I plopped down at the table with my bowl of cereal in one hand and the jug of milk in the other. My mixed feelings were like an emotional cocktail, and I was starting to feel hung-over. At this point nothing made sense anymore. I tried to push the thoughts back, poured the milk into my bowl and sat there absentmindedly swirling the spoon around in it as I daydreamed.
After a few spoons full I decided that I wasn’t so hungry after all. I pushed my chair away from the table and walked toward the sink to dump the remaining cereal down the drain. There had to be something that could take my mind off of things, so I walked to the living room and settled in on the couch to channel surf. Remembering that I’d left my cell phone in my room on the nightstand, I was instantly on my feet and up the stairs hoping that I hadn’t missed AJ’s call. He wasn’t mine to get all worked up and excited about, but I couldn’t help it. I grabbed the phone and jogged back down to the first floor where I sat back down on the couch and checked the time – 9:00 on the dot. What if he doesn’t even call? My breathing sped up ever so slightly, as I sat waiting and watching the minutes pass....9:01…..9:02. My phone began to buzz in my hand and I stared at it for a second before finding the courage to pick up.
“You’re late,” I answered, trying to disguise the nervousness in my voice.
“Only by a minute, but it’s good to know you were anxious to hear from me,” AJ laughed. It was different talking to him on the phone than it was by text message. The sound of his voice on the other end was enticing and I didn’t like that I was thinking of him in this way.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was just an observation,” I replied. “You are late, aren’t you?” I asked condescendingly. “Anyway, what are you doing?”
“Just got back in from running. I cut it a little short so I wouldn’t be late calling you, but I guess my timing was off.” He joked.
I smiled. “It was close enough”. There was a question on my mind that I wanted to ask him. Not quite knowing how to word it, I bit my nails self-consciously while I worked up the nerve. “So…..what made you decide to contact me last night?” My words were muffled because I still had my hand to my mouth.
“Actually, I knew I was gonna call when you first gave me your number; I just didn’t follow through until last night.”
Shock crossed my face when he didn’t think twice about answering my question. “What do you mean?” I asked naively, wanting him to clarify exactly what he was trying to say so that I didn’t jump to any conclusions.
I held my breath while he sighed and tried to organize his thoughts. “I’d noticed you before, but never like I did the other day. “ He paused for a moment, and then started again. “Something about you…….just kinda caught me off guard,” he laughed to himself. “That probably sounded really corny…….but I can’t get you out of my head.”
It took me a minute to fully grasp what he was saying. He’s into me too? My body reacted to his words and I felt my pulse speed up while my hands became hot and shaky. I had to concentrate to keep from breathing heavily into the phone – that’s never attractive.
“What do you have planned today?” He asked, bringing me back from the place my mind had drifted off to.
I hesitated again before answering, anticipating what his next statement would be. “Nothing……Why?”
“Can I come see you later? “ He asked with that confidence in his tone that I found so alluring; it sounded as if he was smiling when he spoke the words. I took a minute to think about his question. This was getting dangerous, but my need to be near him overshadowed everything else. His feelings were now out on the table, and for all I knew he’d seen through my flimsy fa?ade and mine were laying right beside his.
I deliberated on his question for another second before finally blurting out, “Sure.”
“Alright, is noon good?”