Now that she actually walked through the front doors and was given a seat at a highly sought-after table, she felt out of place. It was too nice for her. She wasn’t sure how to act, but Cameron put her at ease. He wasn’t uppity or snobby, just normal and easygoing, easy to talk to. Conversation flowed naturally between the two of them.
They talked about his work, in the same offices where Hanna worked. He asked about the job she was about to start and seemed interested in it. She found out he came from a large family in Missouri, of all places. She had been wondering about his strange accent, but didn’t want to say anything because he would only tease her about hers. The Boston accent was difficult to cover up.
Everything was going so well. She felt happy. She felt confident. She no longer thought about her insecurities or where she fell short.
She felt like the old Micah, or better yet, a new Micah. A brand-new, never-before-seen version of herself. And it felt great. She smiled as she thought about how far she had come in such a short time.
“What? Did I say something?” Cameron’s question broke through her musings. She had forgotten about him for a moment.
Oops.
“Oh, sorry. No. Nothing you said. Just a silly thought. Nothing, really. My apologies. What were you saying?”
“I was just talking about Boston sports.”
“Ooh, love ’em.”
“I was saying how I didn’t get into them.”
“Are you serious?”
He laughed. “Yes.”
“How can this be? How can you live in Boston and not enjoy all the sports we have to offer? We have the best of everything all rolled into one fine city.”
“It’s easy. I just don’t.”
“I’m floored. There’s not a single sport you get into? We’ve got it all.”
He shook his head, laughing at her reaction.
“Well, what kind of sports do you play in Missouri?”
“I don’t know. I never got into sports there, either.”
“You, sir, are quite the enigma. I just never knew it was possible.”
“Since you obviously feel differently than I do, what sports do you watch?”
“I watch them all. My friends try to all get together to have game days or game nights, whatever the sport. We’re watching football right now, obviously.”
“You get together for every game?”
“Yeah, we try to at least. It happens most of the time. It’s easy for some of us, but poor Jamie lives outside the city, so he has quite a drive every week. But he’s faithful.”
“You guys sound like an episode of Friends.”
“Ha, you’re right! We do! Although none of us has slept together...that I know of, anyway.”
They both laughed for a moment as the waiter came to serve their food and refill their wine.
As he walked her to her door later that night, her mind was racing. Her heartbeat quickened when he bent. Thankfully, his lips landed on her cheek and not her lips.
As she closed the door, she couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t wanted him to kiss her. They’d had fun. They had enjoyed their time together. He was great-looking, unbelievably kind and intelligent. What more could she want?
She wanted butterflies. Not just predate jitters. Was that crazy? Was she being stupid? Too picky?
“Hey. How did it go?” Sabina was waiting for her on the couch. It was actually quite cute since it was such a role reversal—Sabina was typically out every night, so staying in to wait to hear how her friend’s date went was something new for her. “Come sit down. Tell me everything. I want to know all the juicy details.”
“It went well.” Micah put down her purse, took off her jacket and sat down on the couch.
“Do you think he’ll ask you out on a second date?”
“Maybe.”
“And would you say yes to a second date?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“That didn’t sound very convincing. What was wrong? He was cute. He seemed really nice. I know for a fact he has a great job. Does he have some kind of weird fetish or does he eat with his mouth open?”
“What? No. Neither of those things.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. Just something wasn’t right.”
“I’m proud of you.”
“For what?”
“For going out and taking this giant step, this leap into a world you’ve let pass you by for far too long. You’ll find someone eventually. I know you will. You have too much to offer someone.”
* * *
Why were her friends always so hard to find when she really needed them? She needed someone to talk to, and she would prefer Sabina. Where was she, anyway?
Micah paced the living room. She was in desperate need of advice, and no one was around to give it to her. Hanna was too caught up in her blissfully happy wedding plans. Jamie was busy. And Josh...well, Josh was the one she needed advice about. She couldn’t very well ask him about him.
She had been foolish to believe one date with someone else could cure her of the feelings that had slowly been developing over the course of a decade. She just needed to talk to someone about it. Keeping it hidden from everyone was only making it worse. If she didn’t vent about it soon, she’d explode.
She pulled out her phone and sent Sabina a quick text.
Where are you?
Sabina texted back right away.
I’m at the movies with Jordan.
It would be at least two hours before she came home. Micah didn’t know if she could wait that long. She could just text Sabina about her problem. That would work.
No. Bad idea.
She put her phone down on the table and walked away. Maybe a shower would help put things in perspective. It was quite possible she might be able to solve her own predicament.
One long, hot shower later and she was still nowhere closer to an answer to her problem. She pulled her robe tight around her as she picked up her phone, once again debating whether to go ahead and text Sabina or not. The familiar ping sounded, signifying a new message. Josh.
Guess who’s playing at House of Blues this weekend.
For days she had longed for some form of communication from this man and now was the time he chose?
Ah! She needed Sabina’s advice and she couldn’t wait any longer. She couldn’t keep ignoring the Josh situation. So she grabbed a hold of her phone and started typing.
Bina, I don’t know what to do. I need to talk to you and I don’t think I can wait until you get home. Ah! I think I have feelings for Josh. Like falling-in-love feelings. Like more-than-friends feelings. What should I do?
She hit the send button, the zip sound echoing in the quiet apartment. It was the first time she had “voiced” the words. It made her nervous to admit it to anyone other than herself. It made it real. Her eyes scanned the text again.
No! No! No!
There,