Love In Unexpected Places ✓

Chapter Sixteen

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

The sound of the alarm jolted my eyes awake. I turned over and felt for Jean-Paul, but he wasn't there. I looked around the room and realized that I was in my apartment. It was a dream. The proposal hadn't really happened. I was disappointed.

I walked into the bathroom to turn the water on for a shower. I just stood there in the bathroom thinking about my dream. It felt so real. I could feel the emotions as he had seeped into my unconsciousness. I suppose all of the thinking I had been doing about Jean-Paul had affected my dreams. That was the first time since I've met Jean-Paul that I had actually dreamt of him.

Was I getting too close? Was this just a realization that nothing more would ever happen between Jean-Paul and I? That once his visit is over that we will just be nothing more than distant memories? My heart sank when I thought about the dream and how greatly I wished it were real. The feelings scared me. Jean-Paul and I had never discussed where this relationship was leading. What if he didn't want anything further after his vacation had ended? What if these strong feelings that I was developing were one-sided?

With a sigh, I pushed the thoughts from my mind and focused on getting dressed for the long day ahead.

When I stepped out of the apartment complex, the morning air swept through my long brunette locks. On the drive to the office, my mind was on Jean-Paul and our date the previous night. By the time I arrived at work, I was smiling from ear to ear. Nina, the head nurse took in my good mood right away.

"You look happy today. Is it that boyfriend of yours?" She asked. I half-smiled before the words flew out of my mouth.

"Actually, Max and I aren't together anymore."

The smile disappeared from her face and was replaced with a frown. She pulled me close into a hug and whispered, "Oh honey I'm sorry."

"It's okay Nina. It was a month or two ago. I was upset about it for a while, but then I met this new guy named Jean-Paul." The frown melted away and she returned to her normal, happy self.

"You have got to tell me all of the details!" She exclaimed.

We walked back into the lounge area of the office and I poured myself a cup of coffee and added a bit of french vanilla creamer. Nina and I sat at one of the tables and I began to talk.

I told Nina all about Jean-Paul, about showing him around New York, and our date the previous evening. By the time I was finished, she was on the edge of her seat, hanging on to my every word.

I showed Nina my bracelet as she inspected it and oohed and ahhed over it.

"Then last night I had a crazy dream that we were on the beach and Jean-Paul proposed to me. I woke up and realized that it was only a dream. But it felt so real."

Nina looked at me and a big smile spread from ear to ear.

"Maybe your dreams are trying to tell you something. Maybe this means that he's the one," she winked.

I shook my head, my stomach doing anxious somersaults. "No, I don't think so. It's been an emotional few weeks, and I think it's starting to mess with my sleep. It couldn't mean more than that...could it?" Nina smiled. "I wouldn't be dismissive of the dream just yet, Blakely. It sounds like your heart is trying to tell you something. You just need to listen." She gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaving the break room to unlock the front doors.

I sat there for a moment, sipping my coffee, and thinking about what Nina said. Was it possible that I was in my head so much that I was preventing myself from being honest about my feelings for Jean-Paul? Was I standing in the way of my own happiness because I was hanging on to my relationship with Max, or afraid of being hurt again?