Worth the Fall Read Online Free Page A

real?” He looked at my door as if he could see the problem through the flimsy paneling. “Listen, I’m just running out to get coffee and bagels, but my girlfriend is here for the weekend. Why don’t you grab your stuff and go shower at my place. She won’t care.”
    Dan—which was apparently P90X guy’s name—brought me up, introduced me to his girlfriend, and headed for the door.
    It showed how low I’d sunk that I didn’t even care I was showering in some strange guy’s apartment. Dan’s girlfriend grabbed me a towel and made sure I had everything I needed.
    “Lucky for you he hires a maid service the week before I come to visit. I’m deathly afraid of what you’d find otherwise.”
    “Thanks.” I tried to imagine Dan—who always looked amazingly put together—having a filthy bathroom. It just didn’t compute.
    But, who was I to try to read someone else’s boyfriend when I hadn’t even been able to read my own?
    I hurried through my shower not wanting to cut into the Dan-Girlfriend time. Plus, I had a date with a coffee shop owner who was hopefully finding me a roof to live under. I was not above begging at this point.  
    I dried my hair as quickly as possible and wrapped it up in a sloppy bun before thanking them both, a little sad to meet the nice neighbor the day before I moved out.
    Back in Antarctica, I opened my shades to let the sunshine in before I wrapped a scarf around my neck, pulled on my coat, and hefted my tote. How had I never noticed how heavy it was with the laptop and charger when I was only walking a block to the bus stop?  
    I may not have a check paying out for today, but it was still a work day. I had a lot of work and even more thinking to do. I might as well get started.
    The air was damp, the type of pre-fall weather that even made everything feel a bit more crisp. It was a shorter walk than expected. More like three-quarters of a mile. That’s what happened when you stayed in your own neighborhood—you missed out on hidden gems.
    I slipped into the café and breathed in that heady coffee-air. Being there again was the first thing that felt good—that felt right—in two days.  
    I stepped up to the counter, happy to get another one of those to-die-for mochas and oddly unsurprised to find Abby manning the counter again.
    She looked at me and shook her head. “This is how you leave the house?”
    I looked down at my yoga pants and North Face jacket.  
    “Yes. This is how I leave the house when I need to walk a mile to sit and sip coffee while working.”
    She shook her head again, disgust emanating off her like she’d just discovered I kicked kittens as a hobby.
    “If you insist on going out like that, you’re going to stay single.”
    “I’ve only been single since last night—you know, when you accused me of being an adulteress.”
    “Yup. Welcome to Singleland.” Abby handed me my mocha as if it was above my touch. “You’ll be here a while.”
    “Maybe I’d like to be single a while.”
    She looked at me over the mist from the steamer. “You don’t seem like someone who likes being single.” With that, she headed down the counter to wipe off some machine.
    I stared after her wondering if she was right. Was I that girl who didn’t like to be single? Was I? Was that why I’d stayed with Jason?
    I didn’t think so, but there was a lot I was learning about myself this week.
    I settled into the same overstuffed chair as the night before and pondered. I was definitely in a pondering place in life.  
    Once I pushed aside the Singleland pondering, I started considering the real issue at hand. In the back of my mind, I had an idea—one that had lived there for a while trying to work up the courage to pop out. But now, in a mental fight-or-flight situation, it pushed its way to the front and itched at my brain since I’d woken up cold and annoyed.
    My own marketing and design business. Promo, websites, banners, ads. Lots of fun designs to do on my own.