Page 33 of Love… It's Messy
“Work. I’m a wedding planner, and it’s kind of my Zen. I get lost in the details, and it’s good for me. That and kickboxing. My friend Tara is an instructor as a side job, so I try to get to her class twice a week.”
“I do jiu jitsu. Maybe I’ll spar with you one day.”
“I’m far from being able to actually fight someone. I mostly go to zone out.”
“I feel the same way when I’m working. I have a playlist I listen to and get lost in the mechanics of the surgery. I’m known as Dr. Rock around the office.”
The nickname makes me laugh, and I mentally slap myself for being so giggly. “Do you also have wheelies on your sneakers and zip around the hospital on your heels?”
“Not cool enough for that. Although I do have a tie with pictures of tacos all over it. My nurses got it for me for my birthday as a gag gift, and I wear it now and again to bring some levity to the office.”
“That’s awesome. I’d love to see that.” My eyes widen as I realize how brazen I sound.
Eric seems to appreciate my offer. “I hope, someday, you will.”
The waitress appears at our table with menus, interrupting our banter, and the break in momentum gives me a chance to assess the feelings I’m exhibiting right now. Namely the ones caused by the way he’s looking at me like there will be a someday.
Eric is nice, successful, handsome … the kind of man a woman like me should want to date, and yet there’s something tugging at my back, pulling me away.
“Can I get you anything from the bar?” the waitress asks.
I open my mouth but fail to speak. My mouth has gone dry, and I’m not quite sure what I want. And I’m not just talking about what to drink.
Eric slightly narrows his gaze at me with a thin smile before asking the waitress for a moment. She smiles and says she’ll be back.
My date is looking at me with kind eyes and patience.
“Eric, listen, the thing is, I’m not looking for anything. Not a fling or a proposal. You seem like a great guy. I’m an idiot for saying this, but I just want you to know that before I give you the wrong impression. I’m not interested in a someday.”
He settles into this information and leans his hand on the table, strumming it lightly with his fingers. A gentle smile graces his face as he nods.
“Okay. Thank you for your honesty. Now, if I can be open with you as well. Of all the women I’ve been set up with, you’re the easiest to talk to. The prettiest too. I’ve only been here five minutes, and it’s the most enjoyable five minutes I’ve had in a while. I’m not looking for a fling or to propose to anyone either. I do, however, love the steak au poivre here, and they make a killer espresso martini. I’d really like the chance to sit and talk with you a little while longer. If you can stand that, I’d like to continue this non-date with zero expectations, other than a good evening between new friends.”
I let out a long breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.
“I like that.”
He opens his menu and smiles. “Besides, this could get our mothers to relent a little.”
I open my menu as well. “I like the way you think.”
“How was your date with the good doctor?” Melissa asks as I walk into her house to pick Ainsley up. “I swear I had my phone on, waiting for you to need a rescue.”
Her fiancé, Will, comes walking down the stairs. “She kept checking it. Worked for me because she was too distracted that it cost her the triple points round inFamily Feud.” He gives her a kiss on the cheek and then walks toward the kitchen.
She’s quickly at his feet. “Name something you put on a hamburgerhas way too many good answers for soup to be number two.”
“You need to think out of the box,” he bellows over his shoulder.
Melissa groans. “I don’t know why I play it.”
“Because you love it.”
She pouts, and he gives her a smolder that I know melts her on the spot.
Melissa and Will are a really cute couple. Not perfect, yet they give me a glimmer of hope that not all relationships are doomed. My parents have one of convenience. My father works hard while my mother tends to their social needs. They don’t hold hands, kiss, or joke. They are merely Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway. A couple that appears warm on the outside, yet inside their home, they’re frigid. Makes me wonder why my mother is obsessed with me meeting a man. It’s not like what she has with my father is like what Melissa has with Will. At least when Melissa tells me to give love a chance, I know it’s coming from a place of happiness.
Ainsley and Hunter come running into the living room with capes on their backs and swords in their hands. Hunter is two years older than Ainsley, has a heart of gold, and still enjoys pretend play. He’s not the kind of kid to walk around the house, bouncing a ball. You’re more likely to see him pulling a coin from behind your ear in a well-done magic trick.