“Hey, don’t get mad. I’m just saying that if we worked a little bit of weight off you, you’d be a ten.”
He winks, and I feel like I’m going to explode. I have to keep reminding myself that prison yard orange is so not my fucking color as I pull my phone out of my purse and fire off a text to Izzy.
Me:
911. Save me.
“Like how often a week do you eat junk food? I bet if you cleared that shit out of your diet, it would help a lot.”
Izzy replies back immediately and saves me from launching across this table and throttling Troy and his oversized muscles with my bare hands.
Izzy:
On a scale of 1 – prison time, how bad is it?
Me:
25 to life.
I glance across the table at him, and he’s still rambling on about my diet and me just going for a walk every now and then but I’m tuning him out. It’s really for his own good. My phone rings, Izzy’s picture popping up on my screen, and I let out a relieved sigh.
“I’m so sorry. I have to take this,” I say, and he finally shuts his mouth, nodding at me. I answer the phone and immediately have to pull it away from my ear to avoid permanent damage.
“Ali!” Izzy screams into the phone, and the people at the tables surrounding us all turn to look with wide eyes.
“Izzy, are you okay? What’s wrong?” If I didn’t want to get out of here so badly, I would be laughing my ass off right now. She is so goddamn dramatic.
“I fell down the stairs, and I think my leg is broken. You have to come here!” she wails, adding in some fake tears that sound very convincing.
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“No, I need you. Please, Ali. It hurts so bad,” she screams, and I grab my bag from the floor in preparation.
“Okay, Sweetie. I’m coming right now, okay? Just hang tight.” I hang up the phone and look at Troy with an apologetic look. He looks genuinely concerned, and I bite my lip to hold back my laughter.
“I’m so sorry. I have to go.”
“Of course, do you want me to drive you?” he asks, standing up to go with me.
“No, it’s okay. You stay here and eat your dinner. We’ll be fine,” I tell him, standing, and rushing out of there with another quick “I’m sorry” as I race past him. As soon as I’m outside, I dial Izzy again, and when she answers the phone, I can hear the smile in her voice.
“How was that?”
“You’re so over the top,” I tell her, finally letting the laughter spill out, and she joins me.
“It got the job done, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, just remind me to submit that little performance for an Oscar this year,” I laugh, sliding into my car, and locking the door, thankful that my windows are tinted and no one can see me.
“I’d like to thank God, first and foremost, and of course my parents for always believing in me,” she says, launching into a fake Oscar acceptance speech that makes me laugh even harder as I pull away from the curb.
“Over the top,” I say again, interrupting her, and she laughs.
“So, what happened to make you use the 911?”
“I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now, I’m gonna go home and drown myself in a bottle of wine.”
She laughs again. “Okay. Drink a glass in my honor.”
“Of course, you saved me. Love you, Girlie.”
“Love you, too. Talk to you tomorrow.”
I hang up and chuckle to myself as I remember Troy’s face in the restaurant. I’m so glad we made up that silly little system. It’s usually Izzy using it but I’m grateful that it was there when I needed it, too. I sigh as I drive back home, ready to get this whole thing over with. One date down, only two more to go.
Chapter Two
Alison
“Hey, what are you up to tonight?” Izzy asks as soon as I answer the phone, and I lean back in the seat of my car and sigh.
“Another date.”
“Interesting,” she hums. “You’re really living it up, huh?”
I let out a sharp laugh and shake my head. “No, not really.”
“Oh, come on. You haven’t gone out in over a year, and now you’ve had two dates in two days. Sounds like you’re trying to get back on the horse to me.”
Checking the time, I turn the car off and open the door. “I promise it’s not what you think.”
“What is it then?” she asks.
“I don’t have time to explain it right now.” I stop by the front door of the restaurant, and lean against the wall, hoping I can get her to drop this before my date gets here.
“Tough, missy. Start talking and leave nothing out.”
“I really can’t, Iz. I’m standing outside the restaurant right now, and my date will be here any second.”
She huffs, and I imagine her crossing her arms over her chest and pouting, which makes me laugh. “Fine, but I want a full report this weekend. Capisce?”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” I laugh. We wrap up the call, and I shove my phone back in my purse and turn to go in the restaurant.
“Are you Ali?” someone asks, and I look up, meeting warm brown eyes and a mop of curly brown hair.
“Zach?” I ask, and he smiles. He nods and holds his hand out to me. I shake it and relax a little. We’re off to a good start, and while I don’t get sparks or crazy butterflies when our hands touch, I do feel comfortable around him. When he releases me, he extends his hand out in front of him to indicate that I should go first, and I feel a little more of my stress melt away. He’s perfectly nice, and for the first time since this assignment started, I don’t feel like it’s the worst thing ever.
A hostess greets us and grabs two menus before leading us to a table out on the patio with a reserved sign on it. There are other tables out here but they are all empty, and I can’t help but feel like this was planned. I look over to Zach, who shrugs.
“I’m friends with the manager, and he owes me a favor,” he says, a slight blush rising to his cheeks.
“That’s really sweet. Thank you.”
He pulls my chair out for me and I sit while he goes to the other side, and the hostess sets the menus down in front of us. As she’s filling up our water glasses, I take a quick look through the menu and decide on what I want. This is one of my favorite restaurants so I was happy when Zach recommended it. She asks for our drink orders, and after we rattle them off, she leaves.
“So,” he says, and then his voice trails off and we both laugh, some of the first date awkwardness dissipating.
“I know I read it on your profile but tell me again what you do?” I ask, and he gives me an easy smile.
“I’m a manager at a clothing store right now.”
“Right now?”
He nods, taking a sip of his water. “Yeah, I’m going to school to get my business degree.”
“Oh, very cool.”
“Yeah, what about you?”
The hostess comes back with my wine and Zach’s beer, setting them down in front of each of us and leaving without a word.