I was able to complete most of my coursework from my quiet apartment. Occasionally, I had to go to the campus for projects, structural tests, and environmental readings. It was an hour drive from home and though it was an easy drive, I realized that I was not a fan of driving by myself for that long. I was constantly finding myself singing as loud as I could to avoid the silence that surrounded me in that tiny vehicle.

A few months after working for my dad on a Friday morning, I was waiting at the coffee shop to pick up the coffee and cookies for the guys at work. While waiting in line, I was thinking about the campus work I had to do the following week and the car ride to and from campus. I wondered if I could manage to talk to Rocky at all on at least one of the trips when, unexpectedly, someone bumped into me. I opened my mouth while turning around, to apologize but my breath escaped me as soon as I looked at the person.

"Oh. I am so sorry miss. I don't know what happened there," the stranger politely said to me as he glared back at a small group of guys who were trying their bests to hold in their laughter.

"That's alright," I replied shyly, "I'm fine." I smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Eliotte." I heard the barista call my name to let me know my order is ready.

"Oh, uh. That's me," I said to him awkwardly, turning to pick up my order. He gave me a puzzled look.

"Really?"

"Yep," I said with a soft chuckle. "It's a combination of my parents' names."

"Ahh. I see," he said with a smile. "Well, I'm Bryant. It's nice to meet you, Eliotte," he added as he held out his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, too, Bryant," I replied, reaching my hand out to shake his. As soon as our hands touched, my stomach became nothing but a field full of butterflies.

"That looks like a big order, would you mind if I helped you carry it out?" Bryant asked.

"Umm. Sure," I responded, a little surprised that this stranger would offer to help carry a box of coffee and cookies. "I mean, I wouldn't mind," I added to clarify what I meant.

"It's the least I could do after I bumped into you," he said as if he could read my mind.

"Oh, yes. I had already forgotten about that." I smiled as I replied. We walked up to the counter together. He grabbed the giant box of coffee as I grabbed the cookies and then the door as we headed out to my car.

"This is me," I told him as we neared my little silver Corolla. I unlocked the car and opened the back door for him to place the coffee down.

"Thank you for your help," I said as he placed the box of coffee on the floor.

"Sure. Anytime." Bryant replied with a kind smile that lit his gorgeous green eyes.

"Um, I am new in town and wondering if you could help me out." He said, still standing confident though his voice sounded a little shy.

"Um...maybe," I replied hesitantly.

"I was looking for Romick Construction. I was hoping you could point me in the right direction."

"Oh...umm. Yes." I said as my mind raced in about one hundred different directions. "Just take this street here until the second light. Turn left and continue until you see the sign on the right. You can't miss it."

"Thank you, Eliotte. I appreciate your help." He said as he closed the door to my car.

"It was no problem at all Bryant," I replied with a smile, "I, um, need to go. I don't want to be late. The guys at work will be upset if they don't get their coffee and cookies."

"Ah. We can't have that." Bryant said with a laugh. "It was nice to meet you, Ellie." He continued with a more serious, yet polite tone.

"It was nice to meet you, Bry," I said with a smile and slight nod.

"Maybe I will run into you again sometime?" He asked.

"Maybe," I said, closing the door, knowing full well that if he asked for directions to Romick Construction, I would indeed be seeing him again.

I made it to work on time for the crew to all get their coffee and cookie before leaving for the construction site where they were working. They all gave me their thanks as they left. Dad looked a little stressed as he walked over to me.

"We have an important, potential client coming here in about two hours. I would like to have the conference room organized and ready to go. Can you make that happen, Lottie?"

"Sure thing, Dad."

"Thank you, sweetheart. I don't know how I managed without your help for all those years."

"Dad, you did fine without me. I am just here to keep your well-oiled machine running smoothly."

"Yes, you are, and you do a fine job at that," dad said with a smile.

We quickly went about straightening the conference room to dad's liking before the clients arrived. I moved onto the reception area as the work crew dragged a little bit of dirt around getting ready to go to the job sites. After I made my way around the rest of our small office, I sat down to check the company's email. There was nothing new in the inbox, so I decided to go to the kitchen to make sure the coffee was still warm and proceeded to make my tea. I still had not gained a taste for coffee and had no plans to change that.

Ding. Dong.

The chime alerted us that someone had entered the front door. Before long, a few male voices were talking. I made my way out of the kitchen to find Dad speaking with a group of three men. One of the men happened to be the one who bumped into me at the coffee shop: Bryant. I noticed that he had not looked my way, so I walked over to them.

"Ah. Here she is. Gentlemen, this is my daughter, Ms. Eliotte Romick."

"Hello, Ms. Romick," was the response from all the men, except for Bryant who looked like he had forgotten how to speak.

"Eliotte, this is George and Greg, of Landis Law Firm, and Bryant," dad said as he pointed to each man, respectively. I gave them a warm welcome and held my hand out to shake each one's outstretched hand, except Bryant's. He stood there unmoving.

George and Greg looked almost identical. They were both tall, slender, dark-haired men in their mid-fifties. They both had beautiful green eyes, their hair slightly grayed around their temples, and perfectly tanned skin. Simply put, they dressed to impress. Their suits appeared to be designer suits that most likely came with a hefty price tag. The only noticeable difference was that Greg sported a pair of thick-framed glasses. Bryant looked like his dad and uncle, except he had light brown hair and his build was a little wider. He had the same striking green eyes and had a slightly darker tan. He was wearing a different outfit than when we first met at the coffee shop. He was dressed casually at the coffee shop, and while he was dressed more casually than the older Messrs. Landis, he was not dressed casually any longer. He wore a dark gray, almost black, button-up shirt that was fully buttoned except at the collar. He paired his shirt with light heathered gray dress slacks and expensive-looking black dress boots.

"Bryant. We are at a professional meeting. Get your act together." Greg whispered not so subtly into his son's ear.

"Oh. Um. Right. Um. Nice to meet you, Ms. Romick," Bryant finally said, taking my outstretched hand to shake it in greeting.

"Nice to meet you as well, Mr. um... Landis?" I asked questioningly.

"Yes. We are all Mr. Landis." George responded. "Greg and I are brothers and Bryant is Greg's son. We recently added a partner to our firm and decided it was time for an expansion and with that, a change of scenery with the increase in personnel. Bryant here came with us on this move and while he doesn't work at our firm, he is involved with the Law."

"So, Bryant, what is it that you do, since you don't work at Landis Law Firm?" Dad asked, taking the question straight from my mind.

"Oh. I am an officer. I just transferred here, which is part of the reason Landis Law Firm is expanding here."

"A police officer?" I asked slightly surprised.

"Yes, Ms. Romick."

"Please, call me Eliotte," I said as I smiled at him.

"Okay, Eliotte," he said as he smiled back at me.

"Alright, gentlemen, shall we begin our meeting?" dad asked, pointing to the conference room.

"Yes. Let us proceed." One of the Messrs. Landis said as they began to follow dad to the conference room.

"You knew at the coffee shop, that we would see each other here, didn't you?" Bryant asked me quietly as we followed slowly behind.

"Yes," I responded with a shy smirk.

"Why didn't you tell me, Ellie?"

"I guess I wanted to see your reaction, Bry."

"Was it worth it?"

"Yes, I do believe it was," I said smiling as we reached the conference room.

After that meeting, dad and I sat down in his office as we normally did after a new client meeting. The discussion this time was not the norm, rather, he talked delicately with me about friendships of his and past loves. He focused on him, but I knew that he was relating everything to me. He told me that it had been years since he had seen the playful and almost flirty side of me. He told me to think about looking at moving past what happened in high school. I agreed with him. It was time to move on and move ahead with my life. 

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