Blooming Read Online Free PDF Page A

had all that much to drink had she?
    She stood and
pulled the t shirt off over her head. As the shirt passed her nose she caught
the scent of male cologne – Todd’s cologne, which must be from when he’d hugged
her hello. She indulged in a little further sniff, why did that man have to
smell so nice?
    By the time
Jen had showered and washed her hair she was feeling a little better, it wasn’t
the first time she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten to bed, but she did worry
that maybe she’d made a fool of herself again. Her gut twisted when she
remembered about Sean. She was going to have to try and avoid him for a bit,
she certainly didn’t need that hassle.
    Jen sat in
front of her little dressing table and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She really was going to have to get her hair cut, it was way out of control. But
she hated the idea of first having to find a salon, and then knew she’d panic about
calling for an appointment, only to then worry herself sick about having to
make conversation with the stylist while they worked on her.
    She stuck her
tongue out at her reflection, “You’re pathetic.”
    To try and
make herself feel better, instead of just throwing her head upside down and
roughly blasting her hair dry like usual, she took out a paddle brush and
carefully blow dried her hair in sections. It always amazed her how it could go
from looking rough and tatty to thick and shiny if she did it properly.
    Her hair was
stupid though she should just cut it short, all she did was tie it up every
day, and it annoyed her when it was down in her face while she was working.
    When she’d
finished she looked in the mirror again and took the time to apply a little
make-up and marvelled again about Sean thinking she had the potential to
inspire something in him.
    Jen looked in
her wardrobe and pulled out the first items that came to hand. She had some
very pretty things in there that she hadn’t worn in years, but generally she
stuck to the same few t shirts and jeans every day.
     Once she’d
dressed she decided to go out and walk to the coffee shop and that would mean
she’d managed to go outside twice in one week. If she hadn’t made a bit more
effort with her appearance she probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to
bother, so she tried to give herself a bit of credit for trying.
    The coffee
shop was just a couple of blocks away, and small and friendly. The barista
greeted her with a breezy, “Hello what can I get you?”
    “Just a
non-fat latte please.”
    “You’re
pretty new around here aren’t you?”
    Jen looked up
and returned his gentle smile. It never failed to surprise her how sometimes
she felt an instant connection with someone and knew she was safe talking to
them, while other people like Todd raised her hackles and set her teeth on
edge.
    “Yes pretty
much, my name is Jen.” She put out a shy hand to him.
    “You’re Jen?
Well hello I’m Ben,” he grinned at the rhyme, pointing at his name tag to
confirm it before returning her hand shake.
    “I’m kind of
new in town myself; I followed a girl here, kinda crazy huh?”
    “Depends on
how it worked out?”
    “Well
unfortunately I have shockingly bad taste we were no sooner here than she
dumped me for her college professor.”
    “Ouch I’m
sorry”
    “You’re
telling me,” he joked handing over her coffee. The bell jangled behind Jen’s
back indicating a new customer, “Hi man how are you?” Ben asked.
    The scent
memory hit her before the customer spoke,” Great Ben just the usual thanks.” As
Todd came abreast of her she heard his intake of breath.
    “Jennifer, I
didn’t recognise you from behind. Your hair looks different... it looks brushed,”
he touched it, picking up a thick length and feeling its weight in his hand. He
was looking right into her eyes almost awestruck, every hair on her body stood
on end at his scrutiny.
    Ben came back
to the counter with her change, “Hey Todd, no fondling the