4. Maggie
4
maggie
I get up way too early to do my hair and pick the right casual but perfect outfit. The one I hope will convey, ‘I’m totally cool if kissing was just a last night thing, but I can’t stop thinking about you.’
I survey myself in the mirror and add a scarf. There, now it says that. Without the scarf, it doesn’t quite read all the way through my goals.
Mak’s still in bed, and I hear her from underneath her covers. “Tell me when I have seven minutes.”
I change my shirt again, then pose in front of the mirror as if I’m casual. We have one class together but not until tomorrow. My stomach is vibrating a little as I think about seeing him.
Mak groans. “Stop changing.”
I start in the middle of my thoughts and hope she picks up the thread because I can’t go through the whole chain that brought me here. “Mostly, my stomach is nervous about what he’ll think of me without beer in his system and in the daylight.”
She flips the covers dramatically down with her hands and says, “Where the hell did you get a scarf? You look like you’re headed to a city council meeting. And he’s seen you in the daylight. What does that even matter? Did you see the way he looked at you? Be careful because he was all in.”
I turn and arrange my scarf while picking up my bathroom basket. Then I change out the scarf.
“That one is worse. You look like a grandma who was a flight attendant in the sixties and never let the uniform go.”
“Why don’t you channel that energy into your history projects and back off?” I take it off and Mak laughs. I laugh too but I do hope she studies more here than in Reno. “Tony was the one all in, by the way.”
She grabs a glass off her nightstand and chugs whatever was in it. I hope it was water. “No. Danny.”
“Oh, yeah, Danny was all in on Lizzie.”
“You’ll be fine. I don’t have to be anywhere right now, right?”
“Breakfast and then English lit.”
“You go on. I’m going to skip breakfast, but I’ll catch up for lunch.”
I walk into our bathroom and say, “Okay. But go to class.”
“I will. You think I’d blow an opportunity like this? No ma’am. See you at lunch.” And she turns over, placing a pillow on her head and pulls up the covers.
I didn’t eat a thing or hear a word this morning. Maybe he left already. Like last night was fun, but I’m too much and he went back to the states. I saw Danny but not Colt.
I’m headed to lunch to find Mak, then I’m thinking about going for a walk through Le Marais. It’s supposed to be magical, and I’ve always wanted to see it. I’m rounding a corner when I hear someone running up behind me calling out.
“Meerkat! There you are.” A huge eye crinkling smile breaks across my face as I stop in my tracks and let him catch up.
His grin mirrors mine, and my stomach settles for the first time since I said goodnight to him. But now it’s the eyebrow’s turn to twitch. Dammit. Can’t my body just be cool with everything?
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
We stand there for what must look like the most awkward conversation ever, but it’s full, rich and robust in my mind.
Tony slaps Colt on the back and says, “Real smooth. Next up, why don’t you both say, ‘hey’ to each other?” He sidesteps us and disappears.
Colt sighs and says, “Hey.”
I giggle and say, “Hey.” Then he takes my hand, leading me into the dining room.
I’m unsure of most things in life but this lunch isn’t one of them.