of disasters. I’m finally living in the newfound independence I worked so hard for. I’m not ruining it with a relationship,” I argued. Newfound independence that was causing me a substantial amount of hair loss, but independence, nonetheless.
“For your information, I did go on dates. It’s not my fault they were all so…bland.”
“Oh, come on! That one guy back home took you to the movies, and you still complained. That’s like classic first date stuff,” she reasoned.
“Yeah, and he had his arm around me the entire time. I had a kink in my neck for a week!” I remembered having to use a heating pad when I got home. “Let’s not forget when he skipped the snacks because he was on a ‘student budget’. He wasn’t even in school!” I would have offered to pay for the snacks myself, but I wasn’t sure if it would be a dig at his fragile masculinity. It had gotten so awkward that I made some excuse about a toothache and skipped the concession.
“How about we talk about your love life instead?” I said, paying for a cheap jar of jam at the stand.
“Easy, I don’t have one,” she said with an impassive look. “But you have to admit you got to get back in the game,” she continued, dodging my request to focus on her.
I rolled my eyes as I pocketed my change and placed the jar into my tote bag. “The game? You sound like a forty-year-old man, Linh.”
“I’m serious. If you don’t find yourself a date, I would be more than happy to set you up on one.” She beamed.
“That’s not going to happen again. Did you forget about Sam? The guy who kept pet rats in his car. Rats are not supposed to be pets, Linh. They’re pests!”
“Fair point. I won’t be setting up any dates, but you have to go on one. Why don’t you use a dating app?” she suggested, and I gave her a blank look until it clicked. “Oh sorry! I totally forgot.” She made a zipper motion over her lips with her hand.
I had met nothing but creeps the one time I signed up for a dating app, and I did not want a reminder of Jay, the date from Nightmare on Elm Street. Most of all, the heartache from the past year alone was enough to last me a lifetime. The dates I entertained were ones my best friend forced me to go on or ones I thought would help get me out of the depressing mood.
Spoiler alert: they didn’t.
“But we are not in Vancouver anymore. The dating scene here has to be better. Just give it a try.”
She was right. It would be easier than finding a date organically. It wasn’t every day you met an attractive man in an elevator.
“There is this one guy,” I blurted, immediately regretting the words that escaped my mouth. Her eyes widened, and she vigorously bobbed her head, urging me to continue. “I met him a few weeks ago and he gave me his number. I didn’t get the chance to call him because of the Cypher thing.”
“Call him now,” she demanded, pointing to the phone in my hand. “Now? No way! Who even calls people nowadays?”
“Then text him. Right now, Naz, or, I swear I will set you up on another blind date,” she threatened, eyes narrowing.
I scoffed but began typing a text, letting Nadir know when I would be free. A few minutes later, my phone vibrated.
“We’re going out tomorrow.” My eyes widened as I read the quick reply. I guess I was more skilled than I expected at this whole getting-a-date thing.
Linh let out a squeal from beside me. “Look at you! Back in the game within seconds. A great recovery from our player after a long off-season,” reported Linh in a commentator’s voice, using her fist as the mic.
“I think you’re right,” I said, my head filling with an idea.
“I always am.” Linh nodded. “But what am I right about this time?”
“About it being a game! My issue is getting attached. So, I’ll go on dates because settling on one guy just ruins everything, and I never want to feel like I did when I was with you-know-who,” I explained, excited about my brilliant idea.
“Is this some polyamorous thing?” she asked, looking skeptical.
“No, I’ll be dating. To have fun and live like the independent single woman I have always wanted to be.”
“You’ve been a hopeless romantic your whole life, and this sounds like the bachelorette.” Linh gave me a skeptical look. She was right about that.
My obsession with romantic comedies and Bollywood started at the age of four, which unsurprisingly created an unhealthy yearning for romance. Who would have thought fictional characters could give me unrealistic standards?
“Except there will be no final rose,” I amended. “Besides, I wasted my early adulthood in a long-term relationship, and that’s the last thing I want right now. You should do it with me!”
She seemed uncomfortable at the suggestion, looking anywhere but at me. What was she hiding? “I barely have time to sleep with my job and this internship.”
“What happened to David? I haven’t seen him since the first night I was here,” I asked, curious why a man who looked perfect for her had now disappeared.
“We were never together, and I am not into him like that. He’s a friend who was nice enough to pick my friend up from the airport.”
I didn’t believe her for a second. There was no way she wasn’t into this guy unless there was someone else. I narrowed my eyes at her but kept this revelation to myself, one that I would pry out of her later. She could never keep a secret from me for long. I knew she would crack soon.
“Anyway, I think this might be a good idea to get you out of your funk,” she agreed, placing both hands on my shoulders.
“I am not in a funk.”
“Sure,” she noted with an annoyingly sympathetic smile. “As long as I don’t have to kick anyone’s ass, I’m team Naz. But if you need me to, you know I can get scrappy.”
“You won’t. I’ll be fine,” I said as we waved down a cab. “Let’s take these to your place. I can’t believe I haven’t seen it yet,” I said, lifting my tote bag.
“No! Not mine. Yours is so much closer,” she rushed out.
Confused by her sudden change in mood, I shot her a suspicious look but agreed.
“I don’t have pasta.” I groaned from my squatting position as I shuffled through my empty cupboards.
“Should I get some? I can run to the bodega a block away,” Linh offered when I walked into the living room.
“I can go. You need to work on your assignment, and I need something to get my mind off Spectrum.” I took my coat off the couch and made my way to the door.
“You’re going to get it. Stop stressing!” Linh called out after me.
I stepped into the full elevator, not realizing it was going up. I rested my head against the wall, waiting for everyone to exit before it began descending. Just as the last rider left and the elevator started to close, a hand stopped the doors. I looked up and saw the last person I wanted to see step inside.
Grey Sweats nodded in greeting, and instead of being civil, I turned away, not wanting to entertain any conversation with him. Luckily for me, he seemed to be in a talkative mood.
“Night out?” he asked after a long silence, startling me.
I was wearing a long peacoat with sweatpants peeking out at the bottom, my face wiped clean, and hair pulled into a messy bun. I looked the furthest thing from having a night out.
“No,” I said without turning. Did he think I dressed like this on a night out?
“I’m enamoured by your conversational skills,” he remarked, sarcasm clear in his words.
That made me turn my head. We’ve been clashing since we met, and he thinks I would enjoy a conversation with him? He spilled coffee all over me, and not to mention he stole my cab just a few days ago.
“Right, because yours are so perfect,” I shot back with a raised brow, turning to look at his punchable face.
“Just trying to be friendly,” he shrugged, looking anything but.
I rolled my eyes, annoyed at his weak attempt at friendship. “Because that’s something you’re capable of?” I didn’t understand why he wanted to be friends. I was fine with pretending he ceased to exist whenever we inevitably saw each other in the lobby or the elevator.
“And you know me so well?” he challenged.
“Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t dare get to know you. It’s pretty clear the type of person you are.”
“What kind of person would that be?” His tone dropped to a chilling degree.
I wanted to list the many reasons his presence was so frustrating, but only one juvenile response stuck out in my exhausted brain. I tried and failed to keep the words from tumbling out. He brought out this side of me.
“A pain in my ass,” I said through gritted teeth.
Great comeback, Naz.
He hummed in acknowledgment. A sound that was both infuriating and sexy. “Nice to know I have such an effect on you, Sarvenaz.”
The way he said my name made me clench my fists, and I didn’t need to look at him to know he had that aggravating smirk on his face.
The doors opened, and I pushed past him, barely suppressing another immature retort. I didn’t want this evening to be about him. I was already anxious about whether I would get the new job and be employed before I ran out of options.
Annoyance clouded over me as I made my way to the small corner bodega. My phone pinged with a text from James telling me not to stress and that if this didn’t work out, he would help place me in another position
within the company. Although it would be an entry-level job, I could always work my way up. He was adamant about helping me, and I appreciated how much he had done, despite only knowing me through Linh. I tucked my phone away before crossing the street.
My interaction with Grey Sweats plagued my thoughts as I walked inside. Browsing the pasta aisle, I chose a few different options. Carbs were the only thing that would get me through this.
The checkout line was long, and the cashiers quickly tried to clear them. When I finally set my items on the conveyor belt, I waited for an older woman ahead of me to pay. She appeared visibly flustered as she frantically dug through her purse, running her hand through her dark, bouncy curls in distress.
“Oh no! I grabbed the wrong wallet. None of my cards are in here.”
“Do you want to pay with cash?” asked the cashier, staring at the woman expectantly.
“Yes, let me take a look.” I watched her pull out a few bills that all looked like ones. With a defeated breath, she peered up at the cashier with an apologetic look.
“I can call my son. He’s on his way to pick me up. I’ll need a minute.”
“Ma’am, we cannot hold the line for you. We’re busy,” said the annoyed cashier.
The woman turned to look at the long line of angry people before settling on my sympathetic face. I felt terrible that this woman who seemed so put together had to feel like this at a grocery store checkout line. I couldn’t help but think of how I’d feel if my mother had forgotten her wallet.
“I’m so sorry,” she said to me. “I just need to call him.”
“Don’t. It’s completely fine,” I said with a reassuring smile and held out my card to the cashier. The woman stopped me, shock written on her features.
“No, no, no, you don’t need to do that, sweetheart. I can come back later, but I do appreciate your kindness.”
“It’s okay. You only have a few groceries, anyway. Please, let me do this.” I removed her hand from mine and handed my card to the cashier. She took my pasta, bagged it, and finally swiped my card for both our bills. I crossed my fingers, hoping it wouldn’t decline, but then a green check lit the screen, forcing a breath of relief from me.
“You really didn’t have to.”
“Please, if it had been my mother, I would hope someone would do the same.”
She gave me a look of astonishment before a smile curved her lips. Her arms came around me in a tight hug, then we picked up our groceries, and exited the store.
“I’m paying you back for this. Don’t think you’ll get away,” she scolded when we were outside. Her eyes narrowed, but the smile on her face was still there.
“It was really nothing.”
“Fine, let me make you dinner. That is the least I could do, and you can’t say no. What would your mother say if you turned down a poor old woman?”
“I’m sorry. My friend is waiting for me at home since I’m making dinner tonight.” I lifted my grocery bag to show her my pasta.
“Next week, then? Let me get your phone number,” she said, placing the grocery bag on the ground and pulling her phone out of her purse. I smiled at her persistence and gave her my number.
“What’s your name, hun?”
“Sarvenaz, but everyone calls me Naz.”
“I’ve ever met a stranger as sweet as you, Naz. I’m Janelle Evans.” She smiled and pulled me in for another hug. When I was saying goodbye, a tall man came to stand beside her.
“Here, let me get that Mom.” That familiar deep voice ran straight through me like a current. The same voice that was plaguing my thoughts mere minutes ago. When he removed his hood, my breath snagged.
Janelle turned to him with a bright smile. “Jordan! This angel is Naz. She so generously paid for my groceries when I realized I left my cards at home.” When the words vacated her mouth, his head whirled to me.
His name is Jordan. Grey Sweats’ name is Jordan.
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