Free Back to Life by Danielle Allen

before pulling away just enough to look at my face.
    I paused letting the name he called me wash over me.  Baby girl, I pondered as my heart skipped a beat.  “I, um, just got off the phone with an old friend from my past. It conjured up old memories. I’m—I’m okay,” I stammered, showing off my perfect smile.
    I could tell he knew I was leaving something out. Ty looked at me for a long time not saying anything. He just rubbed my arms up and down and studied me. Feeling self-conscious, I diverted my eyes and focused my energy on the wet spot on his chest where a few tears escaped onto his shirt. I focused on that one spot until he broke the silence. “How did you sleep?” he asked quietly.
    “I slept okay,” I responded, purposely leaving out that I woke up with the makings of a panic attack. A minute passed and the silence surrounded us as we stood near the door.  He slowly stopped his descent up and down my arms, leaving my skin in desperate need of his touch. Stealing a glance at him, I couldn’t read his expression.
    “Sahara…” Ty implored softly.
    “I slept okay. Went to bed fine. Woke up upset,” I informed him as nonchalantly as possible. My insides twisted to admit it, but not because I didn’t want to tell him the truth.  They twisted because I didn’t want to open that part of my life up.
    He pulled me in to his arms again and kissed the top of my head in response. “Thank you for telling me. Whatever is going on in that pretty little head of yours, I know you don’t want to talk about it. But when you’re ready, I’m here baby girl.”
    There was nothing I could think to say that would sufficiently express what I was feeling. So I reached up to touch the stubble on his face indicating that he did not shave.  I pulled his face toward me and I planted a light kiss on his cheek.  His musky cologne danced in my nostrils as I wrapped him in a tight hug. I love the smell of him, I thought unintentionally.
    “Thank you,” I smiled at him, pulling back so that I could gaze into his eyes. He is gorgeous, I mused as I memorized every feature of his face.
    “A game changer huh?” he smiled back at me, his eyes dancing.
    A laugh escaped my lips and I backed away from him, covering my face with my hands. “Can we please go to lunch now?”
    The Diner was a small café that served breakfast all day a couple of blocks from Libby Lofts.  After we were seated at a booth near the window, our waitress sauntered over to the table.  With only eyes for my lunch companion, she proceeded to flirt her way through the specials… and out of a tip from me.
    “What would you like handsome ?” she said in a Marilyn Monroe-ish voice.
    “What would you like Sahara?” Ty asked me. “You can have whatever you’d like,” he smiled as if he were holding in a laugh .
    Seemingly not fazed by the brush off, she continued to bat her eyes at him while asking me what I wanted.
    “ I’ll have an onions and pepper omelet with a side of bacon. Orange juice to drink,” I handed her my menu.
    “And you handsome? What would you like?”
    “The same,” Ty said in a flat tone.  He handed her his menu, giving her a disinterested look.
    Once we placed our orders, I rolled my eyes at her retreating back as she went back to the counter. Ty caught it and laughed.
    “She was doing the most, Ty,” I commented, shaking my head. I’m not jealous… I’m annoyed at her disrespectfulness. I’m not jealous though, I silently tried to convince myself.
    “Yeah, she was,” he agreed and shook his own head. “But let’s not waste time talking about her. I want to get to know you. And you look beautiful by the way,” Just as the words left his mouth, the waitress placed our drinks on the table. Without a second glance, she turned on her heels and walked away.
    “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself handsome,” I said in my best imitation of the waitress. We laughed.
    Acknowledging the elephant in the room, I