Does it feel off because of what happened last night?
The closer he gets, the more fidgety I feel. It’s now or never. I swallow the lump in my throat. “What are you doing for lunch?” I ask with a slight grin.
He halts his steps a few steps in front of me. “Working. Why?”
I reach for his hand. “I thought you would want to eat me for lunch.” My head wants to shift down, away from his gaze, but I hold strong to see the reaction I get out of him.
He runs his hand through his hair, his lips curling under one another. “Vi.” He says and squeezes my hand. “I can’t.”
A heavy ache spreads through my chest, leaving me frozen once again. I shift my gaze away from him, shaking my head slightly at the humiliation I feel.
“Vi.” He steps closer to me. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I have work to do.”
“So you’re not taking a lunch?” I ask.
He shakes his head, “No. Look at all the cars lined up waiting to be worked on,” he says and shifts his body, so the shop is in my line of sight.
Looking over at all the cars and the guys running around in the bays makes me feel even more stupid than I already do. I nod my head and smile up at him.
“I’m sorry,” he says with a wince.
“It’s okay. I understand.” I reach for the car door and open it up.
He steps back and says, “I need to get back to work. I’ll see you at home.”
I nod and slide into my car. I watch him walk away from my rearview mirror until he disappears into the shop.
Too many emotions are running through me as I think about what I just did. Was it too much going to his work and doing this? I remember him telling me even if they’re behind on cars, he still takes a lunch because he gets what I callhangry. So, I’m confused about why he didn’t take a lunch.
Did that stop?
I look myself over once more in the mirror. I bought a cute white chiffon mini dress with pink flowers. It’s a flowy dress, but not so flowy to where I don’t see any of my curves. I’ve been dying to wear it, and I thought tonight would be a good night too, since it’s our date night.
But as I was getting ready, I kept looking at the time. Every minute that passed by, I started getting more and more anxious. Zay should have been home by now. We always do date night on Fridays, so he should know that I would get ready for it.
I sit on our bed and call his phone. Rings echo through my ears. Before I hang up, I hear a door shut. I walk out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and find him taking off his work clothes in the laundry room. He turns around with wide eyes as if I startled him.
“Hey, you’re home late.”
He scratches his head with a wince. “Yeah, had to work late.”
“Oh.”
His lips part, as if he is ready to say something, but no words come out. Instead, he swallows hard. His sight flickers to the floor as silence spreads between us.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Some buddies of mine want to go out for drinks tonight.”
“What about our date?”
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind him going out, but why didn’t he tell me ahead of time, so I didn’t waste time getting ready? Or I at least could have found something else to do.
“We do that every week.”
My mouth falls. “Uhh. That’s kind of the point.”
He narrows his gaze at me. “Are you really going to get mad because I want to have a guy’s night?”
