Summer to Winter

Chapter Twenty-Two

Syden's meeting with Amy went well. Henry was right, she was amazing, wonderful and gracious. They chatted like old friends for about an hour and Amy had a break before her makeup and hair test, so she decided to go to the gym to say hi to Henry. Sy wanted to check on an order that she had put in for Sarah and told her that she would probably see her down there in a few minutes. As she was leaving the costume office, she ran into Elyssa.

"Hey lady!" Another cheerful hug between the girlfriends. "You will never guess who showed up at my door this morning..."

Elyssa smirked, "Henry?"

Sy immediately felt her face flush as she nervously laughed. "No, Tim... but why did you say Henry?"

"Rumor has it, you two have been spending a lot of time together... just wanted to see if it was true. I mean... he is a GORGEOUS man... I wouldn't fault you at all if you took full advantage of it." She winked, "But seriously, he's a really nice guy and you haven't even been on a date since you left Tim. What do you have to lose?"

"Oh... I don't know... my job, future career, any chance for work in Hollywood."

Elyssa rolled her eyes "Stop being so dramatic. That's not going to happen, Brian loves you and you know Adam would take you back in a heartbeat if you wanted to live in New York again." She lowered her voice, "Could there be something though? Like... do you think you two would ever... ya know?"

"There's no way a man like that would ever look at me that way. I'm having a great time with him, but it feels very platonic... I mean, would you date me if you were him?" Syden looked down at her feet.

"Stop it." Elyssa hit her on the shoulder, "You are a gorgeous woman. Not just on the outside, but inside as well. Tim was a fucking idiot who made you feel like you were less than perfect. Stop letting him control how you feel, especially about yourself!"

Syden knew deep down inside that she was right, but it was going to take a few years of therapy to get her insecurities out of her head. "YOU stop it. It's never going to happen, no matter how pretty I am or not. It's not appropriate... he's technically my boss for crying out loud."

"All I'm saying is that it might be time for you to start dating again... and I heard that someone saw you two in his car talking 'intently.' If you don't make a move on that one, someone else might. Then you'll be out of luck..."

"Lyss... I can't... you know that I'm too shy. Set me up on a date with one of your friends, I promise I'll go this time. No excuses, I swear!"

Elyssa had tried to set Syden up a couple of times in the past with no luck. Sy always came up with an excuse for not being able to go or would back out at the last minute. Elyssa even tried to chat up fellas while they were in bars in New York, but Sy was too shy and wouldn't engage in conversation.

"I'm going to hold you to that promise, Sy. NO EXCUSES." Lyss glared at Sy as she walked away. "You are going to go on a date with a handsome man this year if it kills me, young lady."

Syden laughed and rolled her eyes. "I promise to go on at least one. Just for you!" She yelled back as kept walking the opposite way down the hall.

She knew that Henry would still be busy at the gym since her meeting with Amy didn't last too long so she headed to the office to say hi to Brian. Grumpy McPooper pants was scowling intently at his cell phone as she waved and said, "good morning!!" to him as chipper as possible. He just ignored her as she chuckled and walked straight to Brian. As she peeked around the corner of the door frame, she realized that he was on the phone. He waved her in anyway, rolling his eyes and pantomiming shooting himself in the head with his fingers. She mouthed "Just saying 'HI!" and turned back. Sy looked down at her watch and barely ten minutes had passed. Jeez, I DO walk fast... she made a conscious effort to walk slowly back to the gym, knowing that Henry wasn't done yet. She did not want to be caught staring at him with his muscles rippling with every rep. That man was going to be the death of her, and she needed to stay away.