Falling For You Read online

  I See You:

  Falling For You.

  Written By Lily Haycraft

  Chapter One.

  Danielle. "Danielle, what are you still doing here? Go home" My boss says to me, standing next to my cubicle. "I just wanted to finish this design, and then I'll leave" I explain.

  "Danielle, you were supposed to leave nearly an hour ago, you can finish it tomorrow, go home" He says.

  "But Sir" I start.

  "Go home Danielle, you're young and an apprentice, you shouldn't be working over time, go on, go home" He tells me.

  I wanted to protest again, but he was staring at me with that firm look of his, the no nonsense face, so I just sigh quietly and nod my head, this seems to satisfy him because he throws a smile in my direction and makes his way back into his office.

  I pack up all of my things slipping my blazer jacket back on before switching off my desk lamp and making my way out of the office, I step outside allowing the Miami evening heat to caress my skin, there's a slight breeze, but not much of one, there never is in Miami, but it's home, and it always will be. I hike my art case further on my shoulder and stroll down the side walk, not ready to hail a cab to ride home, I think I might even walk, it doesn't take too long, I glance around me, there's two young teens, they both look nervous and awkward as their hands lock together, must be their first date, I can't help but smile as I think back to what it felt like going on your first day with a boy or girl you like.

  As I glance in a restaurant window, I see an old couple, the husband has a straw pressed to his lips and he blows the wrapper at his wife, I watch as they both laugh, acting as if they were the young couple, not acting the age that they are.

  I want that, I want to fall in love with someone and be with them for the rest of my life, I hope that me and my partner, whomever they may be, will become that couple one day.

  I turn my head as I hear a car honking, then I heard a scream and people shouting, that's when I saw her, the little girl standing in the middle of the road, she could have only have been four years old, her eyes wide open as she stares at the car racing towards her, I glance at the car seeing the panic on the drivers face as they try to slow down, and without even realising my actions, I have dropped my bag and art folder, I'm racing out into the middle of the road, my eyes focused on the small child, a look of horror written on her face, within seconds she is in my arms, her body protected by my own, as the car skids to a stop, hitting my back slightly and pushing me to the ground, not hard enough to do any real damage, but there will definitely be some bruising. I held the girl in my arms, she is crying hysterically now, I hear a car door slam and a male voice asking if I'm okay, then a woman is kneeling beside me, pulling the child from my arms and bringing her into her chest.

  "Don't ever do that to me again" I heard her sob quietly and knew that this was the girl's mother. "Are you okay?" I heard the male voice asking me once more, a lot clearer now.

  I pull my eyes away from the young mother and child turning to face him before glancing down at myself, checking that everything was as it should be, before turning back around to face him.

  "I'm okay" I nod simply.

  "Why did you do that?" I hear the young woman ask and turn to see her facing her daughter.

  The young girl looked down and sniffled, hiding her eyes clearly too ashamed to give her mother an answer.

  "You scared the crap out of me" The brunette sobbed pulling her daughter back into her arms again. "Excuse me, we should probably get out of the road" I say to her softly.

  That's when she finally lifts her eyes to meet my own, dark pools of chocolate connect with mine, and for a second it's just me and her, I shake my head softly snapping myself out of the daze and standing up, the man offering a hand to help me, I smile at him and slowly help the brunette up off of the ground, she gives me a small smile lifting her daughter into her arms, I nod at the man, before helping the woman cross back towards the sidewalk.

  "Thank you" She finally says once we're safely away from the moving vehicles.

  "I done what any decent person would have done" I answer honestly with a smile.

  "There's nearly a hundred people walking down this road, but you're the only one that made a move to rescue my child, not anyone would have done it" She says softly.

  "I guess they were all just in a state of shock, whilst I was running on adrenaline, I couldn't just stand and watch"

  "It's because of you that my baby is alive, please let me buy you dinner" She offers to which I quickly decline after picking up my bag and folder. "Please, it's the least that I can do"

  Standing here and watching this woman, with her daughter curled into her body, her small face hiding in the crook of her neck, I could tell that she was still shaken up, she almost lost her daughter, and something in her eyes tells me that she doesn't want to be alone just yet, because the second that she is, she will be left with her thoughts and the self blame, so I accepted her offer and agreed to have dinner with her.

  "I'd like that, thank you" I accept graciously, with a small nod.

  "I'm Danielle" I finally offer up.

  "I'm Chloe" She smiles softly "And this here is Harmony"

  Chloe smiles down at her daughter.

  "Beautiful names for two beautiful girls" The second the words left my mouth I wanted to hit myself, I wanted to change my name and flee the country, that was so cheesy.

  But she didn't say anything, she simply blushed and glanced down at the floor.

  "There's a nice Chinese restaurant not too far from here, shall we go there?" I ask trying to get rid of the awkwardness that I created.

  "Right dinner, yes" She nods.

  We begin walking down the street, whilst I continue to kick myself for saying the lame compliment. "So are you an art student?" She asks gesturing to my folder.

  "Oh no, well I'm an apprentice at an architecture company, so I guess I do art in some form" I smile. "Oh wow, so you've finished college then?" She asks.

  "I have yeah, I literally graduated three months ago, I was promised a place in the company before I finished" I smile softly.

  "You must be talented then" She flashes me a small smile.

  "What about you? What do you do?" I watch as shame crosses her face and I screw up my own. "I um, I work at a small diner during the day and I take night classes, I'm studying to become a surgeon"

  "Oh wow, and you say I'm talented, that's one of the hardest professions out there" I never would have pegged her for a surgeon, but I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover.

  "Yeah I actually got accepted into Georgetown university, but then I fell pregnant with Harmony, so yeah" She nods and she looked embarrassed. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, not many people can juggle a baby as well as night classes, you should be proud of yourself"

  "Thank you" She says shyly and I open the door for the restaurant allowing her to walk in first.

  "So do your family help you out with Harmony?" I question.

  "Uh no, they abandoned me the second they found out I was pregnant"

  "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that" I say my eyes screwing up in sympathy.

  I will never understand how a parent can abandon their child.

  "It's okay, it was years ago now, but my best friend Diana, she actually works with me, and is also studying to become a surgeon but she takes day classes, so she takes care of Harmony in the evenings" She tells me as we are lead to our table.

  "She sounds like an amazing friend" I smile softly. "Yeah she is" She nods softly.

  Harmony finally let's go of her mother and sits down on the seat beside her, she lifts her face and stares at me.

  "Hey, you okay?" I smile softly at her to which she just nods.

  "I didn't hurt y
ou?" I ask just to make sure, I know I squeezed her a little bit too tight.

  "No" She says so quietly I just about heard her speak.

  "Are you hungry?" I smile to which she nods her head quickly.

  "Okay well I'll buy you whatever food you want okay" I grin at her.

  "What no I told you I was paying" Chloe says. "Let me pay, please" I smile.

  "But this is me repaying you"

  "I don't need to be repaid, knowing that she is okay is enough for me" I smile.

  "Well then I'm buying you food next time"

  "There's going to be a next time?" I ask surprised and watch as a blush creeps onto her cheeks. "I uh, yeah If you want" She says softly.

  "Okay, you pay next time" I agree.

  Who knows if there ever will actually be a next time, but I want to pay this time, I know her student bills can't be cheap, and I don't know how much a waitress gets paid, but I guess I just don't want her spending money that she doesn't have, if there is another time then I will allow her to pay, but I want to pay.

  "So how many years do you have left at university?" I ask.

  "I have two years left, if I manage to actually pass all my exams this year"

  "I'm sure you'll be fine, so how old are you?" "I just turned Twenty-Two actually" She smiles. "I'm four, I'm going to be five soon" Harmony grins. "Baby you're not going to be five until October, that's seven months away" Chloe smiles at her.

  "Yeah that's soon" Harmony grins.

  "Okay baby" Chloe just chuckles.

  "So you were eighteen when you fell pregnant" I say. "I was yeah" She doesn't seem at all fazed by the question, she just smiles over at her daughter and runs a hand through her curly hair.

  "And what about her"

  "Out of the picture, left the second I told him" She answers before I had a chance to finish the question. "I'm sorry" I feel like I have said those words a lot in the short time I have been with her.

  "Don't be, I actually felt relief when he said he didn't want to be a part of her life, is that wrong of me?" She asks.

  "No of course not" I shake my head wanting to know more, wanting to know why, but I hardly knew her, I couldn't ask that of her, and I think it would be slightly odd.

  "Are you guys ready to order?" The server asks standing at the end of our table.

  "Oh no sorry, we haven't even looked at the menus" Chloe speaks up.

  "That's okay, I'll give you a few more minutes, would you like anything to drink?"

  "I'll just have a water and an orange juice please" Chloe smiles and he then turns to look at me. "Just a water, thank you"

  "Of course" With that he walks away.

  The conversation ends for a few minutes as we both pick up the menu's and scan our eyes over them. This is a really odd experience and definitely one to tell the grandkids, how many people can say that they ran out in oncoming traffic to save a little girl from being run over and possibly killed, and then have her mother offer to buy you lunch, and actually be having a comfortable conversation with someone you don't really know, these sort of things just don't happen everyday.

  "Danielle" I look over at Harmony and I'm shocked that she knows my name, she must have been listening to the conversation I was having with her mother.

  "Yes cutie" I smile softly.

  "Can I have ice cream after my dinner?"

  "Harmony" Chloe quickly begins to scold but I interject.

  "Of course you can sweetie, but you have to eat all of your dinner" I tell her.

  "I will" She nods.

  "Then okay" I smile.

  "Thank you" She grins and Chloe mimes a thank you in my direction also.

  Once we have ordered our food, the conversation sort of found it's way back to the topic of Harmony being in the middle of the road, I guess she was too worried to actually find out earlier, not that I can blame her.

  "So baby why did you run out in the middle of the road? How many times have I told you that it's dangerous" Chloe turned to look at Harmony who looked straight down at her lap and shrugged softly. "Baby I know you, you wouldn't do something like that normally, so what happened?"

  I felt quite awkward as Chloe spoke to her daughter, like I didn’t know where I should look, but it was a conversation that she needed to have, and I guess she didn't want to wait.

  "I thought I saw daddy" Once those five words left the young girls mouth I looked at Chloe in confusion, she glanced back at me in shock before turning back to face harmony.

  "Baby what do you mean you saw daddy?" She asks placing her hand onto Harmony's head and running her hand through her curls.

  "I've seen pictures in that box under your bed, the boy with the curly brown hair, he looks like me, I saw him" Harmony mumbles.

  Chloe had pure shock written across her features, she obviously didn't know what to say, and I know that if I were in her position, I wouldn't know how to respond either.

  "Why don't I know my daddy?" Harmony looked up into her mothers eyes then, and I saw the brunette's face drop.

  "Baby I" Chloe didn't know what to say, and I have no idea how to save her.

  "Harmony" I spoke up and watched as both girls turned to face me.

  Well you've said it now Dani, you better think of something.

  "What you did, running out in the road was a very silly thing for you to do today, and if I weren't there, something very bad could have happened to you, but it's a good thing that I was there, because now I get the pleasure of having dinner with you and your mummy"I earned small smiles from both of them as I said that.

  "As for your daddy" I took a deep breath and locked eyes with the small child.

  "Your daddy was scared, so he left your mummy, and in my eyes that makes him a coward, you don't need a daddy pretty girl, because your mummy" I say and slowly lower my voice calling her over to me. She quickly stood up on the chair and leant across the table.

  "Your mummy is a super hero, and she can do everything that a daddy is supposed to do, your mummy is going to save lives one day" I whisper into her ear but so that Chloe could still hear me. I glanced over at the brunette and see a look of relief cross her face.

  "Is that true mummy? That you're going to save lives?"

  Harmony asked sitting back down in her seat. "Yeah baby girl, I hope so” Chloe smiled.

  "My mummy is a super hero" Harmony grinned and looked over at me, I just smiled and nodded at her. "Mummy I need to go toilet" And just like that, the topic of her father was completely forgotten, Nice save Danielle Freeman, you did good.

  "Okay baby I'll take you" Chloe smiled and began standing up.

  "Can Danielle take me?" She asked shyly.

  Is that a wise idea? I've only just met them, I could be anyone, she wouldn't just let me take her to the toilet would she?

  "Oh baby, I think I should take you" Chloe denies the young girls wish, and I feel a slight wave of relief wash over me.

  I watch Harmony for a minute as she thought this over, I could tell she wanted to fight her mother on this, but in the end she chose not to, and allowed her mother to take her.

  As soon as the duo left the table, our waiter delivered our food, I thanked him and patiently waited for the girls to return, even though my stomach was protesting, from not having eaten anything since breakfast, I get so caught up in work sometimes that I completely forget to have lunch, which I really need to stop doing.

  ---

  By the time we left the restaurant it was closing in on 9pm, I held a sleeping Harmony in my arms, as we strolled down the street, Chloe carried my bag and art folder, which I thought was sweet, I know this whole situation must seem really odd, but I feel extremely comfortable in their presence, and I'm not sure I am ready to say goodbye just yet.

  "I live just ten minutes away, I can take her from you" Chloe says.

  "No it's okay, I'll walk you home and put her to bed, I don't want to wake her" I smile softly.

  "You really don't have to" She objects.

  "No
I know" I smile and we didn't say anything more on the matter.

  The two of us walking in silence, me allowing her to lead the way, you'd think it would feel awkward, but it was actually quite relaxing, I could see myself getting used to this, spending the past few hours with Chloe and her daughter has made me crave a family, I know I won't be finding a relationship anytime soon, but maybe I could look into being artificially inseminated.

  I hadn't even realised we had reached Chloe's building until I glanced at her holding open the glass door, I smiled at her as I entered the building walking over to the elevator.

  We rode up in silence and I followed her down the hall until we reached the door, she flicked on the hallway light as we entered, and quickly placed down our bags before leading me into her daughters bedroom, she kept her light off, but left the door open so we could both see what we were doing, I watched as she pulled back Harmony's quilt covers, and I carefully laid Harmony down, watching as Chloe pulled off the young girl's shoes before tucking her into bed and kissing her head softly.

  I smiled at the moment before making my way out of the bedroom and back down the hall to retrieve my things.

  "Thank you for saving my daughter, and for having dinner with me" I heard Chloe say as she walked up behind me.

  "Thank you for asking me to dinner" I smile shyly, suddenly feeling awkward.

  "Well I offered to pay too, but you somehow managed to convince me out of that"

  "I did indeed" I smile.

  "I still stand by what I said, I'm buying next time" Oh she was serious about that?

  "So I want you to put your number in my phone, so I can contact you about next time" She says shyly offering her phone to me.

  I can't help but smile as I accept her phone and enter my number.

  "Maybe we could get lunch instead of dinner" She says as I hand her phone back and I realise I still haven't said anything.

  "I'd like that" I nod.

  "Then I guess I'll see you next time Danielle" She smiles.

  "I guess you will Chloe" I nod hiking my folder onto my shoulder and turning to open her front door. "Bye" I wave softly.

  "Bye" She smiles.

  I bite my lip as I walk down the hallway and reenter the lift, I lean against the wall after I press for ground floor, and allow a huge grin to spread across my face, I feel like such a teenage girl right now, and I have no idea why.