Free I Speak...Love (A Different Road #3) by Annalisa Nicole Page A

perfect for me,” I tell him.
    “Why did you say it was you?” he then asks.
    “It was flawed on the outside and broken on the inside,” I answer truthfully, as I pick a sesame seed off the bun.
    “Like you?” he questions.
    “Yes,” I answer.
    He gives me that look that seems to strip me bare, like he knows every single one of my thoughts.
    After a few minutes, he finally says, “Butterflies will always fly, even in the rain.”
    My mouth opens in disbelief. It takes me a few minutes to realize he’s referring to me as the butterfly. As if I’m some beautiful creature and even though it rains, in my case constantly, the beautiful butterfly will still spread its majestic wings and fly. But he couldn’t be more wrong.
    “No, they don’t. They drown,” I answer.
    If the delicate butterfly’s wings get too wet, and they happen to be flying over water, they’ll crash and drown. If I’m this beautiful butterfly, the constant body of water beneath me is my reality. I’ll always drown, even if it’s not raining. The air in the car gets heavy and his piercing eyes lock with mine. After a few minutes of silence, he breaks eye contact and takes another bite of his food. The air lightens, and I too take another bite of my food.
    “Now for a serious question?” he says. What can be more serious than personally identifying with a broken camera and saying I’m a drowning butterfly? “When can I taste one of your famous chocolate chip cookies?” he asks.
    I choke on the food in my mouth, and he quickly hands me my drink from the cup holder. I take a sip, then clear my throat.
    “I’ll bring you some next time I bring you lunch,” I tell him.
    “So, that means there’s going to definitely be a next time you bring me lunch?” he asks with a smile. I smile at him knowing that oh yes, I do believe there will be a next time. “Sweetness,” he says, reading my thoughts.
     

 

     
    “River would like to invite you to join us for lunch today,” Josh says, as he opens my office door.
    “Sorry, I have plans,” I tell him.
    “Right,” he says, then closes the door.
    I remove my suit coat from the back of my chair, slip it on, then grab my keys and walk out of my office.
    I stop in front of Caleigh’s desk and say, “I’ll be back in about an hour.”
    She looks up at me in shock, opens and closes her mouth several times like a fish out of water, but doesn’t say anything. I never leave the office, especially at eleven in the morning.
    “Yes, sir,” she finally says.
    I get in my car and head to the camera shop I researched online when I got to the office at five this morning. I walk in the store and the salesman immediately grins, knowing he sees the high probability for a very nice sale in his future.
    “Can I help you, sir?” he asks, politely.
    Last night after I got home from dropping Maddy off, I went into my office and researched cameras for a solid three hours. I now have it narrowed down to two possibilities. I have no clue about cameras and honestly, I don’t know what kind Maddy had to begin with. I do know that a specific brand of a camera can be as particular as the preference of a car, so I’m hoping I pick a good one. I take the piece of paper I wrote the two model numbers on out of my breast pocket and place it on the glass counter.
    “Do you have either of these?” I ask.
    He looks at the paper and his eyes increase in size when he sees the caliber of camera I’m prepared to buy.
    “Yes, sir, I have both. Let me get them for you so you can look and feel the difference.”
    He walks a few feet away to a different showcase, removes his plastic, blue spiral bracelet from his wrist, and unlocks the door. He removes two cameras, then walks back over to me. He gently sets them on the counter in front of me. I pick each one of them up and, again, I have no clue at what I’m even looking at.
    “Which would you prefer?” I ask.
    I’m guessing he’ll say the more expensive of the