Page 43 of Some Things Never Change

“One of my husband’s friends has a crush on you. He was asking me if I could ask you for permission for your number.”

I felt my body, mind, and soul come to a screeching halt. “Wait, what?” I asked, almost choking on the blueberry matcha latte I tried to sip.

Chapter

Eighteen

“Eric saw one of the recent pictures I posted of us on Instagram and has been trying to DM you all of last week,” Cindy explained.

I just stared back, stunned. I didn’t even know who this Eric was, but I couldn't help but feel a little flattered, despite my bewilderment. I looked crusty and half dead in the photo Cindy decided to snap of us at the end of Monday last week. We were just goofing around. It amazed me someone would even begin to have a crush on me over such an unflattering photo of me.

Well, this was definitely unexpected. But as I quickly glanced between Cindy and Andy, I could tell that both of their reactions were different. While Cindy was bright eyed and overly joyous, Andy was just as surprised as me.

"Come on, Cindy. You remember what I said a while ago," I said slowly, trying to process the information. "I don't think I'm ready to start dating again."

“I’m serious, girl! Trust me on this! Eric is a great guy and is serious about getting to know you,” she said as she pulled her phone out and started typing away. It wasn’t long before she was showing me some guy’s social media page. “He’s literally the hottest one out of my husband’s friend group. Snatch him while you can.”

“Oh, wow,” was my instant reaction.

“I know, right?” Cindy said, proudly.

Looking at the Instagram page, I couldn't deny that she was right. This Eric guy was attractive, with chiseled features and a toned physique. As I scrolled through his feed, I realized he was my usual type—the cute boy next door. Or, in this case, the hot guy next door. There were plenty of photos of him rock climbing, hiking, and occasionally with family and friends.

Judging from the photos, he seemed like he was a sweet guy who spent a lot of time with his hobby and the people he loved. He was the kind of guy I had been looking for, but kept ending up with disappointment instead. Cindy was right. Eric was tantalizing.

"He is really cute though," I said.

Cindy’s eyes sparkled. She could tell I was halfway to the bait. “Look, you don’t need to date him right away. Why don’t you just let me give him your number so you two can connect and get to know each other first? Then, if you like him too, you two can start dating.” She gave me a quick wink.

Andy cleared his throat, reminding us he was still there. "As her friends, I don't think we should tell Julie what to do with her life. If she's not interested in dating right now, then she's not interested." His voice was firm, clear cut, and irritated.

Cindy half scoffed, half laughed in amusement. “Excuse me? Julie sounded pretty interested to me just a second ago.” She turned to him with raised, curious brows. “Andy, you’re a little protective of Julie, huh? Tell me. What do you think of Eric?”

Despite Andy’s contrasting reaction, I could tell Cindy was genuinely curious. She quickly handed her phone to him so he could see what Eric was made of. My eyes darted between my two friends as we stood there in silence for a few seconds. Cindy was watching Andy attentively as he held up her phone, glanced at it for not even a second, and handed the device back to her with a grim expression.

“No comment,” he said, his tone clipped. He quickly glanced at his watch. “If you two still want to chat, go ahead. I’m heading up.”

Andy turned to me, and I gave him an apologetic smile. I wasn’t sure why, but he was obviously upset, even angry. Were Cindy and I overly annoying because of our banter? Even then, Shoua and I have been louder and more boisterous before and he had never reacted this way before.

“I’ll see you later,” I said. I reached to give his arm a squeeze.

“Yeah,” said Andy. His voice was now softer. “Later.”

Cindy quickly turned to me with an even wider grin. Even though she didn’t say anything, I knew there was something a tad different about this particular smile. Her brain obviously was churning.

“Just think about it, Julie,” she said, raising her voice as Andy walked away from us. “Eric is an amazing guy. Even if you don’t want me to give him your number, you can always chat on Instagram instead. He already tried to shoot his shot with you there, after all.”

Her voice bounced through the concrete of the parking garage easily, and I quickly glanced around. A few other random workers making their way to the office were now side-eyeing us as they walked by.

My cheeks began to heat up. The last thing I needed was for Cindy to announce to the whole business tower that I was single and getting ready to mingle. “Let’s head up. It’s about to be nine soon,” I said, brushing her off.

Me: Hey, are you OK?

I texted Andy not long after I settled down at my desk this morning. Then, all he texted back hours later was a thumbs up emoji. I tried not to read too much into his response as I looked over my phone again. Cindy left work early since she and her husband were catching a flight back home to San Ignacio for the Lunar New Year.

I was working late trying to catch up on some office work. I didn’t get back into the office until late afternoon from checking in on projects around the city. I was busy finishing up on some furniture plans for a client I was going to meet with next week. I could technically wait and even do it over the weekend on my personal laptop, but I didn’t want to spend part of my weekend working.

I had one floor plan left to design, but I kept getting a nudging feeling to leave. I texted Andy I was ready to head home. I was in a tired daze as I walked past our lobby while texting him that I was heading down to the garage. We usually just met downstairs in the parking lot by the car.

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