Chapter 2

"If you're not going to call her, can I?"

"Dude. You're sleeping with Carolina, aren't you?"

"Well, we're not exclusive or anything. At least, I don't think we are."

"Yeah, maybe you should check on that."

"Shut up." Sean popped another chip into his mouth and stared at him with a look. "I'm not gonna get tied down or anything."

"We'll see about that." He chuckled and dipped a chip into the small bowl of salsa on the table. "So what do you want to do tonight?"

"Oh, no, I'm not going to let you dodge the issue here." Sean glared at him and he shrugged.

"What issue?"

"It's been nearly two weeks since Waffle Girl gave you her number, and you haven't called her. I think you blew your chance. The window is closed."

"My window?"

"A girl gives you her number and you don't call after what, maybe a few days, then yeah, the window is closed."

"I wasn't aware that there was a time limit," he mumbled, reaching for another chip. Sean smacked his hand and he growled in response.

"Don't you growl at me."

"Don't deny me food!"

"Call her, you pussy."

"Whoa, no need for name-calling," he protested, glancing around to make sure no one in the break room was listening.

"I only do it out of love."

"Dick."

"Bitch."

"Fine." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, tapping on the contacts icon. He scrolled until he found "Waffle girl" listed at the bottom and stared at the number, instantly overcome with fear and self-doubt.

"Do it."

"I can't."

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Sean grabbed the phone out of his hand and hit the 'dial' button as he protested, trying to grab it back before it could connect. The ringing stopped after a moment and they heard a female voice saying "Hello?" as he snatched the phone out of Sean's hand.

"Hello?" he said frantically, trying to take a deep breath without breathing audibly into the phone.

"Yeah, hi, who is this?"

"Hi, uh, my name is David," he started, trying to push down the lump in his throat so he could speak clearly. "You gave me your number a couple weeks ago-"

"Don't remind her how long it's been-"

"-And I'm sorry it's taken me so long to call you, I just, uh, got busy," he finished, shooting an evil glare at Sean, who threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

"Oh, yeah! Washington!"

"...What?"

"You were wearing a jersey for the Washington Redskins one day, it kinda stuck in my head," she replied.

He smacked a hand against his forehead, remembering. "Oh yeah...that was Sports Friday at work, a bunch of the guys make the rest of us wear jerseys sometimes. I don't even watch football, to be honest. That was a loaner from a friend."

"Well, it suited you."

"Thanks?"

"So yeah, my name is Emily. Nice to finally talk to you!"

"At least I know what to call you now," he said, seeing Sean creep closer out of the corner of his eye. He waved him away with a scowl.

"What's her name?" Sean whispered, leaning on the table.

"Shut up!"

"Sorry?"

"No, not you, I was-sorry, I-"

"Tell you what, how about I see you at work tomorrow?" she interrupted, and he smiled, still shoving Sean away with his free hand. "The truck will be there, so I'll see you on your lunch break?"

"Yeah, sounds great. I'll talk to you then."

"Good night!"

"Good night," he echoed, hanging up the phone. He looked over to see Sean grinning like a moron at him, his chin propped on his hands.

There was no way he was going to be able to concentrate on the comedy antics of Will Ferrell on the screen, try as he might. Too many "what if" scenarios were running through his head, and he must have had a worried look on his face, because Connie finally nudged his arm, forcing him to glance down at her.

"What's up?"

"You okay?" she asked, her brow creased with concern. "You've been acting weird all night. I can go home if you want."

"Nah, it's fine. Sorry."

"Good, because I don't really want to go home."

"Yeah, I know." Sean had left directly after work to go to Carolina's apartment. Connie had been staying there for the past few months so she could save up money, she had explained over drinks one night. The four of them had hung out a few times since they met, and while Sean and Carolina had clearly hit it off, he and Connie had formed a tentative friendship over their shared love of silly comedies and spicy food.

"How long do you think they'll be this time?" she asked, reaching forward towards the table to grab a handful of cookies they'd set there before the movie.

"God, don't make me think about that."

"Hah, sorry, my bad." She shoved a cookie in her mouth and started chewing, grabbing the remote with her free hand to turn off the television. "So how've you been?" she asked around a mouthful of crumbs and frosting, looking up at him. Even sitting down he was still a good half a foot taller than her. It was a fact he loved to bring up every time they saw each other, just to piss her off, which turned out was pretty easy to accomplish.

"I'm okay. I...kind of have a date tomorrow, actually."

"Really? With who?"

"This girl at work, uh...Emily. She works at this food truck that comes by every couple weeks at work, and she gave me her number, and long story short, I'm going to see her tomorrow."

"What, like after work?"

"No, during. On my lunch break."

"While she's working?"

He frowned. "Yeah...is that bad?"

Connie shrugged, nibbling at another cookie. "It's not ideal. It's also not really a date."

"What?!"

"Well, she's going to be working, and you're just on a lunch break."

"So it's a lunch date. What's wrong with that?"

"It's not exactly the best first impression."

"We're past first impressions. We've been talking for months," he argued.

"Hey, okay, if you're excited, I don't want to kill that," she replied with a small smile. "Just don't get your hopes up too much, okay? I don't want to have to hear about how sad you are if she doesn't feel the same way."

"She gave me her number!"

"So what're you going to wear?" Connie asked, abruptly changing the topic. He narrowed his eyes at her and grabbed the cookie out of her hand, shoving it in his mouth as she protested.

"I dunno," he mumbled, mouth full. "I usually wear slacks to work anyway, I wasn't really thinking about that sort of stuff. Should I be?"

"We probably shouldn't open that can of worms."

His phone rang from where it was laying on the arm of the couch, and he looked over to see Sean calling him. "Ah, hang on," he said, reaching for it to answer. "Hey man, what's up?" he asked, hearing Connie's phone ring from her purse sitting on the kitchen counter. She got up to answer it as he leaned back against the couch.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Uh, watching a movie with Connie, since she obviously didn't want to be around you guys. Why, what's up?"

"Can you meet me at the usual spot?"

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'll see you there," Sean said, clearly agitated, and hung up on him. He sighed and looked over to Connie, who looked confused as she hung up her own phone.

"Carolina wants me to come home. What's up with Sean?"

"He's pissed about something, I need to go meet him." He stood up and brushed some crumbs off his jeans. "I wonder what happened."

"No idea, but I get the feeling I should come home with ice cream," Connie said with a sad chuckle. He smiled and snatched his keys from the counter, gesturing towards the door.

"Bitches, man."

"Sure."

Sean slammed his hips against the machine as his hands slapped the flipper buttons, ignoring the screaming warnings of potential tilting. "Fucking ball, get in the hole!"

"That's what she said?"

"Not the time!" The ball slid down a gutter and into the drain, and Sean swore loudly, earning a frustrated look from the pinball boutique owner, who was working on a machine the next row over. "Stupid machine," he muttered, stalking back to the small high-top table where his beer was waiting.

"What is up with you tonight?"

Sean shrugged as he sat down, grabbing the beer glass. "Lina and I are "on a break," whatever the fuck that means."

"What happened?" he asked, frowning. "Things were fine as of...what, last night?"

"Yeah, I don't know. She just said things were getting too intense and broke it off an hour ago. I tried asking her why, but she wouldn't give a reason, so I just left and called you, and here we are."

"I'm sorry, man."

"Her loss." Sean gave a half-smile and chugged some of his beer, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. He reached out to take a cheese stick but he slapped his hand away. "Come on dude, you have a whole basket of them!"

"I stress eat! Shut up!'

"What are you stressed about?!"

"My date tomorrow!"

"Dude, it's just lunch. Calm your tits."

"That is physically impossible."

"Oh my god it's an expression."

"It's stupid one, it doesn't even apply to me!"

"Maybe it does!"

"Are you implying I'm fat with man-boobs?"

"Oh my GOD!" Sean dropped his head to the table, slamming his forehead against the plastic.

"I mean, I haven't been to the gym in a few days, but that's not enough time-"

"Stop. Just stop."

"Fine." He leaned against the wall at his side. "You started it."

"Stop it."

"You were just saying at lunch you didn't want to be tied down anyway, so why are you so upset over Carolina?"

"I'm not upset, I'm frustrated."

"And that's a difference...how?"

"I'm not all weepy and shit, I'm mad I didn't get laid before she broke it off."

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, big difference."

"Mmhmm."

"Fuck you!"

"I'm good, thanks."

Sean let out a loud sigh against the tabletop. "I'm gonna go home."

"Are you going to be okay?" He stared at Sean for a moment, feeling slightly concerned. He wasn't acting too differently from any other time a girl had dumped him (or the other way around, as it wasn't like he was innocent), but something was bugging him about this one.

"I'll be fine. Only lasted a couple weeks anyway, not like it was serious or anything. Just gimme a day or two."

"Yeah, okay. Let me know if you wanna hang out this weekend or something."

"Who knows if you'll be free?" Sean teased, lifting his head to smile at him. "You've got your big date tomorrow, that might go really well and lead into a weekend marathon of-"

"-Watching TV by myself, because I don't do stuff like that, you freak."

"Give yourself some credit. You're a...reasonably good-looking guy, compared to, say, others-" Sean gestured to himself and he rolled his eyes in response, "-and you have a good sense of humor and you love stupid romantic movies and cats and all that shit girls like. You're a catch."

"I don't know whether to be offended or flattered."

"Eh, a little of both?"

"You're such a good friend."

"I try."

"Don't freak out too much, it's just lunch."

He sighed, shaking his head a little. "I know, it's just...I haven't been on a date in a really long time, I'm kind of psyching myself out."

"Well, hey, I'll be there if you need someone to interject with some awesomeness." Sean laughed at his eyeroll. "Or not, I can stay away."

"No, I appreciate it, I just don't want you messing it up for me."

"Wow, you have no faith in my abilities as a wingman, do you?"

"Three months ago. The last time you said you'd get the girl's number for me at a bar. What happened? You ended up having sex with her in the bathroom."

Sean leaned back on the stool, folding his hands behind his head. "Oh yeah…that was a pretty great night."

"I hate you."

A few beers and a couple hours of intense pinball later, he was stretched out on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, and thinking about what Sean and Connie had told him. He knew he mostly just needed to get over himself, but he'd been burned before, and had always had trouble opening up.

A memory ripped through his mind and he rolled over, burying his face into a pillow. He could still smell the spicy aroma of her perfume if he focused hard enough, which he tended to do late at night, especially after a few drinks. It'd been three years, he thought he'd be over her by now, but her face still haunted his dreams, especially with how lonely he'd been lately.

"You realize you're going to lose your shit, right?"

He took a deep breath as he stared over the water. "That's not very positive."

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm positive you're going to freak out."

"Oldest joke in the book, and yet, still not helping."

She ran a hand through her short blonde hair, scrunching up a handful in the back. "Yeah, well, I don't do well with other people's fears. Especially if they're weird."

"I know, but this is something I need to do. I've been afraid for too long."

"Okay, fine. Here." She reached into the backpack laying on the ground and rummaged around for a few seconds, finally pulling out a small Ziploc bag. "Take this. You'll be fine."

"But…what if they—"

"Oh my god, David, they won't kill you, I promise!"

He took another deep breath and reached into the bag, pinching a small piece of bread between his fingers. Carefully stepping forward to the water's edge, he knelt down and held out his hand, bread squeezed between his thumb and forefinger. A few moments later, a loud quack echoed behind him and he let out a shriek, falling face-first into the water. He flailed around for a few moments, trying to find footing in the shallow lake, and finally righted himself, standing up. Laughter drifted over from the bank and he looked to see her sitting on the ground, laughing so hard she was doubled over, head against her knees.

"That was the cruelest thing you've ever done to me," he said, still trying to process the emotions running alongside the massive adrenaline rush.

"You should look down," came the response between guffaws.

He glanced down and saw a duck pecking at the bread that had fallen out of his hand during the tumble. He screamed and practically leapt out of the water back onto land, feeling panic rise in his chest. Quacking followed him as he fell to the ground, rolling to a stop a few feet away from where she was coughing, trying to catch her breath after laughing so hard.

"Still afraid of ducks?" she choked out, reaching out to slap his leg.

"More afraid of you," he replied, staring up at the cloud-spotted sky, figuring he'd just lost two years off his lifespan.

He tightly squeezed the pillow for ten seconds and slowly released the thick material, feeling blood rush back into his fingers. Those were the memories that usually came back late at night; ones where he was the happiest, despite some minor trauma. Her laugh was so sharp, so wonderful, and oddly sweet, even when directed towards him.

"Can't you leave me alone, Dakota?" he asked the pillow, closing his eyes, hoping sleep was going to catch up to him before long.