After her discharge, Stephanie spent a week at her mother's house. She had a check up with the doctor on Friday morning, and then she moved into Denise's spare bedroom.
Due to the broken ribs, she had coughing and breathing exercises to do every day to make sure she wouldn't get pneumonia, but being around Denise had her laughing so much she barely had to do them. Kevin stopped by every day to read to her, watch television with her, or just talk. Stephanie could tell he was opening up to her a little more each visit, and the thought warmed her heart.
She still struggled with her arm in a sling, and looking at a screen for too long gave her a headache, but after three weeks, she was ready to return to work part time.
On her first day back, Kevin was going to pick her up at Denise's so they could take the subway together.
The doorbell rang at 7:30am. Denise shrieked at the sound.
"Who the hell is ringing the doorbell this early? They should be shot for this!"
"Denny, it's probably Kevin. You knew he was coming over this morning."
Denise was opening the door to Kevin, "Yes, but I specifically told him the rules. You, Stephanie Halder, are the only person in the world allowed to make my phone or the doorbell make the loud noises this early in the morning."
Kevin stayed outside the door, and looked timid, "Sorry, I can just wait outside if she's not ready yet."
Denise grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. "Again? What's with your obsession with loitering outside people's houses? You need a new hobby." The door closed behind him.
"I'm not kidding about the doorbell though. If it is before nine in the morning, you better knock. Or better yet, text to say you're here."
Stephanie came out into the kitchen, peering intently at Denise and Kevin. "What do you mean 'again'?"
Kevin's face went scarlet. "Oh, uh, that's not important."
"Denise! What were you talking about?"
Denise cackled in response, "Oh my god. You never told her that part?"
Kevin looked down at his shoes, and mumbled "It didn't seem relevant after the accident. Everything worked out in the end."
Stephanie was agitated, and if someone didn't give her answers soon, she was going to start kicking them. "What's not relevant?"
Denise sighed and turned towards Stephanie. "Oh, I almost had to kill Kevin when he called me at 7:30 in the morning looking for you. But I didn't kill him, so, you're welcome."
Stephanie's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "Kevin, when were you looking for me at 7:30 in the morning?"
He looked at his watch with a sigh. "Can we sit?"
They headed to the couch, and she gingerly sat beside him. "So, that Sunday-"
"You mean the Day-the-Men-all-Lost-Their-Collective Minds?"
He looked uncomfortable, and gulped before continuing. "Yeah, that one. So, you know how I had my phone on airplane mode and didn't get your calls until it was too late?"
"Yes..."
"Well, I was with Jared and Katy when I realized that, and I kinda freaked out, but they made me realize some stuff about how I actually feel about you, so I drove to your place to talk to you face to face. When I got there, no one was home, and your car was gone, but I didn't want to miss you when you came home, so I just waited in my car."
"How long did you wait for?"
"All night."
"You stayed outside my house all night? And none of my neighbours even cared? That's not reassuring."
Kevin chuckled. "Yeah, well, when you didn't come home by the morning, I called Denise to see if you were here. You weren't, so my brain just assumed the worst again, and I stopped listening until Denise yelled at me for calling at such an ungodly hour, and threatened me with death if I ever did it again."
"Yeah, Denise is really not a morning person."
Kevin finally smiled. "You could say that again."
Denise spoke from the kitchen, scowling over the edge of her coffee mug, "Denise can still hear you, and would like you to take your sunny personalities out of her face until she has finished at least two coffees."
*
When Stephanie got into the atrium of her office building, she was pretty sure she saw David standing near the elevators looking at his phone. She dashed into the stairwell without stopping for a hot chocolate at the café, and slowly worked her way up to her office. She wasn't sure if she was just being paranoid, or if it actually was David down there. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to know the answer either.
She texted Kevin when she got to her desk.
Is it crazy to think I keep seeing David everywhere?
Her phone rang and Kevin's face flashed on her screen. Confused, she picked it up.
"Hey. You know, unless I text you 'Call me', I usually expect a text back rather than a phone call."
"Yeah, I have something to tell you."
Her mood dropped immediately. "That sounds ominous. Wasn't this morning's confession enough?" she chuckled, but Kevin stayed quiet on the other end of the line. "What's wrong?"
"Well, with the accident and all, there was something important I forgot to tell you." He took a deep breath. "David works in your building now. He actually works at Uncle Dean's company."
"What the hell? How did that happen?" she slouched all the way down in her chair.
"He met the COO at a conference and they hit it off so well he got offered a job. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you sooner. Maybe it's a coincidence?" She could hear the hesitation in his voice.
"He claims everything is coincidence, but I feel like there have been too many for that to be totally true."
"It's okay. We'll figure out a way to deal with it. I mean, you probably won't even see him that much. It's just your building, not your office, right?"
"Yeah, that's true. I'm sure it will be fine." She felt like they were both trying to convince each other they weren't worried.
The line was silent for a moment. "I have lunch with Uncle Dean today, can I still stop by and see you?"
"Of course! I can't wait."
Smiling to herself, she started working on the floor plan for the upcoming home and garden show. She had a team meeting at 10:30, and rumour was they were bringing in an antipasto bar for lunch. Free lunch was a good omen for a first day back.
By noon, she had a headache from the screens, so she took a break. Worrying about running into David in her current state, she hesitated going anywhere outside of the firm's office.
At 12:45, she texted Kevin hoping he could come and see her, and he was down in the office by 1:15. She met him at the elevators.
He showed up with a big smile, "Hey you!" He kissed her, and she immediately felt better. "Wanna go for a walk?" Stephanie hesitated and he could tell. "Don't worry. There's a big staff meeting this afternoon. Uncle Dean told me about it. We won't see him. And if we do, I'll be with you."
She looked at him and nodded. They headed out and walked to the small park on the backside of the building. It was a beautiful day, and the sunshine helped Stephanie relax again. She snuggled into his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her.
"How does he always seem to find me? I never spontaneously bump into anyone else this much. Up until now it's never been part of my routine, its always when I'm doing something else. I feel like I'm being tracked."
"I'm sure he's not actually tracking you. Are you posting anything on social media about where you will be?"
"No, the only time that made sense was when Carly posted from the bar and tagged me in it. Nothing for the Thai place, or the coffee shop, or the time I got stood up."
"Hmm. Is he messaging you or phoning you or anything?"
"Yeah, I've blocked his calls and texts, but he still emails me. I just delete them as soon as I see it's from him. He's like the most determined spammer I've ever heard of."
Kevin didn't say anything to that right away, but scowled into the distance. She continued "He also tried messaging me on MatchedUp, but I blocked him there too."
"Well, keep blocking him. Does he know where you work?"
"I've never told him. I've only told the specifics to five-ish people since I started working here. You, Denise, Mom, Mark, and a guy named Matt that I was texting for quite a while on MatchedUp. I don't even know what David actually does. He just moved here from Ottawa."
"Hmm, well apparently it's marketing sales or something."
"That makes sense. I've seen him be quite charming when he wants something. Usually women."
"And it never worked on you?"
"He'd actually never tried it on me before. I always had Mark. Now he seems to be going off the idea that we have a connection because we've known each other for years. But he treated me pretty coldly then. As if I was just Mark's property instead of a real person." She looked away wistfully. "God, there were so many signs in that relationship." She put her head in her good hand and let out a big sigh. Kevin rubbed her back, and watched her, but didn't say anything.
After a few minutes of silence and some meditative breaths, they got up and headed back inside. They took the stairs up to the sixth floor. She was still wary about David being everywhere, and preferred the discomfort on the stairs to the risk of the elevators.
Kevin seemed to read her mind. He pulled her close to him. "Don't worry, it'll be okay. Are you still going to Denise's tonight?"
"No, she's going to be with Clara. I was just planning to go home."
"Oh, okay. Do you want to come-" She cut him off immediately.
"No, have fun playing D&D with the guys. I'll be okay. I promise."
"Alright. Text me if you're not. Talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay." She hugged him one last time and kissed him before turning back into her office. She sat at her desk, put her earbuds in, and tried to think only about work for the next few hours.