Chapter Twelve
Allison
After I roll out of bed in a wrinkled ball of last night’s date clothes, I take a quick shower to start the day refreshed. Once I’m washed, dressed, and have had breakfast, I take a second cup of coffee into the living room and call Morgan.
“So then what happened?” Morgan asks.
“We had a laugh, got the stain out, and then…” I trail off thinking of the almost kiss.
“And then…what? Come on woman, spit it out.”
“We almost kissed.”
“Almost?” she asks.
“I wanted to kiss him. I just couldn’t,” I relent.
“Why not? Bad breath?” I laugh.
“Bad timing. Daveed got me all flustered, and accidentally scheduling two dates on the same night threw me off,” I explain.
“Do you like him?”
“He’s sweet and caring, I think I’m falling for him. Before he left, he asked me out on a real date.”
“That’s a positive. And I can see why you’d be into him. But can we rewind to the part about him thinking you were a murderer?” I laugh again.
“He was just joking around. I love his sense of humor.”
“Joking, huh? Did you look him up yet?”
“Uh, hmm, uh.”
“You can stop that right now. Since when don’t you google potential guys?”
“Since this one?” I say more like a question. Maybe since I’ve read every article about the famous author, I feel like I know him and can trust him.
“Oh no, you got it bad girlfriend.”
“It’s starting to look that way,” I admit.
“Let me do it.” I hear tapping in the background.
“Wait, don’t. I don’t want to know.”
“You don’t want to know if he’s a psycho killer?” Morgan asks.
“Nope, I want to live in blissful unawareness.”
“Can’t let you do that, hold please.”
“Morgan, come on, he’s a good guy. I know it. I can feel it.”
“Then it shouldn’t matter if I look him up.”
I huff. Why is Morgan suddenly the responsible one when I want to date a hot, interesting guy? She’s always been the carefree, date-any-guy one, and I’ve always been the look-him-up one. Now the tables are turned, and I don’t like it. I wanted her to be like she always was.
“What’s with you? You usually don’t look guys up.”
“I know, but there was a guy that was creeping me out the other night and now I’m trying to be like you and be more cautious, and just when I do that, you go off the res.” I giggle.
“Oh yikes. I’m glad one of us can be the voice of reason when the other needs it.” I tell her.
“Me too. Found him. He was born in New York. Looks like he grew up in the suburbs but moved to the city five years ago. Has a brother and his dad is deceased but his mom is still alive.”
“Aw, poor Oliver. I can’t even think about not having my dad.” I shake my head and hug myself at the thought.
“Right?!”
“So, see, nothing said psycho killer,” I reiterate.
“His dad is dead.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“What? I’m just being real here. You don’t know this guy at all,” Morgan counters.
“I know, but he’s hot. And he was a gentleman who walked me home holding a box of sex toys the other day,” I defend.
“Wait, what?”
“One new client, plus one incredibly embarrassing box equaled me running into him at the market. He wouldn’t take no for an answer when I told him he didn’t need to walk me home, so…he got to carry the box and I got the groceries.”
“That’s hilarious, one point for Oliver.”
“And point two is that he is a famous author. Do you honestly think he’d ruin a good thing by being a murderer?”
“He also writes about characters who conceal their identities.” She points out.
“But they always get caught in the end, so I don’t think he’s a psycho killer!” I raise my voice in exasperation.
“You do realize if he were some random, ugly dude, you’d totally think he was and would be doing your own research right this very minute.”
I huff again because she knows me too well, but I don’t want to admit what she said is true.
“Fine. Look up how he died.”
“Doesn’t say. Just that it was sudden. I don’t know, Ally, it sounds suspicious.”
“Morgan, stop. He’s a good guy. I can just tell.”
“When you end up dead, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I’ll haunt you and only say nice things to you,” I assure her.
“You should, since I’m only looking out for you.”
“I just want to have fun and not worry all the time. I mean, how many guys are willing to hide a body for you?” I giggle at the memory now that I know he was just joking with me.
“In real life? None. In books? Plenty. And they usually are the murderers! How do you know he was actually joking? Maybe he was feeling you out to see if you could be a psycho-killing duo.”
“Very funny. I choose to believe he’s a good guy.”
“You better let me know where and when the date is,” Morgan instructs.
“You’re such a Mamma Bear. I gotta run but I’ll chat with you later.”
“Bye, babe.”
“Bye,” I say and hang up the phone.
I’m glad I have Morgan in case I ever were to go missing. But there is something so sweet and kind about Oliver that I just can’t imagine him being a murderer. Maybe I could find a way to stalk him before our date. Or maybe I’ve watched one too many rom-com movies. Either way, I grab my laptop, and start googling now that Morgan has put doubt in my head. Too bad most searches don’t say things like, ‘Roger is not a good option for you’ before you go out with them. First stop, a judicial search then down the rabbit hole I go.