Eight

With the rush of work and life and everything else, Emily had all but forgotten about her exchange of email addresses with Trent. So it was with some surprise that she received a brief message from him at work about a week later.

To: epeterson@fghospital.com
From: singingfool@uptown.com
Subject: Hey
Dear Emily:
It was really great to meet you the other day. I still don’t know how you do what you do.
Thanks for the coffee.Trent

Well, she thought. He remembers me. Isn’t that nice. The oddly formal tone, the inside joke about the coffee. This wasn’t written by an assistant or anything. This was the man himself.

“Whatcha doin’?” Sarah said, coming up behind her.

Emily jumped guiltily and closed the email, hoping Sarah hadn’t seen, and wondering at the same time, why she cared.

“Nothing,” she said, a touch too fast. “Just reading email.” If Sarah had seen anything, she didn’t say.

For the rest of the shift, Emily planned her reply. She wrote and rewrote it in her head a thousand times, so many that she had no idea what to say when she finally sat down to type. After agonizing for a disproportionate amount of time, she settled on

To: singingfool@uptown.com
From: epeterson@fghospital.com
Subject: Re: Hey
Dear Trent:
It was nice to meet you, too. You’re welcome for the coffee. Next time, you can buy.
Emily

It seemed pretty safe to throw a pseudo-invitation out there; Forest Glen was only a few hours’ drive from Toronto, but realistically, how often could Uptown actually pass through town?

To her surprise, she received a reply almost immediately.

To: epeterson@fghospital.com
From: singingfool@uptown.com
Subject: Re: Hey
Emily:
I owe you one. You name the place and time. I’ll be there.
Trent

Whatever, she thought. Like that’ll ever happen. He’s probably just goofing around. Still, she wrote back, as much to test his sincerity as anything.

To: singingfool@uptown.com
From: epeterson@fghospital.com
Subject: Re: Hey
Trent:
How about next time you’re in town?
Emily

Nothing came back that night, but sure enough, within a day or two, the response she half-feared showed up.

To: epeterson@fghospital.com
From: singingfool@Uptown.com
Subject: Re: Hey
Dear Emily:
I will be in St. Rose next Wednesday for a video shoot. Can we meet then?
Trent

Busted, she thought. Okay, how am I going to get out of it? She checked her work schedule. No such luck. Ellen was around and the kids had no activity planned. St. Rose was only half an hour away. She would have to get creative if she was going to find a believable excuse. He was pretty cute, but she was just not ready. Or interested, she kept telling herself. She didn’t answer the email right away.