Chapter 3

When I hear his voice, my breathing hitches. "Are you there Princess?" he asks. "Yeah. Rio?" I ask. "Yeah Sweetheart. It's me." he says. I try not to sound nervous and say "So you took my advice." I say, rather than ask. He laughs softly and says "Yeah. I did. Did you enjoy your bread?" he asks. "I did. Very much. How did you know it was my favorite?" I ask. "Took a guess." he tells me. "Well, you did good." I tell him and we both laugh a little. "So, are you going to tell me anything about you?" I ask. "Not enough to figure out who I am yet. But we can talk about things." he tells me. "Okay. I do have one question." I say. "What's that?" he asks. "How did you get to be so smooth?" I ask and he starts laughing. "Just luck I guess. How did you get so beautiful?" he asks and I get quiet. "Rio…" I start. "You know what my first thought was when I saw you?" he asks. "What?" I ask softly. "My first thought was how could someone so beautiful look so sad?" he says. "Sad huh?" I ask. "Yeah. You were sitting there just looking out the window. Not even acknowledging that anyone else was around. That was the day I decided to send over the first note." he says. "I remember that day. I was lost in my own little world that day." I tell him. "What were you thinking about?" he asks. "Nothing that matters now." I tell him. "So, what are you willing to tell me about you?" I ask. "I'm thirty-four years old, entrepreneur, love the simple things in life. What about you?" he asks. "I'm Thirty years old, work for a construction company and I'm the project planner." I tell him. "Wow. That's impressive." he tells me. "Thank you." I say.

We talk for a while, and I say "I better head to bed. Have to be up early in the morning." I tell him. "Can I text you in tomorrow?" he asks. "I'd like that." I tell him. "Well, sleep sweet Princess. I'll talk to you soon." he tells me. "Sleep sweet Rio." I say and we end the call.

The next morning I wake up and start getting ready for work when my phone goes off with a text.

R: Good morning beautiful.

D: Good morning Rio.

R: Just wanted to tell you to have a good day.

D: I will. Thank you. Be safe today.

R: For you I will. I'll text you later Princess.

D: I'll be waiting.

R: Good to know.

I walk into work and Lisa walks over. "So, did it work?" she asks. "It did. His name is Rio and we talked for over an hour last night and he's already texted me this morning." I tell her and show her the texts. "Wow. So what's he sound like?" she asks. "He has this raspy voice and it's sexy as hell." I tell her. "So...are you going to keep talking to him?" she asks. "I think so. Just going to take it a day at a time." I tell her. "Good." she tells me.

I am sitting at home, after work and drinking a cup of coffee and my phone rings. "Hello." I say as I answer. "Hello Princess. How was your day?" Rio asks. "It was okay. Got a lot done. How was yours?" I ask. "Productive. But better now." he tells me. "How is it better?" I ask. "Because I'm talking to you." he says and I laugh a little. "Why are you so sweet to me?" I ask. "Because you're worth it. You should be treated sweetly." he tells me and I smile a little. "You really are something else." I say and laugh a little. "How's that Princess?" he asks. "We barely know each other and you just know all the right things to say to lift my spirits." I tell him. "Why do they need lifted?" he asks. "Just had a bad few months. Been feeling a little lost, I guess." I tell him. "Why's that?" he asks. Taking a deep breath, I say "I was dating this guy and he would just say things that weren't really that nice. After we split, he told me it was my fault. I've spent the last few months trying to figure out what I did wrong and I guess I lost my way a bit." I tell him. "You just needed the right one to find you." he tells me. "That right person you?" I ask. "Hope so." he tells me and I smile a little. After a couple of hours on the phone, I tell him "I better head to bed. Have a presentation in the morning." I tell him. "Good luck. I'm sure you'll knock them out." he tells me. "Thank you." I tell him. "Sleep sweet Princess. I'll text you in the morning." he tells me. "Good night Rio." I say before we end the call. Thinking about this phone call, I really want to be happy about this but it's just going to blow up in my face. He'll see what Danny did soon enough.