Alicia

Something changed after that day in the kitchenette. It was like the stilted awkwardness that used to follow Colin and I around whenever we were together had disappeared. As the days progressed into the following week, Colin and I always seemed to find ourselves back in the lunch room at the same time each morning.

As we made our coffees, we would chat about what we did during our evening or what shows we watched. Even after we both had our full mugs in our hands, we would linger and talk some more. It became my favorite part of the day.

Liam's words reverberated through my mind about getting involved with someone like Colin, but I would flick them aside. Liam had spoken out of a place of jealousy. Colin had become a friend and I knew there was nothing wrong with that. How were we supposed to show God's love to the world if we constantly hid from it?

Still, I kept our little meetings on the down low. Not even telling Cameron about them. I was afraid that if I told someone, it would burst the bubble that had been created. One where Colin and I got along and enjoyed one another's company. That is until one day, I had an unexpected visitor.

It was Wednesday and Colin and I were having our morning tête-à-tête. Then I hear an all too familiar voice.

"I'm looking for Alicia Hannigan. Does she work on this floor?"

I stepped out and peered around, thinking my ears were playing tricks on me. But sure enough, there stood my sister. "Erica?"

Her head swiveled towards me and her face broke out into a toothy grin. "There you are! I couldn't remember which company you were working at, so I've been going around asking on every floor in the building."

I ran over and threw my arms around her. "You're such a goof. Did you ever think to just call me?"

"Where's the fun in that?" she said, hugging me back. "Your expression was totally worth it."

"But what are you doing here in the middle of the week? Are the kids with Grayson?"

"Mom offered to take them for today and tomorrow. And so I thought, why not an impromptu visit to visit my favorite sister?"

"I'm touched except I'm your only sister." Then my shoulders deflated. "But Erica, I'm working. I can't just take off in the middle of the week."

A male voice spoke up behind me. "I think you can leave for one day. Afterall, aren't you your own boss?"

I turned to see Colin, one side of his mouth raised in a smile. "Are you sure Colin?"

Before he could answer, Erica looked behind me and gaped. "Colin Evans? Is that you?"

I cringed at Erica's bluntness but Colin took it all in stride.

"Hi Erica, I don't think we ever officially met but I remember you in passing from high school."

"Alicia mentioned she was working for you. How the tables have turned eh?"

Heat rose to my face. I needed to get my sister out of there before she embarrassed me any further. "Since it turns out I have the day off after all, why don't we go sis and find some shopping to do?"

"Sounds perfect," she said, clapping her hands together. "Colin, how about you join us for dinner tonight? It would be a great time to catch up."

Colin shuffled his feet. "I wouldn't want to impose on your sisterly bonding time."

Erica laughed. "We'll have all day together. I want to hear about how Alicia is to work with."

"Okay you've made your point." I start shoving Alicia towards the door. "I'll text you Colin where we are eating if you decide to join us," I threw over my shoulder.

Outside, Erica and I hail a cab and tell the driver to take us to the Eaton Centre, the largest mall in Toronto. The minute the cab takes off, I turn to my sister with my arms crossed. "Okay Erica, now what's the real reason you're here?"

Erica made a show of mock surprise. "What? I need a reason to visit my sister?"

"Yes. A day off for you without kids is either spending it at home cleaning house or watching chick flicks all day in your pajamas. You're a homebody sis, Toronto is totally not your scene."

She flipped her strawberry blonde hair in agitation because she knew I was right. "Fine, I came to ask if you planned on visiting home anytime soon. Two years is a long time to go between visits."

I should have guessed that would be Erica's reason for visiting. "Did Mom put you up to this? Cause last I checked, Dad only wanted me to come if it was to stay. And that is definitely not happening."

Erica patted my knee. "You need to forgive him sometime. Dad is far from perfect, but he still loves you. You can't expect the relationship to get better if you aren't willing to see him once in a while."

"It's easy for you Erica. You're the perfect child. You stayed in the area, got married and gave them grandkids. Dad will never be able to accept me for who I am."

Erica gave my knee a little shake. "Believe it or not, Dad and I don't always see eye to eye. I've had to stand up to him once or twice."

That surprised me. "Really?" I always thought Erica and Dad got along like peas and carrots.

Erica nodded. "I did come up to talk about Dad but I've missed you too Alicia. I feel like my kids hardly know their aunt."

Tiny pricks of guilt shot into my heart. Maybe I had let this feud with Dad get in the way of spending time with the rest of my family. "I'm sorry Erica. I didn't realize the strain it had put on your family."

"I forgive you. Just promise me you'll think about coming up for a visit. Okay?"

I hesitated to promise such a thing. It was so much easier just not having to deal with my dad and our rocky relationship. But Erica showed me that it was no longer just affecting me and my dad. "I promise."

"Great, my work here is done and we can enjoy our day together."

I don't remember shopping so much in all the years I've lived in the city. For not being a city girl, Erica sure knew how to visit many stores in a short span of time. By the time we were ready to leave, our arms were laden with bags.

"Let's take these back to my apartment before we head out for dinner." I was worried they wouldn't even all fit into the back of a cab.

"Great idea. You can text Colin on the way. The UFC championship is on, so I thought we could find a sports bar to watch it."

I groaned. "I'll never know how you got into watching shirtless, sweaty men beat each other into a pulp. Grayson may need to have a talk with you."

"It was Grayson who got me into it," Erica said.

Cameron was home when we dropped off our purchases and accepted Erica's invitation to join us for dinner.

"I can't miss out on an opportunity to meet the infamous Mr. Evans."

I inwardly sighed at what poor Colin was walking into. When I texted him the details for dinner, he surprisingly agreed to meet us at the sports bar. Hopefully he won't be too intimidated being surrounded by a gaggle of girls.

The sports bar was loud and filled to the brim with rambunctious patrons. I wasn't sure why they felt the need to crowd the tv by the bar, when there were at least three on each wall. After signaling to the hostess that we wanted a table for four, we squeezed and pushed through the crowd till we reached our table. I wrinkled my nose that we weren't given a booth but a high table with barstools for chairs. Why did I decide to wear heels to a pub?

As I balanced myself on the seat, trying not to fall off, the reason why I had carefully selected my outfit for the evening walked into the restaurant. Seeing Colin in casual clothes and not his usual dress shirt and vest, made me take a second look. He had on a blue button down paired with dark jeans. His hands were stuffed into his pockets like he was uncomfortable being there but he did look nice all the same.

"Colin!" Erica waved him over. Cameron had sat beside Erica, leaving the last open seat next to me. I'm sure the choice was deliberate.

Colin squeezed behind me, sending notes of shivers down my spine as his body brushed against mine.

"This place is packed," he said, sitting down.

Erica grinned. "We're here to watch the UFC championship."

"You are here to watch," I corrected.

Cameron asked Erica a question about the fight and I took the chance to lean over to Colin. "Sorry if this isn't your scene. My sister can be quite stubborn."

"I don't mind. I follow UFC from time to time. I practice Muay Thai myself, so I'm interested to see it used in MMA." At my blank stare he coughed to hide a laugh. "Mixed martial arts."

"Really? You do martial arts?"

"You sound surprised."

I duck my head. "Sorry, I guess I'm still learning that you're not the same person from high school." I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "How long have you been doing that?"

Colin picked at his napkin. "Right after high school basically. I wanted to learn some self defense. Not to mention it's a wicked workout."

I knew all too well why Colin would want to learn to defend himself. "That's really cool. Maybe you can show me sometime."

Colin's face turned pink. "Well, that might be a little awkward as I'm dressed just like those guys up on the screen."

It was my turn to blush as a picture of Colin shirtless formed in my mind. "Oh," was all I could manage. Thankfully Cameron and Erica came back into the conversation before I could embarrass myself further.

The waitress came and took our orders but she said it would be awhile as the kitchen was backed up. None of us seemed to notice, we talked and laughed so much that when the food did arrive, it felt like no time at all.

"I'll be back," I said, sliding off my stool to use the ladies room. I hoped Erica and Cameron wouldn't be too hard on Colin and pepper him with questions while I was gone.

The smile never left my face the whole time. I hadn't had this much fun in years. Even Colin looked relaxed and enjoying himself. It was nice seeing the fun side of him and not just the staunch businessman.

Arriving back at the table, I steeled myself to climb back on the blasted stool. Gripping the table for support, I just started to pull myself up when my foot slipped off the metal rung and lost my balance.

I gave a yelp and found myself falling but before I could hit the floor, Colin reached out and with a strong arm caught me by my lower back. I grabbed onto his arms like my life depended on it. When everything settled, we were basically on the floor with Colin propping me up. His face was so close I could see that he had specks of gray mixed with the blue of his eyes.

Slowly he stood me back up. A wave of disappointment washed over me when he let go.

Erica came around the table."Are you okay Alicia?"

Her question snapped me out of the trance that had taken over. "Oh, yes, I'm fine. Just wore the wrong shoes." Slipping off the heels, I hopped back on the barstool barefooted. "Thanks Colin, that's the second time you've saved me now."

Cameron gave a quizzical look. "Second time?"

Colin waved his hand in dismissal. "From an overzealous Keurig machine. Hardly knight in shining armor material."

I bumped him with my shoulder. "Hey, that Keurig machine totally overpowered me."

Erica's eyes darted back and forth and I immediately shut my mouth. I knew my sister and she was probably reading a little too much into the situation. If I wasn't careful, Erica would think that there was something between Colin and I. Of course there wasn't, at least that's what I kept telling myself. But it was getting harder and harder to believe it.