A Code For Love Read Online Chapter 7 – There are times in life when the universe laughs at your expense.
This was one of them.
“Sarvenaz?” Confusion marred his features as Jordan’s eyes bounced between us. Seriously? The one time I wanted to be a good Samaritan, it had to be his mother.
“You know each other?”
I wish I didn’t.
“Uh yeah, she lives in my building,” he answered slowly, still in disbelief.
“Oh, that’s wonderful! I didn’t know you were friends with my son.”
At the word friend, I let out a snort. Quickly realizing what I had done, I tried to rectify my response. “Yes! Friends,” I said, poorly concealing my reaction with a taut smile. “I’m going to head home. I still have to make dinner. It was nice meeting you, Janelle.”
“Hold on,” said Jordan in that rumbling voice, sending another unwelcome shiver down my spine.
Shit. Was he going to tell his mother I had called him a pain in the ass a few minutes ago? For some bizarre reason, I wanted her to like me. I reluctantly twisted back as he pulled out a few bills from his wallet and held them out to me.
I stared at his hand. “What are you doing?” I asked, offended by the action.
“You paid for the groceries. I’m paying you back,” he clarified.
“Yes, Naz. Take it. I really appreciate that you did that for me,” encouraged Janelle.
“No, it’s okay. I paid because I wanted to.” I took a step away from his outstretched hand. The look on his face told me he would not back down easily. “Think of it as my good deed for the day! I have to go,” I said, turning toward the crosswalk.
“Honey, it’s starting to rain. I was visiting and picking up a few things before Jordan took me home. We can swing by the apartment to drop you off.”
A warm feeling spread in my chest at her concern. It reminded me of my parents’ protective nature and how they always made sure I was safe when I went out. I missed that and regretted taking it for granted. Moving in with my ex had severed the close-knit relationship we shared, and I didn’t know how hard it would be to get that back. I shook away the depressing thought and smiled at her.
“I’ll be fine. It’s only a block. Thank you!” With a look of disapproval, she begrudgingly waved, and I crossed the street to my apartment.
I didn’t dare look at Jordan.
As soon as I entered, Linh called out to me. “James called. He was trying to get a hold of you.” I dropped the grocery bag on the counter. Frantically digging my phone out of my pocket, I saw two missed calls from him. My heart lurched.
“Did he say why?” I asked Linh, holding the phone to my ear. “No, but he said to check your email soon.”
When the word email left her mouth, I hung up and ran to my laptop that sat on the coffee table. It had to be about the offer, and I felt like I would disintegrate before I even got the email open. When I saw the first line, I immediately started bawling on the living room floor.
“Naz?” I heard Linh’s cautious voice approach me and her hand rubbing my back. “Tell me what it says before I go over there to knock some sense
into them.”
“I got it.” Tears streamed down my face as I fell into her tight embrace. We sat on the floor, both of us squealing in excitement. “I actually got it! I start on Monday.”
“I’m so proud of you! Of course, you’d get it. I didn’t doubt it for a second. You should tell James!”
“I will. I really need to thank him. He was so helpful.” The look on Linh’s face made me furrow my brows in confusion. “What?”
“Oh, come on, you don’t know?” She wiggled her brows. “Know what?”
“Naz, he helped you because he’s into you. I mean, he obviously didn’t know you at first, but after he did, he went the extra mile. He would check up with you every day. James does not check up on people like that, and I have known him for a year.”
“You’re joking.” But the look on her face told me she wasn’t. “I haven’t even thought of him like that.”
“He could be added to the roster! Go on a date with him.” She was still going with her sports analogy. I gave her a weird look, not jumping at the idea of complicating my friendship with James. “Come on! It won’t hurt, besides you said you were going to start dating.”
I guessed it wouldn’t be the worst idea.
She abruptly stood from the couch. “Now, we have to celebrate!” she squealed, dragging me off the couch and heading to the kitchen to pour us the only bottle of wine I had.
Nadir was late.
After our late-night celebration, Linh and I slept off the entire day. By the time we woke up, I only had a few hours to check emails before I had to get ready for my date with Nadir. A date that would break my year-long strike.
Standing in the lobby, I waited for a text or a call from him, but ten minutes had passed, and I got nothing. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, although I would happily head back upstairs and forget about this whole thing.
My dating life was not supposed to start off like this.
Just as I inched toward the elevator, a car pulled in front of the building.
I let out a breath and waited for Nadir to step out or call to alert me of his arrival before I mistakenly stepped into some stranger’s car and got kidnapped. However, the longer I waited, neither of those things happened. I had half a mind to cancel on him and run back upstairs, but I knew Linh would catch me. Walking to the car, I saw him scrolling through his phone, and when he noticed me, he smiled without bothering to open the door.
I get that we were living in the modern world and small acts of gallantry were not the norm, but I still appreciated them. I pulled open the door for myself and sat inside.
He greeted me with a hug at an awkward angle and then pulled out of the apartment lot.
“You look great, by the way,” he said.
His compliment didn’t do anything for me. I wasn’t sure if gauging my feelings only seconds into the date was a good idea. I took in his casual button-down and slacks, then his rugged hands on the steering wheel. The tingle of excitement on my skin was still there from when I saw those hands in the elevator. That was a good sign, despite my annoyance with his dating approach.
“You do too. I’m glad I could finally do something other than work.” Or get scammed, but I’d rather not voice that thought.
He glanced at me, then back at the road with a smile. “I was ready to plan a whole tourist date, but I thought I’d ease you in. Something casual, like the oldest restaurant in New York with the best comfort food.”
I liked his plan and was happy to have him as my guide. When we walked into the restaurant, the old tavern was renovated, but still held all the old elements. The server seated us at a table, and once we ordered our food, I tried my best to not make things awkward.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Twenty-three,” he answered, and suddenly his dating etiquette made sense to me. I grimaced, then quickly tried to mask it with a smile, but not before his eyes caught me. “Is that too old for you?” he asked, and I laughed. Did he think I was younger than him? It wouldn’t be a terrible assumption. He looked older and bigger than me in general.
“I’m twenty-four, so this is a bit out of my comfort zone.” The age gap was minuscule, but it had always been a turn-off for me. He could be an hour younger than me, and I would still be thrown for a loop. My ex was six years older, so I clearly had a thing for older men.
“That’s all right. I’m into the whole cougar thing.” He smiled. “You’re not my first older woman,” he added, proudly.
Nope. I was not even going to touch that. I barely kept my face from reacting to the comment. “So, you work in construction?” I asked, derailing wherever that conversation was headed.
“I’m a site manager. Now, I’m working to get my developer’s license and start my own business.”
“That’s exciting, so you’ll have your own company?” It genuinely impressed me. He was young and already working on having something of his own.
He nodded, gesturing to me. “What about you? You were all dressed up that day in the elevator.
“Software Engineer. I work for Spectrum.” As soon as I said that, his eyes widened.
“Wow, I’ve worked on one of their expansions. They are a huge company. Did you move here for the job?” he asked, and I didn’t know if saying yes would be a lie. When I met him, I was still working at the scam job.
“Yes,” I decided the fewer people that knew about the scam, the better.
The rest of the night went on with him telling me about dropping out of college and moving out of his parents’ place. I told him about myself, leaving out the real reason I moved because bringing up an ex on the first date was a big no.
When we were stuffed with greasy food, and he paid for dinner, we headed home. On the drive to my apartment, we talked about our worst dates, and I had him beat.
“You’re kidding me. He took you to a gumball machine for dinner?” He chuckled. “You win. I don’t even think my date with the ear fetish could beat that.”
“Thank you. Now, where’s my prize?” I held out my hand when Nadir pulled in front of my apartment. He took it, turning it over to kiss it. I froze and hoped he wouldn’t take that as an invitation to kiss me because I didn’t feel the spark. Our conversation flowed easily, and he held a comfortable presence, but I didn’t feel anything remotely romantic. I should have been happy my plan to release myself from the attachments had finally worked.
“I actually do have something for you,” he said, ignoring my strange reaction.
He reached into the backseat and pulled out a gift bag with mini statues of liberty illustrated on it.
“You got me a gift?” I asked in disbelief. “It’s no big deal. Open it.”
So, I did, removing the tissue. I laughed as soon as I pulled it out of the bag, and Nadir grinned back at me.
“Now, what if I already had one of these?” I held up the white ‘I heart NY’ shirt.
“You can never have too many.” He shrugged.
I thanked him for it. It was a sweet gesture and nice to know he remembered something I said to him.
“Next time, I’m taking you on a real tourist date,” he said, and I hugged him before exiting his car.
Nadir didn’t bother opening the door for me this time, nor did he walk me inside. I pondered what walking me to my door meant for a twenty- three-year-old. I didn’t kiss anyone on a first date, and he would be no exception. Being so far out of the dating game, I had no idea if it held another meaning, so I was glad he didn’t walk me.
Entering the lobby, I turned back to see that Nadir had already driven off. A frown made its way onto my face.
Everyone had a checklist, whether it was who paid for dinner or held open the doors. Mine was whether they waited for you to get inside after a date. A perfect indicator of a good guy who cared about your safety.
Unfortunately, Nadir failed.
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