Yearning for Love by Toye Lawson Brown Page B

the block again.  The downtown office building was emptying of workers groups at a time.  Nicole was not among the last group of people to exit the building.  It’s possible he could have missed her since the police officer, ticketing parking violators, shooed him from his parking spot in front of the building.  Circling the backside of the building, he saw a woman standing at the corner waiting to cross the street.  She was the same height and built exactly as Nicole, but the hat partially concealing her face made it hard to tell for sure.
    His eyes squint to get a clearer view of the woman. “Mom, I’m sure that’s Nicole standing at the corner.”
    “Hurry and get there before the light changes,” she said in an urgent voice.
    Walker sped to the corner tapping the horn so the woman wouldn’t step from the curb causing him to run her over.  He pulled the truck to a stop in front of her path.  He lowered the passenger’s side window. “Nicole?”
    Shock by the sudden appearance of the truck, Nicole stepped away from the curb, placing a gloved hand on her chest as she leaned down to look inside the vehicle. Walker put the gear in park and jumped from the car. “Nicole, thank God I found you.”
    Nicole staggered slightly holding onto Walker’s arm to keep from falling. “Walker, you scared the life out of me! What are you doing in Columbus?”
    “I’m here for you.  I’ve been circling the block waiting for you to leave the building since 4:00 o’clock this afternoon.”
    “You’ve been sitting outside my building for hours?  How in heaven’s name did you know where I worked?”
    “You told me the day we met.  I had to wreck my brain remembering the name of the place.  I did a search on the internet and here I am.”
    “Hmm, technology abets stalkers in more ways than one.  So the mysterious call I got was from you wasn’t it?”
    He hunched his shoulders. “I’m pleading the fifth,” he said holding his hand up.
    “All this could have been avoided if you’d called me instead of driving all the way from Cleveland.”
    “What and miss seeing that priceless look on your face—never.”
    “The look of fear on my face is not priceless.  You are lucky I was at work.  I could have called off and been anyplace.  Then what would you have done?”
    He shook his head. “That’s not your M.O., Nicole.  Baby, don’t let my fineness fool you; I’m smarter than I look under all this brawniness.”
    Nicole grinned. “You forgot to add you're narcissistic.”
    Walker brushed at his collar. “I don’t like to brag but you only got a sample of what I am capable of doing.”
     She rolled her eyes. “This could go on forever and it’s cold out here.  Who is your traveling companion?”
    “My mother but we’ll get to her later.  So, are you free for dinner tonight?”
    Nicole looked past Walker to the older woman sitting in the passenger’s seat of the truck and then back at him.  “How can I say no after the trouble you went through to find me?  Only I’m springing for dinner with no arguments from you.”
    Walker closed his mouth stifling the protest sitting on the tip of his tongue.  Taking her laptop case from around her neck, he opened the door to the truck. “Hop in.”
    “I have to get my car from the parking garage before it closes.”
    “Okay, I’ll drive you to the garage and follow you.”
    “Sounds good to me,” she said getting inside the truck.
    A short drive later, Walker parked his truck in the space next to Nicole’s at the Rodeo Steakhouse.  He noticed her applying makeup using the rearview mirror like most women did. He smiled.  “Mom, isn’t she beautiful?”
    “She is adorable, honey.”
    Leslie’s staunch reply threw the flags in his face.  He sighed turning in his seat to face her.  “Okay, Mom; what’s wrong?”
    “Walker, are you sure about her?”
    He bucked his blue eyes at his mother. “What?”
    “Don’t look at me that way.  I’m