Flat-Out Love

“I’m glad you did.”

Maybe the first thing one notices on a date should not be how someone smells, but as he wrapped his arms around her, she couldn’t help but inhale. He smelled masculine. And not in a stinky, too-much-cheap-cologne way. Masculine in a hot, rugged, delicious way. She liked the feel of his arms around her and the way he hugged her warmly and confidently without being too forward.

Seth moved away and opened the car door for her. “Not that I didn’t enjoy my drive around the back streets of Cambridge, but I hope you didn’t think I was blowing you off.”

Julie got in and buckled her seat belt. “Don’t worry about it.”

Seth shifted the car into gear. “I’m such a dork. I wrote your address down on a piece of paper, and I have the worst handwriting in the world. I wasn’t sure if I was looking for twenty-one, or seventy-one, or twenty-seven, or… Well, it doesn’t matter now.”

“You’re not a dork, but speaking of dorks,” Julie said as she turned her body toward him, “I just found out the weirdest thing. Did you know there are people who are font nerds?”

Seth gri

“Exactly! It’s one of many unique dorky sub-genres! Or nerdy sub-genres. I’m not really sure exactly how the classification system works.”

“I’m a little scared that you know this.”

“So am I,” Julie agreed. “So am I.”

“Please don’t jump out of the moving car, but I have to tell you up front that I am not a font nerd. Or much of any nerd, really.”

“You’ve just earned another bonus point.”

“Just one?” He flashed his adorable smile as he drove them into the city.

“Fine. Five points.”

“Now you’re talking.”

PART TWO

Chapter 13

Julie stood on her tiptoes, desperately trying to retrieve the duffel bag from the top of the closet shelf. She finally looped a finger around the strap and pulled it down, causing it to land on her head. She hated traveling, and if the packing situation was any indicator of her trip’s success, she was not headed for a smooth flight. As if navigating an airport wasn’t enough of a hassle on the day before Thanksgiving, she was desperately trying to condense her belongings so that she wouldn’t have to check any luggage.

She would definitely be checking bags when she went to California with her father, that’s for sure. He’d sent her their itinerary a few days ago. Or rather, his secretary had forwarded it to her. Still, he was showing a huge effort by taking her on this trip. Julie could only imagine the hassle it’d been for him to take off three weeks from work for this whirlwind trip. L.A., Huntington Beach, San Diego, Santa Barbara … Julie couldn’t even remember where else! She couldn’t wait to tell her dad all about school and how well she was doing in her classes.

For this trip, she didn’t need too many outfits, but hauling her laptop and books home was a drag. How Julie was supposed to celebrate the holiday, visit with relatives and friends, finish a research paper, and study for her calculus exam was beyond her. Colleges clearly saw Thanksgiving as a working holiday.

“Knock, knock.” Erin stepped into the bedroom, and Julie again admired how poised and together she always looked. The gray tweed pencil skirt and coordinating cardigan were so streamlined and… well, classy. That was it; Erin was classy. Professional and classy. “You must be itching to get home and see your family, I imagine.”

“A little bit,” Julie agreed, as she tossed the duffel bag onto the bed. “I just have so much work to do that it’s hard to feel excited about going back to Ohio.”

Erin waved her hand. “You’ll get it done. There will be time in the airport, on the plane, and while you’re recovering from turkey overload.”

“I guess.” Julie grabbed a handful of clean socks and tossed them into the bag. “Although maybe I should have just taken a long weekend earlier in the month instead and avoided the crowds. Oh, I mean, not that I would want to infringe on your family’s holiday plans. I just meant—”

“You’d be welcome here for Thanksgiving, Julie. But I can’t imagine a day of Chinese food and Scrabble is what you’re used to. It’ll just be Matthew, Celeste, and I sitting around eating spicy tofu and debating the validity of Matthew’s plays. He tends to make up words, but we usually give him partial credit for creativity.”

“That actually sounds better than eating sweet potatoes with marshmallows and listening to my uncle retell what went down on Comedy Central the night before.”

“It does not!” Erin protested. “There’s nothing wrong with a traditional Thanksgiving. Family warts and all. I’m sure it will be lovely.”

“Is it strange not to have Roger here for the holiday?”

“Not at all. Roger takes month-long trips several times a year, so this longer trip is not surprising.” Erin crossed her arms. “And your friend Seth? What’s he doing over break?”

“He and his parents are going to Vermont to see his aunt and uncle. He left yesterday to try and avoid the traffic, and they’re coming home on Saturday for the same reason.”

“You’ve spoken highly of him. A political science major at BU, I believe, right? I’m glad you’ve made some nice co

Julie smiled. Dana had become a good friend, and even though both of them were busy, they had a standing coffee date on Tuesdays that they never missed. Dana was still absolutely bewitched by Jamie, and Julie had spent many hours over the semester listening to play-by-play accounts of the progress of their rollercoaster relationship. Of course Julie talked about Seth, too, to some degree, but their status was more of the casual-dating variety than Dana and Jamie’s—which at this point was highlighted by frequent dramatic arguments followed by early morning walks of shame.  Julie felt that, for a psych major, Dana could us a bit of self-examination. Maybe Julie and Seth weren’t full of passion and mega-sparks, but there was something to be said for slow and steady.

“Goodness, Julie, are you pla

“I have to. I need to do a paper on Carl Jung for my psychology class, and I need those as references.”

Erin squinted at the stack of books. “Those are adequate, I suppose. Julie, you should have better sources.”

“I have some online articles, too, but not enough.”

“That’s ridiculous. I can take care of that.” Erin moved to the desk and began writing on a notepad. “This is my user name and ID so that you can access Harvard’s article database. This should give you more than you need for your paper, and you’ll be able to review critical examinations of Jung’s work by others highly regarded in the field.”

“Really?” Julie walked to the desk and looked at the paper. Erin had just opened up an entire world for her. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I mean, this is a big deal. The only thing I can do through school is get into the library’s listings and reserve books.”

Erin tucked the pen behind her ear and put her hands on her hips. “Of course not. There’s no reason you shouldn’t have the best resources accessible to you. I’m surprised Whitney doesn’t have more available to you online. You might not want to thank me, though, because I guarantee that you’ll quickly get sucked into the system, going from one recommended article to another. So if your mother throws a fit because you’re glued to the computer this weekend, don’t blame me.”