Page 59 of Perfect Date
“Because you said you were hesitating, then he threw out this fake date thing. He just did that to get you to agree. To take the pressure off. I have no doubt. When you find out I’m right, you owe me a cookie.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
“Maybe…”
“There’s no maybe. He likes you as much as you like him. And I don’t joke about cookies.”
“He did see me covered in-“
“Shit. He saw you covered in shit and still showed up the next day,” she says.
When I told her the story about what happened at the park, I thought she was going to literally pee her pants. She would not stop laughing. She continued to laugh throughout the day each and every time she looked at me.
Really, it’s a miracle that I even got the chance to tell her myself. When I got to work, everyone seemed to know all about it of course.
Why do I live here again?
I digress.
“Okay, I’m going to go talk to him,” I declare.
“Yeah you are! Besides you have great hair, it’s the perfect time.”
I don’t waste any more time. I head over to Greedy Goose the whole time rehearsing in my mind what and how I’m going to say what I want to say. Do I tell him I like him and so that’s why I want to know? That I don’t want to spend any more time investing in a relationship that isn’t going to go anywhere? What if Sam’s there? It’s okay, if she is, I’ll just ask if I can talk to him privately.
When I walk in, the place is different than what I usually see on the weekends. It’s not as busy and more relaxed.
Looking around I don’t see Justin… or Sam.
I start to worry, wondering if I should have texted him and asked if he had time to meet me first or to tell him I’d like to come by.
I’ve wasted a trip if he’s not here.
Maybe it was silly to come straight here to talk, I could have just waited until I saw him next.
Then I remember the way he kissed me. How he defended me at the grocery store. How he helped me carry all my groceries into the house, then worked side by side with me as we made dinner together, and how intimate it felt moving around the kitchen with him. And the way he kissed me.
We laughed through dinner, again talking about random things such as our favorite music, the best way to end a long day, favorite movies and TV shows. Regular conversation that seemed so easy with him.
When the night ended, he kissed me softly and made promises to see me again soon.
Thinking about it makes my blood heat, I know he likes me too. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me, in his tone of voice when he speaks to me, and in the way his lips feel against mine.
Walking up to the bar, a woman smiles when she sees me, clearly recognizing me, though her name escapes me.
“Charlie, hi, are you here to see Justin?”
“Guilty,” I smile awkwardly, trying not to wring my hands together in nervousness.
“He’s in his office. You just take the hallway that leads to the restrooms, when it veers right or left, go the opposite way of the restrooms. You’ll see the kitchen entrance and the office is just down from it.”
“Okay, are you sure that’s okay?”
“Of course, Justin said if you ever came in and he was in there to send you his way or get him,” she shrugs and I turn away from her smiling.
That’s promising.
