Scars Like Ours | Red View Romance #2

🍂 Sixteen

Annie forced herself to stay away from McAden Orchard until Saturday--not the easiest task, considering she worked for the McAden's and most of her friends were also McAden's. But with how far and how fast she'd fallen for Cliff in less than a week, she knew she needed to take a step back and get her feelings under control.

If only it were that easy. She spent the rest of Tuesday practically floating from her run-in with him. How could something as simple as sitting in the grass sharing an apple feel so romantic? 

He was being friendly, she reminded herself again and again. He was just so kind, so easy to get along with, and it wasn't his fault she happened to be head-over-heels attracted to him. She could take the smallest, most insignificant interaction and turn it into a romance novel thanks to her feelings.

Wednesday she buried herself in her work, editing photos and scheduling Instagram posts for the next few weeks. Once the orchard was decorated for Halloween and she took new pictures and videos to promote the festivities, she'd go back and add more photos, but the regular posts were now off of her to-do list.

Cliff, however, was still very much on her mind. When she finished dinner and sat down in front of the TV for some mindless entertainment, sketchbook in hand, she found that after a few warm up sketches of some of the game show contestants she was watching try to win a new car, she went right back to drawing Cliff. She was worse than a schoolgirl doodling hearts with his and her initials, she thought, tossing the book aside with a heavy sigh.

On Thursday she got an email from Jack with all the annals of McAden Orchard's past, and got to finish up the historical page for the website. By the time she was done, the day had all but escaped her. She did a long yoga session to stretch out after sitting at her desk all day, ate dinner, and tucked herself in bed after a long shower. When Layla texted her and asked about how things were going with Cliff, Annie wasn't sure what to say. Good, was the adjective she decided on, then put an exasperated emoji and added, Too good, delving into an explanation of their last interactions.

She woke up early the next day and yearned to go exercise with her friends at the orchard, but fought with herself and ended up going for a jog around Red View instead. Afterwards, she felt stupid and immature as she showered and got ready to run errands. She was avoiding the orchard, and for what? Her mind was still as preoccupied with Cliff as ever, even after the three-and-a-half-day reprieve. It was an immature way to deal with her problem--and a failure to top it off.

Actually, it seemed to have the opposite effect than what she wanted--she was now even more restless and eager to see Cliff by the time Saturday morning rolled around. She drove there feeling equal parts nervous, excited, and ridiculous.

The orchard was already buzzing with activity when she pulled into the store parking lot, despite it being closed for the day--a very rare occasion, and not something that Jack took lightly. The shop doors were open as usual, but instead of seeing Adam and a few customers inside like usual, she saw Layla, most of the McAden's, and two of the employees she'd met briefly when she was first hired--Lee and Frank, she remembered.

Cliff walked into view and her heart jumped at the sight of him, cozy and perfectly autumnal in a faded sweatshirt, worn-in jeans, and sturdy boots. No, she thought as she took in an unsteady breath, avoiding him certainly hadn't been the smartest choice. Especially not when the last time she'd seen him, he'd left so abruptly. Her mind had been going over it in circles since, mulling over the possible reasons why.

Had she shared too much, made him uncomfortable? He'd gone away in such a hurry after she'd been rambling on, explaining all that embarrassing stuff about her life, her family. She'd actually called herself the ugly duckling--how much self-loathing could she possibly fit into one conversation?