The Foreverlost

Chapter 5

June 2018

It had been nearly a week since Kaiya and Ville had gone out on their date and because it ended so awkwardly neither had the guts to contact the other. Kaiya was trying to work out her feelings about entering the dating scene, meanwhile Ville was trying to figure out what had gone so wrong and if he should just take it as a sign to just forget it.

Ville lay in his bed that morning, listening to the thunderstorm outside, contemplating and mulling over the date for the umpteenth time. The rain pattering against the windows in the grayness was giving him peace of mind to get his thoughts in order.

Despite Ville's bruised ego telling him to just forgo the entire budding relationship with Kaiya, his heart told him to keep trying. There was something about this girl that fascinated him, she had a magnetic hold on him and he couldn't just drop her and move on like he was able to in the past with other women.

However, if Kaiya was truly not interested in him, there would be nothing he could do. He couldn't force her to feel a one-sided connection. If that was the case, he at least needed closure. In the past he'd just let it go but in his 40s, he'd become more bold and communication meant a hell of a lot more to him.

On the other side of town, Kaiya was busy stocking shelves and doing inventory. With such a stormy day outside and no customers in the store so far that day she had time to do miscellaneous tasks that she couldn't normally do when they were busy.

Kari was preoccupied in the back placing orders and making sure the general back office work was complete. He had no idea that Kaiya had gone on a date with his eldest son and Kaiya hoped to keep it that way. He'd be far too invested and would ask too many questions. Besides, Ville hadn't contacted her in nearly a week, it was a null and void situation.

But even though initially after their date she felt like she may not have been ready to take that step, she felt sad that she had possibly blown a chance with someone she had a spark for. But what if she was just too overzealous? Maybe she would have felt a "spark" for anyone at this point? It had been so long since she had any affection from a man in a romantic sense, she couldn't be certain that she wouldn't feel warm and fuzzy over any guy. But on the other hand, Ville undeniably made her feel something that she had only ever felt with Nikko; safe.
Sure, Kari & Jesse made her feel safe too, but this was just different.

All of the uncertainty had put Kaiya in a shitty mood for days and she just couldn't shake it.

A bit later as Kaiya was getting ready to take her break, she heard the bell above the door jingle and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Ville walking in, his jacket hood up to protect him from the rain.

"Hey." He said nervously, struggling to make eye contact with her. Taking his jacket off and tucking it under his arm.

"Hi." Kaiya responded as casually as she could. "What can I do for you?" she tried to act cool and professional, knowing Kari was in the back with the security monitors on. Even though she figured there was no sound on them, she knew Kari would know something was amiss if her body language became distressed.

Ville approached the counter that Kaiya was standing behind, "I have to apologize. I should have called..."

"No. I don't blame you, I wouldn't call me back either." Kaiya admitted, her eyes not meeting his. Instead, she looked down at her hands as she picked nervously at her cuticles.

Ville blinked, now he was confused, "Did I do something? I mean, one minute you were fine and the next you—you seemed put off. Like I had upset you. That's why I haven't called, I've been trying to figure out where I went wrong. Sorry if this is really forward but I've got to know." He wasn't getting any younger and did not want to waste his time.