Page 160 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“I’ll have a pinot grigio,” she said.
Allen walked away to retrieve a glass for her. I checked her out from the corner of my eye. She was very attractive, yet completely different from Tiffany. Her phone buzzed and as she went to grab it, I noticed the sparkling diamond on her left ring finger. Taken.
“On the house,” Allen presented her with a full glass of wine.
“Thank you,” she said, not looking up from her phone screen. She was obviously not interested in him, but Allen didn’t care.
“What is a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?” he asked her. She looked up from her phone.
“Waiting for my fiancé,” she said. Normally, this would deter someone from hitting on a woman, but not Allen.
“Well, that is a damn shame,” Allen said. “Someone like you can’t be off the market already. You haven’t even had a night with me yet!”
She rolled her eyes and grabbed her wine glass from the bar top. Without a word, she left the bar area and headed for a table in the corner. Far away from Allen.
“Allen!” I exclaimed. “What is your deal?”
He shook his head.
“I was just speaking the truth, man! That chick needs to have a night with me before she commits to a lifetime of misery.”
“It isn’t just all about sex,” I told him. “You’re thirty. Don’t you want to settle down?”
Allen let out a hearty laugh.
“Nah, man,” he said. “Settling down is for pussies. I’m telling you, Cayden, don’t do it again, man. Stay single.”
I sighed. Obviously, coming here was a mistake. While Allen was my friend, we were on two different pages when it came to relationships. He would be no help with this Tiffany saga. I threw a twenty-dollar bill on the bar top.
“Leaving already?” Allen asked. I nodded. Coming here was a bad idea. I should have realized that Allen would have no advice for me.
I got in my car and texted my mom, letting her know that I would be over to pick up Austin shortly. After that, I dialed my sister’s number.
“Hello?” My sister, Sarah, picked up the phone.
“Hey, sis,” I greeted her.
“Hey, Cayden!” Her voice was enthusiastic, despite being a tired, working mom. I always went to her for advice, especially with raising Austin. She had two kids of her own. She never judged me and always gave great advice. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t consulted her on this earlier.
“I need your advice,” I told her, getting straight to the point. For the second time that I night, I explained my Tiffany situation to someone else. Again, I felt silly for being so involved after one date, but there was something about this girl that I could not shake.
“What do you think?” I asked, after I told her about the past few days.
“I’m not sure, Cayden,” she said. “It seems like she is interested in you but is probably just scared to get hurt. Your co-worker did say she had a bad past. Maybe she really got her heart broken and is just scared to move on. Has her past ever come up before?”
“No,” I replied. Maybe that was the missing piece. Maybe once I understood her past, we could move on together. I know it would be hard to convince her, but I had no intentions of breaking her heart.
“If I were you, I would just ask her on another date,” Sarah said. “But take it slow, Cayden. If she really does exude this sadness, she probably has a troubled past. Plus, you two work together. She just started, so if something went south, she would be the one to lose her job, not you.”
I had never considered that part before. My sister was right. If something went wrong between us, one of us might get fired or decide to quit. I wasn’t even sure if we were allowed to date under work protocol. It was probably something that I should look into.
“Just don’t rush anything,” Sarah continued. “That is the worst thing you can do in a situation like this.”
She was right. She was saying everything that I already knew. I just needed to hear the words from someone else. Someone who actually knew how relationships should work, unlike Allen.
“Thanks, sis,” I said, ending the phone call. I was glad that I had made the decision to call her. I drove toward my mom’s house, thinking about what to do next. I would call Tiffany in the morning and ask her on a date for that evening.
CHAPTER 6
