Blind Date

❝ 𝑵𝒐, 𝒏𝒐. 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏...𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃❞ - 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒂

෴

Sitting in my car, I stare at the restaurant. It's not the very expensive one, but it's cool, the tables are out, and it may not be a so wise decision because it's almost winter but it's a pretty sight with all the lamp posts and candles on the table. Makes me remember when I was in Paris about six years ago with Jacob.

I shrug, taking my lip gloss out of my bag, and applying it to my lip. The rearview mirror serves as a good way to check my make-up, and I fix my mascara and eyelid too. My heart's not on this date, but I think I owe this to Reid for trying so much. And maybe, I owe it to myself.

Bailey had set up so many dates for me but I turned them down, she gave up, but Reid didn't.

The waiter which I think is Italian ushers me to a seat and I smile at him, taking up the menu. I immediately put it down when I remember I'm expecting someone.

"You're not ordering now?" He asked.

"No, I'm expecting someone, I'll order then," I say and he nods with a crooked smile before walking away right after he dropped a bottle of Pinot noir.

I quickly take my phone out to call Bailey. I know she won't let me hear the end of it when she hears I'm on a blind date so I prepare myself for the worst and when I hear her squeaky voice, I tense.

"Hey, girl... If you're calling to come over Colton and I would be happy to..."

"I'm not coming over" I sigh, giving myself a facepalm.

"Oh...so you're home? It doesn't sound so quiet right there" Bailey points out, I roll my eyes. Smartass.

"No, I'm not home. I'm on a blind date" I say the last part with a rough voice and then cough after.

"What? Speak up"

"I'm on a blind date!" I sigh and there's silence before she shrieked and I pull the phone away from my ear so I don't go deaf.

"Oh, my world! That's so good. You're finally moving on" she chants.

"No. No, there's no moving on" I sigh, keeping a straight face. "And it's not because of Jacob" I add because I know what she was going to say next.

"Then what is? You're not getting any younger you know" She reminds me like she always does.

"I know, I know ok?, You don't have to tell me that all the time"

"Well someone's got to tell ya" Bailey sasses. I hear Kai making some plate noises in the background, and I'm sure she's sitting on the counter, waiting for her mom to give her some cereals. I won't even ask what Colton is doing.

"I guess you have to go," I say.

"Yes. Mommy duty calls" she said and giggled at her sentence. I smile because I love her so much. "Gotta go bye, and this is not over!" She pronounces the last part with a yell before hanging up.

I drop my phone facedown on the table, knowing she's going to question and squeeze every detail of tonight out of me when we see tomorrow.

I sit for another five minutes, which pisses me off. The guy was supposed to be the one to wait, and when the lady arrives, he pulls out a chair for her. I gather my purse to leave, when I see a waiter pointing my direction and he's talking to a tall brown-haired dude who seems lost, a tucked-in shirt, with jeans, and booted feet. He looks extremely Texan, plus the tanned skin. But minus the cowboy hat.

I almost expected him to say howdy when he walked up to me, but he didn't. Only looked super guilty in the face, with twisted hands and a small smile.

"I'm sorry about the delay. Becca?" He asked and I scrunch a brow.

"Yes, Rebecca. Nice to meet you" I say, not completely meaning it.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Ernest" He smiles and the sides of his eyes wrinkle.

"Well, hello Ernest. Dinner was supposed to be six, this is past six" I complain and he apologizes again before sitting down. Oh, what do you know! He didn't even attempt to pull my chair. That's how it goes. The lady smiles, the man offers to pull her chair out and she refuses or something like that.

With a roll of my eyes, I seat, dropping my purse back on the table.

The waiter came back and this time I ordered because I was hungry and he wasted my time so much. Another bottle of Pinot Noir is dropped and I Immediately go to open it.

"Wine before dinner?" Ernest requested with a small smile. It's almost like he's judging me.

"I usually prefer it that way," I reply and he chuckled.

"That's ok. I like taking booze before lunch even" He says and my eyes widen. Huh.

"Then I drink more wine even in the process of eating like it's a juice..." I was saying.

"...and after dinner, I have have another type of drink" Ernest Completed and I have a very wide, goofy grin on my face in the end of everything. "Seems we have something in common"

"Yes," I say. My next game was to check on his reading skills. That's an area I need to be sure of. The only person that ever loved reading as much as I did was Jacob.

I hold on to normal getting to know each other discussions like favorite color, which he said was orange. Weird for a guy!. I know.

"What's your favorite book to read?" I finally pop the question when I saw he was talking too much about orange.

"I'm not exactly a reader," he says and my jaw drops. We're different in that aspect.

"So what do you do in your free time?" I ask, hoping he wasn't one of those guys that browsed useless stuff on the Internet while eating junk and sleeping on greasy sheets.

"I um... watch movies, or I hit the gym," he said, lifting his hand and flexing his bicep. It's clothed but I can still see it bulge under his shirt. He then winks.

Thank goodness he didn't try to kiss his bicep after flexing it. Ok, this date is turning out to be one of the worst dates I've ever had. I thought we had a connection at first.

"I don't get why you're telling me about your nana?" I ask him when the topic shifts to family issues.

"She's the most significant woman in my life" he replies, with a hand to his chest. Oh, he's a grandma's boy. "What about you?"

"I have a mom," I say stupidly and he blinks.

"Everyone has a mom, sweetheart" he half chuckles. "Tell me more about her"

Uh...my phone beeps and I check it. It's nothing important, just a normal alarm I usually fix when I'm on dates like this. And when it beeps, I know it's time to leave.

"I gotta take this call," I lie, pushing my chair backward, and standing up. Ernest is looking at me with a curious smile. Yeah, I'm not coming back.

Hurrying to the bathroom, I shut the door behind me immediately, breathing hard. That was hell!

Bailey picks up on the second ring when I call her.

"Girl..."

"Hey!" We both say at the same time and then Bailey giggled like hell. "What's up with your date?"

"The guy's talkative" I sighed, my palms slapping against the cold tiles of the bathroom sink. My perfectly curled hair now looked a bit rough.

Bailey burst into giggles. "That's a lot. So let me guess...you pulled the fake call thingy on him"

"Of course. I'm in the bathroom and thinking of a way to escape" I say it like it's a death sentence out there. But it is.

꧁ ꧂

My ankle hurts. No question there. I jumped the bathroom window of a restaurant to exit the premises.

"Have a lemonade sweety. It calms you" my mom cooed into the speaker.

"It does, I guess," I say, sitting down and pulling my laptop in front of me.

"You should have more rest too. Also, I heard you're on a break..."

"Who told you that?" I frown.

"Bailey"

Of course. I sigh.

"Do you want to come home for some time, Colin and I would be excited to have you over for the weekend" Mommy giggled like a schoolgirl. Colin is not my dad, but my mom's husband. She and my dad got a divorce when I got freshly out of college. Then she married Colin four months after.

"I'm sure you guys would. I'll think about it, but don't count on it" I say, my hands typing on the keys of my laptop.

"Very good then. I'll await your reply"

"Alright, mom. Got to go" I say.

"Bye, honey" I hear her smooch kisses into the speaker which makes me cringe with laughter before I hung up.

Ok. My hands fumbled with the keys of my keyboard before I finally typed in Jacob Fox on Instagram. In a second, my ex's profile comes into view. Stalker much. I haven't done this in years. The only time I did this was a month after we broke up. I wanted to know how he was. He was in Colorado then.

But then again, after every failed date I have, I always think of him.

500k followers. That's Impressive I only got 10k.

I scroll down to see his recent post. He's in a trunk, bare-chested, his skin-toned to perfection, sexy scruff of beards on his chin, his hair was wet and his eyes a coral blue as he stared at the camera. I huff, so I don't smile instead. He looks good and manly after all these years.

I scroll, and the next picture is with him and a brunette, standing in front of the vast ocean. She's wearing a green swimsuit, a wide smile on her face as she stared at him. His left hand, on her waist. My fingers mistakenly move, double-tapping.

With a gasp, I slam my laptop shut.