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Mark was standing there. Mark, from Hawaii. Sexy Mark, with that wavy brown hair that drove
me insane and those glistening blue eyes that seemed to look straight into my soul.
What the hell was he doing here?
What the hell are you doing here? I asked, not realizing that my mouth said the words I d been
thinking.
What, no hello? he asked with a grin. That was when I realized he had a small bouquet of
flowers in his hand. An orchid, some daisies, a few other exotic flowers I didn t recognize. I d never
really been the flowers type of girl.
No, you don t get a hello until you tell me what the hell you re doing, standing here at my
door?
My privacy was enormously important to me. It was something I took very seriously, and I didn t
like having a guy who was still pretty much a complete stranger finding out where I lived and
showing up on my doorstep.
Mark s smile faded.
I thought I d surprise you, that s all, he said, looking a bit dejected.
Surprises are good when they re not incredibly stalkerish, I replied. I might have been a bit
harsher than I otherwise would have been, but this was serious to me. I placed a premium on my
privacy. My mother spent years trying to figure out where I was, trying get back into my life, trying to
suck the life and soul out of whatever happiness I had created for myself. It was incredibly important
to me that I stay as hidden as possible, and a man I d met one night showing up out of the blue,
unexpected on my doorstep was a sign that I wasn t quite as hidden as I liked to imagine I was.
Look, you re right, Mark replied, opening his arms wide, in a disarming way. I m completely
out of line here. I m going to go. Listen, here s my card. It s got my cell number on it. I m going to be
in town for another two days. If you want to meet, go out on a date, I d love to see you again. If you
don t, I understand. Sorry for crossing a line.
He placed the flowers in my arms, and the next thing I knew, he was gone. It was almost like he
had never been there in the first place, but the business card and flowers in my hands proved
otherwise.
As soon as I closed the door behind me once more I began to second guess my every move. I had
never been the most self confident person, my mother spent my entire childhood making sure of that,
but I didn t think I was this paranoid about everything.
Had I overreacted? Was that a totally normal thing for people to do? Should I have invited him
in? No, it wasn t normal. It had definitely crossed over into the line of creepy.
But still, even if it was a bit creepy, even if it wasn t exactly what normal people did, should I
call him? I wasn t sure. I stared at the card that I placed on the table while I got some water for the
flowers. I briefly considered checking the flowers to make sure there wasn t a hidden camera in them
or something, then scolded myself for being so paranoid and simply put them on the table.
I knew I was a very private person, but was I being too private? I wasn t sure. I tried to give
Lisa a call, tried to get her advice, then remembered that she and Rob always went out for a romantic
dinner on Friday nights. She would rave about how nice it was on Monday, like she always did. I
smiled to myself as I thought about it.
I eventually caught up on those CSI episodes I was meaning to watch, but my brain was
elsewhere. I spent the weekend wondering if I should call Mark. A couple of times I even picked up
the phone and started dialing the number, but stopped myself. Why was I calling him? He was a one
night stand with stalkerish tendencies that lived like six states away. There was no way this could be
a relationship. And yet, a part of me kept trying. My body kept trying to get me to contact him. Was I
that sex starved, did I really enjoy that night with him so much that I was willing to do it again?
Sunday afternoon I finally got my answer. With a sudden energy I didn t know I had, I got up,
grabbed my phone and punched the numbers in with the ferocity of someone who knew that if they
stopped they would never start again. Before I had the chance to think about it, before my brain had a
chance to say no, the phone was ringing. Mark picked up on the third ring.
Hello, Mark speaking.
Hey, Mark, it s Caroline, I answered, not really knowing what else to say. Was that what I
should have said?
Oh! Hey Caroline, it s nice to hear from you.
Yeah, you too. Even though I called you. I guess. Well, seeing as I kicked you out the other
night...
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