Chapter 14
Fourteen
Serena
My phone pings with a message. It’s too early in the morning to be dealing with people.
And…it’s my day off. My feet don’t have to leave the ground for three days.
I can’t even remember the last time I’ve had such a long break.
Usually it’s off one day and back in the air the next.
I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, though.
I roll over and pull the pillow over my head, as if that will block out everything.
No such luck. My phone sends the reminder ping right before it rings.
Panic at the Disco, blares through the room.
I really need to remember to put that thing on silent before I go to bed.
There’s only one person who calls me, and it’s too early for her to even be up yet.
Unless it’s an emergency. Or work, and that’s the only reason I don’t want to answer it.
Just in case they are calling me to cover for one of the other attendants.
Shit, I better get whatever this is over with.
I reach to the nightstand, my hand knocking over the glass of water I set there last night, until my fingers grasp the phone. I answer it before it goes to voicemail, not bothering to check to see who it is. “Hello, Hazel?”
“Guess again.” Bentley’s voice comes through the speaker and I can envision the smirk he’s wearing right this second.
“Ugh, why are you calling so early?” As much as I want to lie down while finding out the reason for his call, I can’t. The water I knocked over is dripping onto the floor, and each drop that hits the floor is a soft, but annoying, plop.
“I just finished my workout and thought I’d call you so we can figure out our date.” He doesn’t even sound out of breath. Who the hell works out and then carries on a conversation like they aren’t gasping for air? “I take it you aren’t a morning person?”
I swing my legs over the bed and sit up. “Not even a little bit.” My feet land in the small puddle of water. Groaning, I do a weird limp walk to the bathroom to get a towel, trying not to get water all over the floor.
“Are you okay? Maybe I should call back later.”
“No,” I sigh. “You’re fine. I spilled a cup of water when I reached for my phone. And I stepped in it.”
“Shit,” he mutters. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t intend to make your morning start off badly.”
“It’s all good. Nothing a towel can’t clean up.
” Wait, he’s calling for information about our second date.
How is that even going to happen when we are states apart?
Last time I checked when we need to be in the same vicinity to go on one.
“You were saying something about the second date? You realize we aren’t in the same area, right?
Unless you somehow found out where I live and you’re stalking me. Which, by the way, is kind of creepy.”
He laughs, and I can’t help the way my body tingles when I hear the sound.
It’s deep and full of life. When’s the last time I laughed like that?
With complete abandon? Oh yeah, on our first date.
He seems to bring out another side of me.
“No, I’m not stalking you. Though, if I knew the area you were in, this would be a lot easier. ”
“Yeah, probably.” I grab a towel from the shelf and wipe off my foot before heading back into the bedroom to mop up the rest of the mess.
“So, are you going to tell me?” His voice doesn’t hold any frustration. “I can always FaceTime you and try to figure it out.”
I glance down at the threadbare t-shirt I’m wearing with bleach spots all over it after a laundry incident. My hands go up to my hair, and I can feel the tangles as I try to run my fingers through it. “That’s going to be a negative. On the video call, not the other part. I live in Missouri.”
“Hm.” That’s his only response.
“What does that mean?” That makes me a little self-conscious. I’m not from here, but I didn’t think it was a horrible place to live.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just not where I pictured you’d be living.”
“Where did you think I live?” I’m kind of offended. Does my accent give off a certain vibe? I’ve tried to mask the small country sound I carried over after I left Wyoming.
“I don’t know, somewhere over on the west coast.” He pauses for a second. “You know you’re only like two states away from me.”
“I’m aware of that,” I nod my head even though he can’t see me. “But that doesn’t solve the problem of the date.”
“I told you I can get creative.”
I throw the towel in the hamper beside my nightstand and lie back down on my bed. I yawn and cover my mouth, hoping he doesn’t hear. “How does this creativity fit in?”
I hear a door open and close on his end of the phone. Is he home, or did he just walk out of the gym? This is the problem with long-distance dating. You don’t know what the other person is doing, and you can’t physically see them. I mean, I guess you can with video calling, but it’s not the same.
“Well, I figure we grab food from the same burger place and watch a movie on Netflix while FaceTiming.”
A burger does sound good. “Wait, I thought you said you eat healthy during the season.”
“Normally, yes. A date, though…that calls for a cheat day. I’ll just push harder at the gym tomorrow.”
“We’re doing it tonight?” My voice is high, and a jolt of panic rushes through me. My hair is a mess and my face is horrible.
“You don’t have to get all dolled up,” he says. “It’s a simple movie night. If we were in the same place, I wouldn’t be offended if you didn’t dress up. I don’t need all the glitz and glam. I’m actually a simple guy, despite what they portray in the media.”
Does he know I looked him up? It’s a natural assumption. I don’t know anyone who goes on random dates without checking out the person’s social media. You have to make sure you aren’t dating a sociopath. “Okay,” I drawl. “What burger place are we getting food from?”
“Whataburger, naturally.” He’s so confident in his answer, but…
“What is that?”
“Please tell me you’re joking.” He actually sounds pained that I have no clue what he’s talking about. “They have some of the best burgers and amazing ketchup.”
I wince, “Sorry, we don’t have those here.”
“Fine,” he whines. “I guess any burger place will do. Just know the next time you’re in Texas, we are going to Whataburger. You’ll be ruined for all future burger joints.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Staring at my ceiling, I mentally go through the list of everything I need to get done while I’m home. So much has to be crammed into such a short amount of time, and if I want to get any of it accomplished before this date, I need to get off the phone. “Hey, Bentley?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I talk to you later? Since I’m awake now, I need to get some errands done before tonight. Just text me what time you want to do this thing.” It’s been four days since I’ve talked to him, and while I think I could talk to him for hours, I can’t. Adulting has to take precedence sometimes.
“Sure. I’ll text you later.” I’m about to hang up, but he speaks again. “I hope your day gets better and doesn’t include any more water spills.”
“Bye, Bentley,” I smile and press the end icon.
There’s no telling how this whole distance dating will go, and honestly, I’m a little worried he won’t be faithful. But I have to do what I said. Take a chance and see what happens. At least he makes me laugh. Even if he calls at horrible hours of the morning.
What does one wear to a video date? I feel like if I dress in comfortable clothes…
it’s not enough. But, if I put on dressy clothes, I’m going to be uncomfortable.
I know he said he didn’t care if I was wearing pajamas, but that feels like I’ll be copping out.
This is why I stopped dating after Braxton.
Questioning everything from the wardrobe to the makeup and everything after that is exhausting.
A part of me wants to call and cancel. To text him and say I got food poisoning or something.
There’s no way he’d want to hang out on FaceTime if I’m “sick”.
Scratch that. He’d probably pry my address out of me and send someone with soup and crackers.
He may give off this cocky persona, but I know there’s a soft side to him.
If I call off the date, I’ll never find out and it’ll eat at me until I can’t take it anymore.
Screw it, I’m going to take his advice and be comfortable.
Who the hell dresses up to hang out on their sofa all night?
Not this gal. I rummage through the shelf in my closet until I find the perfect pair of yoga pants.
Honestly, I should just call them comfy pants because they have never seen a yoga pose.
Those paired with an oversize sweater should be good enough. If not, he can get over it.
I slide the sweater over my head, not bothering with a bra.
One, I’m at home, there’s no need to wear one.
Two, he’ll be looking at my face and this sweater is thick enough that if the phone drops, he won’t see anything.
I wasn’t always this modest. Those nights going out with Hazel, I was the life of the party.
Heartbreak has a funny way of making you change.
Time will tell if it’s for the worse, or for the better.
Bentley will either let me down, like every other person in my life aside from Hazel.
Or he’ll be amazing. I’m really hoping for the latter.
I don’t think I can handle heartache twice in such a short amount of time.
My phone goes off as I’m shoving one of my legs into my yoga pants, and I almost trip as I scramble to the bed to grab it. I’m hoping it’s Hazel giving me a last-minute confidence boost, but the name on the screen is Bentley.
Bentley: Are you almost ready?
Serena: Yeah. Give me a few minutes. I’m waiting for my food to get here.
Bentley: Okay. I’ll call you in ten minutes.
Serena: Sounds good.
Crap. I hope the food gets here in time. I’m not a huge fan of burgers, but that’s what he wanted, so I searched around for a decent-looking burger joint to order from. I hope it’s good. I added avocados to it hoping it will make it taste better.
Rather than struggle to put my pants on while standing, I lean back on the bed and pull them up. This is so much easier, and it minimizes my chances of falling. All I need are some cozy socks and to stalk to my door for the food.
Grabbing my charger from the nightstand, I hurry to the living room.
The delivery driver should be here in less than five minutes.
That gives me enough time to get Netflix, grab something to drink, and pull out my favorite blanket.
This date will be comfortable all the way around.
Even though Bentley is getting creative, I’m not sure how I feel about dating when I can’t physically be around the person.
The whole point of watching a movie together is cuddling, and I’m not about to cuddle with my phone. That’s just weird.
A knock sounds at the door as I’m putting my bottle of water on the coffee table.
Thank God. There’s only a few minutes until Bentley is supposed to call me back.
I open the door without bothering to look through the peephole.
A young guy in a cap is standing in my doorway, a bag of food in his outstretched hand. “Are you Serena?”
“Yes,” I say louder than needed. “Sorry, yes.”
“Awesome,” he sighs. “I went to the wrong floor and was yelled at by some old dude. Anyway, here’s your food.”
“Thank you.” I grab the cash I keep on the table beside my door and give him a tip. “Good luck on the rest of your deliveries. Hopefully, you don’t get yelled at again.”
“Thanks ma’am. Have a good night.” He leaves as I shut the door, and the food smells delicious. I swear, if burgers smelled like this all the time, I’d probably eat them more often.
I hurry to the kitchen, grab a plate, and bring it to the living room.
The ten minutes is almost up, and I’m setting my food out.
I don’t want the sound of a crinkling bag to ruin whatever plans Bentley has.
In all of my rushing today to get my errands run, I didn’t even ask him what movie we’re watching.
I guess I’m about to find out soon enough.
Grabbing my plate, I sit on the sofa, crossing my legs in front of me, and wait.
My phone should be ringing any second now.
A couple of minutes pass and he still hasn’t called.
Is he standing me up? He told me he’d call, and while I could call him, I’m not going to.
He’s the one that pushed for this date, and he should be the one that calls me.
I pick up my phone, checking to make sure it’s not on silent.
Nope, the little button is up, and there aren’t any new messages from him.
Something might have happened in the past fifteen minutes.
He’s just running late. A heads up would be nice.
I didn’t have any other plans tonight, but I don’t want to stay up all night waiting for a call that might never come.
Another five minutes go by, and still nothing. My only company is my TV screen and Netflix showing me suggestions for what I should watch. Well, I guess I might as well start a new show and see if he ends up calling. Hopefully, my gut is wrong and the phone will ring soon.