“Remind me why we are friends again.”
“It’s simple. Your life would be so miserable without me,” I gloated.
“I like Lorenzo, okay? I guess he likes me too, but he hasn't said anything.”
“Yet, love… he hasn’t said anything yet. He soon will. I can feel it in my gut.” I was grinning widely. “So, all the baking lessons you have been taking were not without an undertone, after all.”
“So you are going on the date, right?” Joey tried verifying.
I smiled. “Yeah, we have a deal.”
***
The first two dates I went on ended in a fiasco. One of the fellows was narcissistic and kept prattling on about himself and boring me with details I didn’t care to know. He talked from the time I arrived at the restaurant until I asked to take my leave. Let's just say it was a monologue, not a date.I listened to him waste my time.
The other guy was being weird, to put it nicely. He kept scurrying away to the bathroom every five minutes, to regain his composure. He was literally having a nervous breakdown. And the last time he excused himself to go for his bathroom pep talk, I left before he came back. I had more important things to do.
Joey laughed at me derisively when I told her about my dating ordeals, but she encouraged me to give it one more trial. Then I could decide whether it was a total write-off or not.
I was bent on proving the futility of the adventure to Joey, so I consented to the last date. Much to my surprise, it was beyond what I expected—in a good way. He was really good-looking, with a nice sense of humor, and in all, he was an interesting person to talk to.
***
This would be my second date with Avery, and I was super nervous. I was grateful to have Joey around. She seemed to have an answer to most of my questions.
“Licia, just be yourself. Don't think too much about it,” she advised, pulling out a dress from my closet. “It's no big deal.”
“I know, right? But what if I make things awkward between us? What if he gets his hopes high, only for me to tank it?”
Joey held my face in her hands and stared right into my eyes. “You, my friend, are amazing, irrespective of what you decide to do. Anyone who doesn't see that needs to get his eyes checked.”
I couldn’t help smiling. I have got myself a cheerleader.
“Thanks, Joey.”
“It's fine, honey. Is he picking you up? I mean your date.”
“No, we are meeting up at the restaurant for 6 pm,” I responded, smacking my lips gently to evenly distribute the lipstick.
“Nice. Remind me of his name again. I promise not to forget this time.”
“Avery… Avery Fletcher.”
“Right, Avery,” she repeated. “I can’t wait for all the juicy details of the date.”
“We don’t even know if he will show up. Let's start from there, first.”
“He doesn’t have a choice. He has to.”
I chuckled, “how about you and Lorenzo? How are things coming along?”
“Enzo is picking me up later, he is taking me for dinner at a steakhouse. They have their grand opening this evening, and Enzo was invited, so he asked me to be his date.”
“I see. That goes to say, we have a lot to talk about when I get back?”
“Yes, we do…”
The ringing of the doorbell disrupted us.
