“Hello?”
“Is this Elsie?”
The male voice on the other end was unmistakable.
My body locked up and the phone fell from my shoulder and clattered onto the counter.
“Crap,” I muttered, my fingers stiff as I struggled to grab it again.
I took a deep breath, piecing myself together, and put my ear back on the phone. “Um, yes?”
“Hey, it’s Jameson. Maya gave me your number.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Apparently, that hadn’t been an empty threat.Darn you, Maya.
“Oh, um. Hi.” I smacked my forehead.Real eloquent, Elsie.
“Sorry to call you out of the blue, but I wanted to ask you something.” The smile was evident in his voice.
“Erm…okay?” Wow, I was really slaying this whole talking thing. I shifted on my seat so I could bang my forehead on the edge of the counter.
“I was wondering if I could take you out for coffee.” He cleared his throat. “Or dessert. Whichever you prefer.”
Intense dread, like the moment before sticking your hand into a vat of spiders, crawled over me.
He wanted to take me out? But…why? Sure, the photoshoot had been more fun than I had expected, and yes, there had most definitely been a spark between us, but couldn’t he leave it at that? A fun memory?
Surely my awkward self, with the Niagara Falls pits and the dirt on my butt from fallingright in front of him,hadn’t madethatgood of an impression.
“Um, I don’t think that’s such a great idea.” The words were automatic, void of feeling, the smart part of my brain taking over.
A beat of silence. “You don’t?”
I shook my head, then smacked myself again when I remembered he couldn’t see me. I was certain my forehead would have a red mark the size of Texas after this call.
“Are you dating someone?” he asked, his voice betraying his confusion. “Maya said you weren’t.”
“N-no,” I stuttered. “I…don’t date.”
I expected him to give up, like any normal man sensing emotional baggage would, but he pressed further. “Then it won’t be a date. It’ll just be two acquaintances getting to know each other better. Over coffee. Or sweets. Whichever strikes your fancy.”
“Strikes my fancy?”
He laughed. “It sounded cooler in my head.”
I strangled the giggle that wanted to burst from my mouth.
“Come on, I don’t bite,” he prodded when I remained silent.
Would it be so bad, Elsie? You know you had a good time at the photoshoot with him. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to see him again, and get to know him. Would it? At the very least, you could get free food out of it.
I wished my internal romantic, who I called Smitten Elsie, would shut up but since she wouldn’t, Smart Elsie would have to do the job. “I’m sorry, Jameson. You seem like a nice guy but I can’t. It was nice to hear from you, though.”
And then, like the coward I was, I hung up.
“Please tell me you didn’t,” Maya begged through the phone. “Elsie! Why would you turn him down?”
“Maya, you know I’m not interested in dating. I can’t believe you gave Jameson my number! You shouldn’t have done that.” My hands balled into fists in my lap as I tried not to yell into the phone on the counter.
