I was sitting in my office sipping green tea and reading over my next case when I saw it from the corner of my eye: Julien's card was on the floor. It must have fallen out of my purse. I picked it up and held it in my hand. What was it about him? Ever since Monday, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. His gorgeous smile was permanently seared onto my brain. I picked up the phone. I hung it back up again. I looked at the clock: 11:00 a.m. He could be at lunch. I picked up the receiver again, holding it in my hand until the phone started beeping loudly. I hung it up again. I must have a plan. What am I going to say? My palms were already becoming sticky. I suddenly had an idea. I dialed quickly before I could chicken out. The phone rang. My heart was racing. I let it ring two more times and was seconds away from hanging up when I heard someone on the other end answer, “Hello?”
It was a smooth male voice, but I couldn’t tell if it was him. I felt like I needed to take some deep breaths.
“Uh, yes, hello,” I said slowly. “I am trying to reach Julien Romero?”
“Speaking.” He sounded like he was in a hurry, so I spoke quickly.
“I’m sorry if this is a bad time. My name is Skyla Erickson. We met at the Health Celebration event and you gave me your card. You probably don’t remember me, but—”
“I remember you,” he interrupted, his voice gentler now, softer. “You’re the all-natural food girl.”
“Er, yes.” I was not sure if it was good, exactly, that he remembered me for that reason, but I supposed being remembered at all was better than being forgotten. “I, um, just wanted to let you know that I thought about your bar some more and think I could help you with your market research, if you would like.”
“Go on,” he coaxed. I could almost see him leaning back in his chair. The address for his office was in the center of the city, so I imagined it was modern and clean, likely with very little clutter, unlike my green carpeted office, faux-wood desk, and walls lined with book filled shelves.
“Well, there's a juice bar down the road from where I work and they’re always putting out samples of items that are new to the market. Perhaps you could test some of your bars out there?” I paused and waited for a response.
“Ah, sure,” Julien said. My heart sank; he sounded a little skeptical. “Why don’t you email me the address along with your number and I will meet you there tomorrow, say 10:00 a.m.?”
I looked at my calendar. I had a client at 9:00 a.m. “Ten o’clock is perfect,” I replied, even though it really wasn’t.
“Great,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”
“OK,” I replied, pulse fluttering. “See you tomorrow.” I hung up the phone slowly. What did I just do? I was elated but now I had a potential problem. I called the front office.
“Miss Jones, could you please call Calista Rey and ask if we can push her appointment to later in the day? I have to go to an appointment at 10:00 a.m. and I don’t want to cut her time short.”
I can’t believe I just moved an appointment for a guy I just met. I could’ve just said that time didn’t work instead of rearranging my day. I tapped my pencil on my desk as I thought about my actions. Lorana always said, “Carpe diem. Seize the day, Skyla!” She was right, of course; sometimes you just needed to grab the bull by the horns. For some reason, I felt bolder when it came to Julien. The phone rang; it was the front office.
“Ms. Rey can be there at two o’clock.”
“Great!” I said, relieved. If I had only known then that my world was about to be turned upside down, I might have stuck to my cozy comfort zone.