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Authors: Tara Mills
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rocker down in a service elevator for them. Wes took off to bring his car around to the service entrance and together, he and Lauren loaded the chair into the back. Unfortunately he underestimated his trunk space, or maybe it was simply the shape of the chair. Regardless, they needed bungee cords to hold the trunk closed.
When Wes dropped Lauren at her apartment thirty minutes later, they shared another awkward goodbye. As he drove away, he wondered if it would ever get easier.
* * * *
Lauren walked into the bathroom and scrutinized herself in the mirror. All in all it wasn’t a bad face. Her bone structure was good, her eyes wide and intelligent, and her skin had a healthy luster, but there was something missing. She played with expressions; pouting, pursing, performing for the mirror. Then she smiled and had her answer. There was no warmth, no spirit in her smile. Her eyes were flat, her smiles rare, and it showed.
Disappointed in what she saw, Lauren turned from the mirror and stepped into the shower.
How could she hope to attract Wes when she was a degree or two away from a living mannequin? She had about as much animation as a Botox patient. To her chagrin she saw herself as that blasted picture hanging in Wes’s living room, nothing remotely appealing about it until he turned the lights on. Could he do the same for her? Would he?
Wait a second, why should he? Wasn’t it her job to make an effort? How long had it been since she’d engaged in playful banter or broke into spontaneous laughter? The honest truth? Too long.
It struck her as she shampooed that she was looking to Wes in much the same way she had looked to Sherry during sophomore year. How strange she would come to see two very different people from the same family as her lifelines.
Lauren expelled a disgusted breath and rinsed off, berating herself for being such a pathetic creature. It was wrong, really wrong to want Wes to rescue her from the doldrums. He didn’t need that. He didn’t need her. If she didn’t shape up and make an effort to revive her moldering personality, their recent excursions were going to be nothing more than memories. She had enough regrets, particularly where Wes was concerned. The last thing she wanted to do was add to them.
She shut off the water, stepped out, and reached for the towel. Her mind circled and curled around Wes while she pressed and squeezed her hair dry. He was an incredible person, as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside. He not only brought up volunteering, he followed through on it and asked for nothing in return. When she was troubled he lent his ear, and a quarter, a silly quarter so she could make a wish. He was making himself available in ways she never expected. It pleased her to recognize that even as a dreamy-eyed teenager with absolutely no life experiences to guide her, she’d still managed to bestow her heart on someone worthy of it. No wonder she never got over Wes. She wanted him more desperately than ever.
It was time to shape up and step away from her no frills existence and reconnect with her personality, because if she didn’t make her company more enjoyable even their seedling of a friendship could be in jeopardy. The thought made her shudder. She didn’t think she could endure Wes’s absence again.
Though she couldn’t really afford it, Lauren decided a shopping trip was in order. Her closet was teeming with business suits in uninspired colors, sensible heels, and no-nonsense blouses. Her wardrobe was as lackluster as her personality nowadays. That had to change.
Chapter 8
Because Gloria Fields Crisis Center was a short-term shelter intended to transition women out of dangerous situations and into safer, long-term alternatives they were losing two residents and gaining two more in one day. That wasn’t unusual. It was one of the reasons Lauren went in to work early, but she also had a second, more personal objective. She was going to make a delicate
When Wes dropped Lauren at her apartment thirty minutes later, they shared another awkward goodbye. As he drove away, he wondered if it would ever get easier.
* * * *
Lauren walked into the bathroom and scrutinized herself in the mirror. All in all it wasn’t a bad face. Her bone structure was good, her eyes wide and intelligent, and her skin had a healthy luster, but there was something missing. She played with expressions; pouting, pursing, performing for the mirror. Then she smiled and had her answer. There was no warmth, no spirit in her smile. Her eyes were flat, her smiles rare, and it showed.
Disappointed in what she saw, Lauren turned from the mirror and stepped into the shower.
How could she hope to attract Wes when she was a degree or two away from a living mannequin? She had about as much animation as a Botox patient. To her chagrin she saw herself as that blasted picture hanging in Wes’s living room, nothing remotely appealing about it until he turned the lights on. Could he do the same for her? Would he?
Wait a second, why should he? Wasn’t it her job to make an effort? How long had it been since she’d engaged in playful banter or broke into spontaneous laughter? The honest truth? Too long.
It struck her as she shampooed that she was looking to Wes in much the same way she had looked to Sherry during sophomore year. How strange she would come to see two very different people from the same family as her lifelines.
Lauren expelled a disgusted breath and rinsed off, berating herself for being such a pathetic creature. It was wrong, really wrong to want Wes to rescue her from the doldrums. He didn’t need that. He didn’t need her. If she didn’t shape up and make an effort to revive her moldering personality, their recent excursions were going to be nothing more than memories. She had enough regrets, particularly where Wes was concerned. The last thing she wanted to do was add to them.
She shut off the water, stepped out, and reached for the towel. Her mind circled and curled around Wes while she pressed and squeezed her hair dry. He was an incredible person, as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside. He not only brought up volunteering, he followed through on it and asked for nothing in return. When she was troubled he lent his ear, and a quarter, a silly quarter so she could make a wish. He was making himself available in ways she never expected. It pleased her to recognize that even as a dreamy-eyed teenager with absolutely no life experiences to guide her, she’d still managed to bestow her heart on someone worthy of it. No wonder she never got over Wes. She wanted him more desperately than ever.
It was time to shape up and step away from her no frills existence and reconnect with her personality, because if she didn’t make her company more enjoyable even their seedling of a friendship could be in jeopardy. The thought made her shudder. She didn’t think she could endure Wes’s absence again.
Though she couldn’t really afford it, Lauren decided a shopping trip was in order. Her closet was teeming with business suits in uninspired colors, sensible heels, and no-nonsense blouses. Her wardrobe was as lackluster as her personality nowadays. That had to change.
Chapter 8
Because Gloria Fields Crisis Center was a short-term shelter intended to transition women out of dangerous situations and into safer, long-term alternatives they were losing two residents and gaining two more in one day. That wasn’t unusual. It was one of the reasons Lauren went in to work early, but she also had a second, more personal objective. She was going to make a delicate
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