Inhale, Exhale by Sarah M. Ross Page B

Fort Stewart. They’re stationed over in Germany now, and I don’t get to see her much. I’m hoping next summer I can go and visit for a few months to pick up the language.”
    “What? You mean you’re not going to stick around at Allegro? Become a lifer like most of them?”
    “Um, no. Don’t tell Connie, but I wouldn’t even be there now if my mom didn’t make me. I wanted to spend all summer at the beach, but apparently that was a pipe dream. What about you? Are you going to stick around and run the IT department one day?”
    “I pretty much run it now. But no. I have one more semester left and then I’m heading out to California. I’m hoping to get an internship at Google that leads to a full-time job. I’m only working here to save enough money to live out there for a year. If I don’t get a job after that, I’ll be your local bum panhandling on the exit ramps off the 405.”
    “I can see it now. A nice, scruffy beard and a sign that says, ‘Will defrag for food!’”
    I laughed so hard, the beer I was drinking went up my nose. Which made us laugh even harder. We sat and talked until well after midnight, about anything and everything. Conversation between us flowed like water, no awkward silence or weird moments. We got along so well, you’d think we’d have known each other for years.
    At the end of the night, like a true gentleman, I walked her to her car and said goodnight. We both stood there, not moving, not leaving—hesitant to say goodnight. I wanted to kiss her, to grab and pull her to me and kiss her until we couldn’t breathe. But I didn’t move. I never even tried for anything more, as much as I wanted it. She was amazing both inside and out, and if I could only be her friend right now, I’d take it.
    The rest of the week went just as smoothly. We chatted or texted several times a day, ate lunch together on the picnic table behind the parking lot of Allegro, and talked on the phone until the wee hours of the morning.
    I was falling for this girl, and there was no net to catch me. Every time I talked to her, I found out a new nugget that made her more perfect than before. We loved the same movies, we quoted our favorite books. I knew she felt it too, and that she wanted to move past being “just friends,” but she was conflicted.
    It was a fine line we were walking, but right now, it was the only way. I was getting to her, but would it be enough? How much time did I have to win her over before she disappeared from my life?

    I strolled into Jillian’s cubicle just before five. It was the start of a three-day weekend and most people headed out early to get started on their weekend plans. “You do know no one would blame you if you wanted to duck out an hour early.” I did a slow spin, looking around. “Apparently, all your colleagues have already done so.”
    Jillian chuckled. “Oh I know. Funny enough, Temperance was the first one out of here. Something about a taxidermy convention.”
    “That is the scariest thing I’ve ever heard. Those poor cats.”
    “Yes, it reminds me of an old Roald Dahl story. I can just picture her waiting for visitors to be the next to sign the book.”
    I pulled up a seat next to her. “Yes! From The Landlady , right? I remember reading it in high school. One of his best.”
    We were interrupted by Jillian’s cell phone. Usually she turned it off if we were hanging out, no doubt to avoid calls from Christian, but this call wasn’t from him. It wasn’t his ringtone.
    “Hey, hold on for a sec. It’s my mom calling.” I nodded and she picked up. “Hey, Mom, I’m at work, can I call you…what? What happened?” She sat down, tears threatening. “But…is she? Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    She hung up the phone and pulled her purse out of the bottom drawer. “I’m sorry, Grant. I’ve got to go. It’s…” She stumbled, covering her mouth to hold in a sob as tears now poured out of her face. “My Gamma. They found her