Never Far Away (The Never #2)(5)

“Hi, welcome to Poppy. Can I help you with anything?” Megan's nerves were evident in her voice as she made a lame attempt at treating him like a stranger. He gave her a sideways glance and mouthed the word 'Smooth' to her. She shrugged her shoulder and gave him a look that said she was giving it her best attempt. His eyes went back to Ella.

“No, thanks. I'm just looking,” he said, perhaps a little louder than necessary. He thought he saw Ella's back straighten and her shoulders might have pulled back a little. She slowly turned around and he was entirely mesmerized by her movement. When her eyes met his, he felt as if a piece of his soul fell back into place. He spent the last eight weeks keeping his distance from her, watching her from afar, but to have her eyes locked on him brought him a sense of peace. Even if she didn't say anything to him or even acknowledge him, every dark thought or breakdown he had since her injury was worth it just to see her eyes and have her look at him.

“Good afternoon,” Ella quietly and softly said to him. He fought to remain calm and worked doubly hard to keep his breathing even. Her voice, something he'd longed to hear for so long, was almost sweet enough to bring him to his knees. He reigned himself in, knowing that if he went all “I'm your long lost boyfriend you can't remember” on her, she'd think he was crazy and send him away. For just a moment, he was second guessing his decision to come here and see her. But then she smiled at him. Her smile was powerful enough to steal the air right from his lungs. Then she cocked her head to the side and looked him up and down. Her eyebrows scrunched in a little and he couldn't read her face enough to figure out what was going through her mind.

“Hello,” he answered her hesitantly. How was he supposed to speak to her without letting her know that he loved her more than anything? He couldn't be held responsible for the words that might come out of his mouth. He wanted more than anything just to tell her he loved her.

“Are you looking for anything in particular today?” She smirked at him, like she knew something he didn’t. He couldn’t help but smirk back and gave her a questioning look. Of all the responses he imagined happening when he was finally in the same room with Ella, this was not remotely close to any of them. He pictured her looking right through him, not giving him a second glance, completely unaware of who he was. In one of his imaginings, she miraculously regained her memory just by the sight of his face and ran into his arms, professing her love for him. In yet another scenario, she admitted to knowing who he was all along but had decided to stick with the amnesia story to avoid breaking up with him, feeling as though their relationship was moving too quickly for her. This Ella, the one sending him sly glances and smirks, was a little confusing and he wasn’t sure how to proceed.

“Um, not quite. I was looking for something for a while, but I think I might have found it. Thanks.” He heard Megan let out a loud groan from across the room.

“Megan,” Ella said without taking her eyes off of Porter.

“Yeah?”

“Please go in to the backroom and find the inventory reports from this week last year.”

“What? Why?”

“I want to compare the number of scarfs we have this year to how many we had at this time last year,” she said without blinking. Megan looked back and forth from Ella and Porter, her eyes darting between them. She let out a loud and obviously annoyed breath and retreated into the backroom. Ella started walking towards Porter, looking a little unsure of her next words.

“She didn’t seem too happy about that,” Porter said, trying to fill in some of the uncomfortable tension that was flowing between himself and Ella.

“I don’t even have inventory reports from last year. She will never find what she is looking for. It will take her about five minutes to figure it out, so we don’t have much time.” She was right in front of him now.

“Much time for what?”

“Porter.”

She said his name and he was sure his heart stopped beating and started racing within the very same moment.

“How do you know my name?” He whispered, shocked by the continual realization that Ella, his Ella, used his name.

She pointed a finger up at his face with a new menacing look on her face. “How do you know who I am?” She asked, demanding information from him.

“I am not sure how to answer that,” he said honestly. His hand ached and begged to touch her face. She was so close and damn it if he couldn’t smell her sweetness. Vanilla wafted all over him.

“There is a coffee shop two blocks south of here. Meet me there tonight at six.”

Confusion lit up his face. She wanted to meet for coffee? How was any of this happening? He looked back and forth between the stockroom door and Ella’s face. He shook his head, trying to hide a small smile. As if there was ever any question, whatever Ella asked of him of course he would give it to her.

“Ok, but don’t tell Megan,” he said, glancing back towards the backroom.

“So you know Megan too?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

Porter was so confused by what was going on, about how she could possibly know his name, but not know who he was? How could he answer her questions without breaking the promise he’d made to Megan not to tell her what had happened? Instantly, as if a switch flipped in his mind, he knew that he was irrevocably tied to Ella. If he had to go back on his word to prove to Ella that they were meant to be together, that was something he was willing to do.