Page 45 of Written in the Stars
ZANDER
“So, what do you think? Best Chinese spot in town?” I take another forkful of lo mein into my mouth and chew, watching Serenity smile as she devours her own food.
Chuckling through a mouthful, she says, “Best Chinese spot I’ve ever eaten from.”
My eyes widen. “Wow, that’s cool. But I told you Red Panda’s is pretty damn good. I had a feeling you would like it if you like Chinese food.”
“I love it, honestly.” She smiles and places her empty container in the plastic bag and places it on the floor.
We’re currently having dinner in her car in front of the fire station. Typically, when I have to work nights, we go out for dinner, and don’t normally eat in my car. But tonight, we were both in the mood for Asian, so we opted for some good Chinese food. I still have another half hour before I have to go back inside.
I finish the last bit of my lo mein and then motion for Serenity to pass me the bag. When she hands it to me, I place my container in there and then put the bag down on the floor next to me. I’ll take it out once I have to go back in.
“So how are the wedding plans coming along?”
She catches me off guard and I snap my head to look at her. “Huh?”
She giggles again. “The wedding? You know, Matt and Valerie’s wedding?”
“Oh, yeah! That’s right. Their plans are coming along good, or at least that’s what Matt’s told me, but we don’t talk too much about the wedding. That’s the bride’s department. Matt’s just ready to marry Valerie and get their life started.”
She nods. “I figured Val was the one doing most of the planning. But that’s good to hear about Matt.”
“Yeah, he’s really excited, though. He loves Val.”
She smiles genuinely. “I could see that when I saw them together. They mesh well.”
“So do we,” I say and then wink at her.
She smiles. I lean toward her, and she meets me halfway in a kiss. As we pull apart, I smile at her and she slowly opens her eyes. She places a head on my scruffy chin and caresses it. She’s happy, I can see that much, but something else seems to be on her mind.
“What’s up, beautiful?”
Smile softly fading, she replies, “It’s nothing, really.”
It’s nothing, really?Yeah, I know what that means. Something is bothering her. Something is definitely up.
Fuck. Maybe she’s finally figured it out. Maybe she finally remembers me from back then.
I reach out and grab her hand, and instinctively, she looks up at me with her beautiful, dark brown eyes. “Come on, sweetheart. I know something is bothering you. I hope you know you can always talk to me.”
She turns to face me, but her eyes are on anything but me. She parts her mouth slightly, but I can tell she’s hesitant to tell me whatever’s on her mind. It’s got her worried and this right here is a sign to me; I need to find out more than ever what’s going on.
I reach my hand out and place her chin in between my thumb and index finger, willing her to look into my eyes. “Talk to me, baby.”
She places her hand on mine and sucks in a deep breath. “I received a picture on my phone from an unknown number.”
I furrow my brows. Sure, it’s a bit of a relief that it’s not what I had in mind, but at the same time, it’s odd as hell. It’s strange, but I’m not sure why this would bother her so much as to her being worried about this.
“Wait,” she adds and then pulls out her phone. She scrolls through some texts and when she finds the one she’s looking for, she holds it out to me. “Here. Take a look for yourself.”
I look at the picture and realize it’s from Heat Feast and it makes me smile, thinking back to that night. I recognize the attractions and it’s filled with people. And then, right before I ask her what she wants me to see in this picture, my smile fades, and I spot me and her, locked in an embrace, right in the middle of the image.
What? Who was this from? Who took this picture? I snap my head over to look back at her.
She nods twice. “Look at the message.”
I back out of the picture and read the message attached to it out loud. “I’ll be seeing you again soon… Forever Yours, YHWZ.” I look over at her. “Who is YHWZ?”
