I am officially late for work. My alarm clock did not go off. Stupid cheap piece of shit. That will be the last time I let my mother buy me something from the Swap Meet. The hot water in my shower had turned cold. Stupid plumbing. I really hate this house. Throwing my hair in a bun, grabbing my purse, portfolio, and car keys, I headed out of the door. But not before grabbing a chocolate covered doughnut and hot cup of hazelnut coffee. Breakfast of the champions, right? Getting into the car, I tossed my purse and portfolio into the backseat. I then placed my coffee cup in the cup holder, and then stuck my doughnut between my teeth. Sticking the key in the ignition, I turned it. Clank. Clank. You’ve got to be kidding me? Now my stupid car won’t start. Could this day get any worse?

“Ok, April, calm down.” I reassured myself. I took the key out and placed it back in the ignition, turning it. “Come on, baby. Work for mama.” I pressed my stiletto clad foot on the gas. Clank. Clank. “Shit!” I banged my fists against the steering wheel. I shouldn’t have procrastinated on getting that stupid starter replaced. Justin had told me plenty of times to get it fixed or he knew someone that could fix it for me. But I never listened.

Justin…

I haven’t seen him in a week. After that night he came over and professed his love for me and I told him to go, he hasn’t come by. Or even called. I guess it really is over. I guess this whole Karma thing is really kicking my ass right now. For sleeping with a married man, I guess that’s what I get, huh?

Ok, trying again. Taking the doughnut out of my mouth, I placed it on the passenger seat on a napkin. Taking the key out again and placing it back in the ignition turning it again. Clank. Clank. I guess it’s not going to work today. Reaching behind me, I grabbed my purse and sat it in my lap. I opened it up and began to search for my cell phone. Once I found it, I flipped it open and began to dial a familiar ten-digit number. She’s not going to be happy, but it’s worth a try.

The phone rang three times before someone picked up. “What?!” Jade screamed.

“Hey, it’s me. I need a ride to work.”

“Thank you so much, Jade.” I said as Jade and myself arrived at the art gallery.

She nodded. “Uh-hmm. You know that I don’t get out of bed before noon right?” I nodded. “You need to get that damn car fixed.”

I nodded again and sighed. “Yeah. I know.” I unbuckled my seatbelt. Turning around I grabbed my purse and portfolio. “I swear this weekend, I’m going to take it up to the car place.” I said opening up the passenger door. “I’ll see you later.” I stepped out of the car.

“Yeah, don’t call me tomorrow. You better catch a cab or a bus.” I heard Jade scream before I closed the door shut.

I shook my head at her comment, adjusted the strap of my purse on my shoulder, and walked into the building. I walked briskly to the back office. Turning the knob, I opened the door, and walked in. I walked right in to see my boss, Teri Fletcher, standing at my desk, holding a cup of coffee.

“Oh my God, Teri, I am so sorry that I am late. My car wouldn’t start, really.” I said walking over to my desk.

She took her glasses from her face and placed it on my desk. “That’s the third time this month, April. Now I know you’re sorry, but you’ve got to do better. You are the best that I’ve got. I don’t want to have to let you go.”

I sighed. “I know that, Teri. This weekend I am taking my car to get it fixed. I promise.”

She nodded. “Alright. Well as soon as you get settled, there’s a gentleman in the showcase room, and he’s ready to buy. So, I trust you to pull this off.” She picked her glasses and placed them back on her face, settling at the bridge of her nose.

It was my turn to nod. “Yes, I’ve got this, Teri.”

“Good.” She said walking back to her desk.

Again, I sighed. Placing my portfolio on top of my desk and putting my purse under my desk, I straightened out my blouse and skirt, and headed out of the office. Walking to the showcase gallery room, I spotted the guy that my boss was talking about. He stood about six foot, wavy brown hair, and the suit he had on looked very expensive. I didn’t know what his face looked like, because he had his back turned to me, looking at all of the art. Cautiously, I walked up to him. Once I reached him, he turned to me. He was extremely handsome. He had a pair of sparkling, crystal blue eyes and pearly white teeth.

“Is there anything I can help you with, sir?” I smiled.

He smiled. “Actually, you can. I’m looking for some art to go into my new home, that I just bought. And this is it. This painting right here is magnificent.” He said pointing to a beautiful mural of light watercolors and very nature inspired. “This piece is very reminiscent of Claude Monet. I would love to meet the artist that created this piece.” He turned to look at me and smiled.

“Well it’s a good thing that I came over here. I’m April Jones and this is my work.”

He almost looked flabbergasted. “You? You created this?”

I nodded. “Yes, this one is mine.”

“Wow,” he smiled widely, “you are very talented.” He then stuck out his hand for me to shake it. “I’m Joshua Chasez.”

I shook his hand gently. “Thank you, Mr. Chasez.”

“You’re very welcome. I didn’t know an artist could be this talented…and beautiful.” He smirked.

I blushed. Is he flirting with me? “Thank you.”

He turned back to the painting. “How much?” He turned back to me. “I’ll pay top dollar for it.”

“This painting is a thousand dollars.” I know it’s a lot, but hey I got to eat.

“Sold.” He stated quickly.

“Great.” I smiled. “Let me just get your information, and everything will be in order.”

“Great.” He smiled back.

I walked back into the office in order to get things together.

“So, how did it go?” Teri asked me as soon as I made it back to the office.

“He’s buying.” I told her.

“Oh, that’s great.” Teri smiled.

I nodded. “Yep. I’m getting his information together.” I walked over to the file cabinet to grab the necessary paperwork.

Getting the papers I needed, I walked back out of the office, and out to the gallery room. I saw Mr. Chasez and I walked towards him.

“Mr. Chasez,” he turned to me and smiled, “if you can follow me this way, we can get this paperwork situated and you can be on your way.”

He nodded. “Ok.”

“Alright.” I began to walk over the small area with a few chairs and a round desk. We both sat down and I spread the paperwork onto the table. “Ok, all this is, is just things we need to know. Like how much the painting is worth, when and where you would like the painting delivered, if you want to pay in installments or in full, and of course whether you’re paying in cash, check or credit.”

He nodded. “Ok. I want to pay in full and it will be credit.”

“Ok, Mr. Chasez,” I began, but he cut me off.

“Please, Mr. Chasez make me sound old. Call me Joshua.” He smiled and I smiled back. He is just too cute for words. Ok, April, be professional.

“Ok, Joshua, I just need you write your information here,” I pointed to one spot on the paper, “and here.” I pointed to the another spot and handed him a pen.

“Thank you.” He grabbed the pen from my grasp and began to sign the papers.

After a few minutes, he was done and he handed me back the pen.

“Well we’re all done here, Mr. Chas…” he gave me a stern look, “I mean Joshua. You can pick the painting up this Friday. Or you can call this number,” I pointed to our phone number on his copy of the paperwork, “right here if you can’t pick it up and we’ll have someone deliver it to your address on Monday between noon and seven.” I looked at him and he smiled.

“Ok, that sounds great.” He smiled wide. God, he’s so handsome.

“Alright.” I then began to gather up the scattered papers. “Thanks you so much for your time and your patience.”

“Oh, no thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have a beautiful painting for my new house.” He smiled at me dearly, and I blushed. It was quiet for a few moments before he cleared his throat. “Well, I guess I better get going.” He stood up from his seat, and I followed in suit. He then stuck his hand out in front of me. “Thank you so much again, April.”

I nodded and shook his hand. “You’re very welcome.”

Friday had finally rolled around. Thank God it’s Friday, right? WRONG! This day was the day from hell. This morning I had the tow truck service come and pick up my car to drop it off at the mechanic’s. That didn’t go so well. They were over an hour late and still expected me to pay an arm and a leg. Bastards. Since I had some time left, I decided to catch a cab to Starbucks to get my usual coffee [since my coffee machine at home is broken], and the damn line was out the door. Apparently they were training a new hire. So, that took me another hour and a half. And they didn’t even give me what I wanted. Bastards. And to put the cherry on top of a fantastic sundae, during the cab ride to work [which cost me forty bucks in total], we had ran into construction and the cab driver decides to speed over a pothole and I ended up spilling coffee on myself [which was scorching hot, by the way ]. Not only did I probably have second degree burns, I ruined my favorite Donna Karen blouse. And all that cab driver had to say was “sorry”. Sorry? I should have made him pay for my shirt. Bastard.

Yeah, this morning was not so good for me.

As of right now, I’m sitting at my desk trying to scrub out what’s left of the coffee stain on my blouse, when I looked up and saw my co-worker, Casey Sawyer, walk in and sit down at her desk.

“Good morning.” Casey said not looking up from her rummaging through her paperwork.

“Yeah, I wish it was a good morning.” I mumbled and began to continuing to rid my shirt of that damn stain.

“What?” Casey finally looked up and saw the disgruntled look upon my face, and the huge beige spot on my shirt. “Wow, April, what happened?” She asked, her chocolate eyes written with concern.

“Let’s just say, I’ve had the morning from hell.” I said continuing to scrub out the stain, but then decided to give up and tossed the wet napkin in the trash, frustrated.

“You, ok?” She questioned.

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I looked back at her and she had gone back to rummaging through her stuff. “So, how was your vacation?”

Casey stopped and looked up at me. Her brown eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh my gosh, April, it was so romantic. Brian and I had a fantastic time. We reconnected on that trip. It was nice to be with my husband alone. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my boys, but sometimes I just need to spend time with the man I love. We had a great time.”

“That sounds amazing, Case. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.”

“Oh, I definitely enjoyed it.” She smiled from ear to ear.

I envied Casey so much. She had the life that I always dreamed I’d have one day. She and her husband had been married for eight years and have two of the most gorgeous little boys I have ever seen.

I had met Casey four years ago, when I first started working at this gallery. She was one of the most gorgeous women I had ever seen. She stood at about five feet three inches. She had shoulder length strawberry blond hair, gorgeous doe-like brown eyes, and a killer smile. She was the sweetest person that I had met in a long time. She really welcomed me into this gallery with open arms.

“So, Teri tells me that you sold another one of your paintings?” Casey asked me.

I nodded my head. “Yeah, earlier this week. Some guy who had just bought a new home, wanted to spruce it up a bit.” I smiled.

“Wow, that’s pretty awesome.” She smiled at me genuinely. “Was he cute?” She just blurted out.

“What?” I exclaimed. I can’t believe she just asked me that.

“Was he cute?” She repeated herself.

“Casey, you’re married.” I reminded her.

“I know that, silly. I wasn’t talking about for me. I was talking about for you.” She pointed her finger at me.

“Me?” I questioned her, now pointing at myself.

“Yes, you. How long have we known each other? Four years? And I haven’t once heard you talk about a guy in your life.”

My jaw almost completely hit the floor. “How did we go from talking about me selling a painting to my love life?”

Before Casey could answer, Teri walked in and interrupted us.

“April, someone’s here to see you.”

Huh? “Me?”

She nodded and walked out of the office. I turned to look at Casey and she just shrugged her shoulders in response and went to turn on her computer.

I sighed and got up from my chair and walked out. I walked out to the showcase room to see him standing there. I smiled slightly at his presence. Today he wasn’t dressed in his business attire like he was earlier this week, but he did look good in his denim jeans, and white polo. Once he saw me, he smiled also.

“So, here to pick up your painting, Joshua?” I asked him as he stood in front of me.

“And other things.” He said smirking at me, while removing his sunglasses. He really is handsome.

“Other things?” I questioned.

“What happened?” He just blurted out and it caught me completely off guard.

“What are you--” I looked at his eyes which were now fixated on my blouse. I looked down saw that mess on it. How embarrassing. I had completely forgotten about that. I quickly crossed my arms over my chest, to try to hide the stain. “An accident.”

“Oh,” he stated. He looked back up into my eyes and smiled.

“So,” I began, “you were saying.”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “How well do you know this place?”

O-k. “I know it pretty well. I’ve lived here most of my life.”

“Ok. Since I’m new around here, how would you feel about showing the new guy,” he pointed to himself, “a night on the town?” Ok, now my jaw hit the floor. Is he really asking me out? On a date? “Ok, I know we only met a few days ago, but I think you’re the most beautiful woman that I’ve seen, since I’ve arrived here. And I would really love to take you to dinner.” I am completely shocked. He is really asking me out on a date. “You don’t have to answer me now, ” he reaches behind him and pulls out his black leather wallet. He opened the wallet and pulled out a small, white card. “But, here’s my card.” He handed it over to me. “Just call me and let me know. My home and cell number is on there. So, call me.”

I took the card from his hand. “Ok.” I nodded finally able to say something.

“Ok.” He smiled. “I’ll see you later, April. Hope to hear from you.” He said as he walked out of the showcase room.

“He gave you his business card?!” Jade screamed at me on the other end of the phone, later that night.

“Yeah,” I said standing at the stove stirring my spaghetti sauce with my right hand, while cradling my white cordless phone in my left. “He wants to take me out to dinner.” I brought the wooden spoon to my lips to taste the sauce.

“I hope you told him to kick rocks.” Jade said and I burst out laughing. “AJ, that’s not funny. You reeling in the aftermath of the break-up with your married boyfriend. You don’t want this guy to be a rebound.”

I turned off the stove and switched the phone to my other ear. “I’m not rebounding anybody, Jade. I haven’t even said yes to the guy.” I walked over to my cabinet and pulled out a plate.

“Do you think he’s cute?” She asked me.

I sighed. “He’s gorgeous.” I walked back over to the stove and began to pile my plate with spaghetti noodles and sauce.

“You are going to say yes to him.” She accused me.

“Just because I said he’s gorgeous, does not mean I’m going to say yes.” With my plate of food in my hands, I sat down at my kitchen table, and began to eat my dinner.

“How do you know he’s not married either? You know those are the guys you attract.”

I sighed. “I’m hanging up now. ” I pressed the end button on the phone to end the call. I placed the phone on the table, lying it next to Joshua’s card. I picked the card up and looked at it for a few seconds. Jade didn’t know what she was talking about. I don’t have to say yes to him. I barely even know him. I put the card back down.

A few more seconds went by and picked up the card again. I don’t care what Jade said, he’s cute and he wants to take me out. I grabbed my cordless phone. Here goes nothing.