"WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!" Sophie Exclaimed. "JOHANSON IS FINALLY GROWING A PAIR AND CALLING A MAN!"
I glared at her. "It's really nothing special, Sophie. I'm just calling the guy," I paused. "Who wanted to sleep with me the first night I met him. Why am I doing this again?"
"Calm down, chica, he just thinks you're a hot piece of ass. Which you are... BAZINGA!" With that she gave my butt a hard slap and I cringed. "Anyways, you're doing this because you love me, that's why."
I sighed and stared at the phone. "I really need to stop and think about the people I love then."
"Ouch," She said as she brought her hand to her heart as if she was hurt. "That one stung, Johanson."
The more that we talked, the more nervous I got, so I just hit the call button on a whim and that prompted more fangirling from Sophie. "Sophie, shut up," I hissed.
"Hello?" The man on the other end answered.
"Oh, uh, hi Blake, it's Laura." Smooth, very smooth.
Sophie began wondering around the apartment stroking leaves on the fake tree and doing other weird things like wiggling doorknobs. I shook my head and looked the other way. Sometimes that girl just confused me.
"So," Blake said. "You are interested... I knew you'd come crawling eventually."
"Yeah," I muttered. I would have to remember to kill Sophie later. This guy was a piece of work.
"How about I take you out Friday at five? I'll pick you up."
"Sure, why not?" I said through gritted teeth. Some how this guy was already getting under my skin and I barely even knew him.
"Sounds good! See you in a couple of days." With that, both of us hung up and I sighed as I tossed my phone onto the couch. I should be happy... I have a date. The problem is that I really don't like the guy that much. Oh well. Trial and error, I guess. I may as well just see how it goes.
I walked over to where I saw the only splash of red in the place and stared at Sophie. "Are you eating my leftover French toast?"
She looked up at me with guilty eyes. "Maybe... Hey, I was hungry! And I thought it would take longer and you wouldn't even notice and-"
I laughed. "It's okay, I really don't even care."
"So what's the verdict?" She asked.
"I have a date in a couple of days and to be honest I really don't want to go, but I will anyways because that would be a bitch move to stand him up."
"As long as you don't lead the poor man on," She said as she got up to put her plate in the dishwasher. "That would also be a bitch move."
"Ugh... I know... There are so many things that could be bitchy on my end, aren't there? Gawsh, well, I'll see how it goes and if I don't like it then I won't see him again. Plain and simple."
"Sounds like a plan!"
"Gosh... I really can't believe I actually pressured you to call a guy."
"Oh shush," I muttered. "Now off to more important matters, I really don't even know what to wear to this thing. I think I forgot how to go on a date."
Sophie gave me a blank stare. "Really?" I nodded and she shook her head slowly. "Okay, we're finding you an outfit tonight since I have that thing called family coming over during the day on Friday and tomorrow I have to see a publisher."
"Oooh, look at you... Becoming a big, fancy author. Why don't you spend the night tonight too? We can watch bad horror films on Netflix and eat ice cream while crying about all of our problems in life."
"I like the sound of that."
That night, as promised, Sophie put together the perfect date outfit and we did in fact watch bad horror movies and cry about our problems.
Mine consisted of me crying about how Charlie was sending me emails and thoroughly creeping me out. Of course I showed Sophie said emails which resulted in her replying to Charlie to give him a piece of her mind. She pretty much told him that if he even looked at a picture of me she would cut off his head and hang it above her bed. Which is creepy, but I appreciate it. Although personally, I would rather not change with him staring at me from the wall.
Sophie was upset because the man she had liked for a long time now turned out to be gay and she would never get a piece of him. At least she's still his friend, but she's still discouraged about the whole thing and insists that she'll never get a man. I told her that she could take Blake since it would be no terrible loss, but she isn't interested.
Bummer.
The night ended with up getting sleeping bags out of a small storage area within my apartment and sleeping out on the deck. Yes, it's weird, but it's tradition, so we aren't breaking it now.
I woke up a bit early the next morning to make some Eggs Machiavellian before Sophie left. May as well send her off with a good breakfast in her stomach. Breakfast makes everything so much better.
Not going to lie, the rest of the day was actually a lazy day and I spent a lot of it painting some Sailor Moon character who's name I didn't even remember. Heck, I don't even know how I remembered this character existed.
Before I knew it, it was four o' clock the next day and I was getting ready for my first date in a loooong time. As expected, he was over at five and I was in his car going off to wherever it was that he was taking me. We drove around the city until we got to some weird looking dome thing that looked like it had some sort of park inside. "Where are we?" I asked.
"You've never been here?" He asked as he glanced at me. I shook my head and he chuckled. "This is Butterfly Esplanade and it's basically one of the few nice places in Bridgeport. Unless you cross over to the snooty side, but well, they have nothing but big, fancy houses there."
As the name suggested, the big dome was filled with butterflies as well as other forms of wildlife like birds and turtles. I think I saw a few chipmunks too, but I don't remember. I smiled as a light blue butterfly landed on my finger. "Blake, this is amazing... How did you even know about this place?"
"It's actually one of the more famous places here in Bridgeport. Everybody loves butterflies and I've heard about it from a few different people."
"Hm," I murmured. "I guess I just don't know the right people then."
I think Blake was about to say something else, but I heard another familiar voice coming from behind me before I could speak. "Laura? Is that you?"
I turned around and gasped in surprise. "Hey there, Mike..." Well this is awkward. I meet up with my ex while I'm on a date with somebody else. This kind of thing
would happen to me. "What brings you to Bridgeport?"
"I'm here for a few days because I'm on tour and I wanted to explore the city a little bit. How have you been doing?" He asked.
"Oh, that's cool. I'm alright.. You know, getting harassed by my step-brother, same old business. Er... How have you been?"
"Good, good, Nellie finally found somebody new to stalk so I'm free now. Charlie's been bothering you again? That guy needs to get a job... Or counselling... Or something to keep him occupied."
I froze; Nellie was gone? When in the world did this happen and why wasn't I informed of it? Oh wait... I'm the ex. Why would I be informed of it? Wait, why does it even matter? That ship has already sailed and any feelings I had for Mike were gone now.
Or at least I thought so.
I quickly composed myself and let out a quick reply. "Oh, that's great... Yeah, Charlie's a creep, but he's in Sunset Valley, so I'm not really concerned about what he wants to do right now."
"Very true."
I looked over at Blake. "I'm um... Actually on a date right now, so we should be going, right Blake?"
"Hm, yeah, sure," He said as he shooed a butterfly away.
I sighed. This guy
wanted to go on a date with me, but now he suddenly wasn't interested. This is why I hate men. With that, Blake turned around and left. I didn't mean to go home... "What just happened?" I muttered as I rubbed my head.
"Wow... He's a jerk," Mike said. "He didn't even offer to drive you home."
"Not to mention it was a fifteen minute date," I said.
"I hate to say this, as I was enjoying playing catch up, but I actually need to head out now too. I can drive you somewhere if you need me to."
I sighed. "Don't even bother. I don't even know where I'm going right now. I kind of need to call a friend and then I'll get a taxi to take me where ever I go."
He looked at me with sad eyes. "Okay, well, hopefully I'll see you before I leave."
"Yep," I muttered as I watched him walk away.
How did I end up in the same place as Mike while on a date? What are the odds? All I want in life is to move on and be happy, but I really can't do that if the past keeps coming back.
And then Blake must think I'm a terrible person for talking to Mike so much. Good lord... If anything could go wrong on a first date...
I sighed and whipped out my phone to call Sophie. She of course answered on the first ring. "What's up, buttercup?" Need me to pick up the morning after pill or something?"
"Oh hell no... Is your family still over?"
"Nope, why?"
"Meet me at Eugi's."
"O-kay? What's up?"
"I'll tell you when we get there."
Eugi's was that bar that you went to when you were just frustrated with life. It wasn't a sports bar or anything fancy, just a bar. Unfortunately, it took a while for Sophie to get there and by the time that she was I had already finished my second drink. Don't judge me, okay? I just had a slightly stressful experience.
We sat down at some table in a corner and Sophie stared at me. "Okay, spill the beans."
"I... Saw Mike on the date and it brought back so many feelings that I didn't even know I still had and I don't want to love him, I really don't and I'm pretty sure Blake was offended. I mean, who wouldn't be, right? And Mike will be gone again in a few days and I just don't know what to do anymore."
"Okay, take a deep breath and relax. You said Mike was here?" I nodded. "Do you know where he's staying?"
"Nope."
"Do you know why he's here?"
"On tour..."
"Okay, we're going to be fangirls here and find him again, okay? I'm sure there's some angst ridden teenager out there who knows his exact location and boxer size."
"He wears briefs..."
"Okay, like it matters. His underwear is not out main focus right now. We are going to find this man and you are going to talk to him or do whatever you need to do to make you less of a wreck. To be honest, this is kind of a sad sight and I've never seen you drink so much in such a short amount of time."
I looked down at my nearly empty glass and glanced up at her. "Yeeeaaahhhh... This probably isn't good for me. Sorry about that..."
She laughed. "It's fine, just don''t let it happen again."
Alright, well, this chapter is all done. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading! Mike fans are probably going crazy right now, and I can understand why. So yeah... Toodles then.