(Picture of ALL Katie's Friends Above)
*Katie's POV*
Halee got back from Hawaii yesterday and she has a bad sunburn. I told her to pack sunblock but she did NOT listen to me. Oh well. I'm just glad to have her back.
The whole girl gang is back together now. Adora Terrence had to spend four months in Japan as a reporter. Kayla Ziknack is ALWAYS working at the hospital. Whitney Nickelini is busy with her choir job at the high school. And God only knows what Mercedes Bratton has been up to. We all sit at Jake's Bar and catch up on our busy lives.
Mercedes is half drunk, talking loud. Kayla and I exchange an annoyed look. Halee has her glass of iced tea to her sunburned face.
"So how was Hawaii, Halee? Did you try any of those Hawaiian meats?" Mercedes laughs drunkly, too loud. "I heard men there like to do a little more than a good foot massage."
"Can...You NOT?" Adora growls annoyed, "I had to give an interview to a bunch of sweaty, naked men because their Spa water was infested with—"
Adora gags, pushing her veggie burger away. Mercedes throws a fry at Adora, making her even more annoyed. Whitney bumps me as she fiddles with her straw.
"So—I got the promotion!" Whitney says excitedly.
We all clap for her, grinning happily. Well, all but Adora and Miss I-Don't-Need-Any-Sunblock-In Hawaii that is. I pat Whitney on the back happily.
"Wow, so, what is better than a high school choir director? OH, I'm sorry, a teacher?" Whitney playfully pushes me, making me giggle.
"I am now, officially, head of the music department." We all cheer for her. "
Tara clears her throat loudly, I glare at her. I am still not over her blabbing to not only Chris, but MY PAPA AND MAMA! If we weren't in public, I swear....
"So," Oh God, Tara don't you— "One of us has may or may not found her Prince Charming."
Everyone squeals happily, Halee and I grumble. I am SO going to kill Tara later. She lives right across the hall from me so it's not going to be that hard.
"Wow! So who is he, Tara? That new Hispanic guy down at your shop?" Mercedes winks at Tara nastily, her tongue wiping across her top front teeth.
Tara wrinkles her nose. "Marvin? Eww, no."
"Then who is he?" Kayla says with her giggle, I sink on my seat. "What does he do?"
Tara looks at me. "ACTUALLY, I was talking about Katie."
Everyone looks between Tara and I confused. Leave it to Tara, I swear. I cover my face with my hand, groaning.
"A few weeks ago, Mercedes, Halee, and Katie went to this club and this handsome older guy—" Tara is cut off by Mercedes slamming her hand down on the table.
Everyone's the table and the people around us jump. Mercedes's blue eyes go wide and her lips are forced into an eerie smile. I shiver at her.
"You went out with him!" Mercedes says too loudly, "I knew you were desperate for love but I didn't think our homegirl was after a sugar daddy."
Everybody looks at me. I cover my face in embarrassment, Whitney pats my back. I can never show my face in this restaurant again.
"So, who is that fine hunk of meat? Did you—you know—" Mercedes starts
"Will you please quiet down? You are so loud!" I snap at her, "You're embarrassing me."
Mercedes rolls her eyes, sipping her flash she keeps in her jacket. Everyone looks at me expectantly. I run a shaky hand through my brown hair.
"His name is Chris." They all giggle and grin at me, "He workers for this company that deals with ending children's hunger."
"Works? He's the CEO!" Tara gets loud too, both Halee and I glare at her. "You know that big organization project that deals with children's hunger and the other that deals with homelessness? The BIGGEST and most commonly used ones with the cute little slogans? Yeah, he is one of the founders and big CEO's!"
Everyone stares at me surprised. Adora crosses her arms sassily. Here we go...
"So how old is this guy?" Adora says concerned.
"Yeah, and how good is he in the sack?" Mercedes giggles loudly.
Everybody glares at half drunk Mercedes. My hands are sweaty, my heart begins to pick up its paces, and my ankles go a little weak. All in just the thought of Chris.
"He's—38." I put a hand over Tara's big mouth, "And...he respects that I'm not ready for THAT step in my life."
Mercedes starts to talk but Adora shoves a dirty napkin in her mouth. Halee cackles at this, as does the rest of us. All but Mercedes of course.
"We've only went on, like, 6 or 7 dates so far." I blush, "I really don't know-him-know-him yet. But he's very mature and caring."
Whitney shrugs. "Well, he is experienced. I imagine."
I nod nervously, looking down into my lap. "Yeah, he is."
Tara kicks me. I look up and give her a look. She nudges her head, scratching it.
"What?" I say confused, slightly annoyed. "Why did you kick me?"
I suddenly look around to see Adora, Mercedes, and Kayla are looking behind me alarmed. Halee glares behind me, her sunburned face a twisted scowl. Curious, I turn—
"Katie!" A strong pair of hands grab my biceps, I nearly jump out of my seat in shock.
Quickly, with my heart pumping blood a mile a minute, I turn to see who frightened me. My ankles go weak at the sight in front of me. I cannot get up out of that chair fast enough. My arms wrap around Chris's neck, a goofy grin on my face. He kisses my cheek sweetly.
"Speak of the devil." I hear Halee say behind me, I turn and give her a look.
"Baby," That pet name sounds foreign to my lips "what are you doing here?"
"Just here with some of the guys and Andrew." Chris's nose bumps against mine, his large hand on the small of my back. "God it's great to see you."
SMACK! "Ouch!"
My butt stings from somebody smacking it. I rub it and glare at my friends. They all look at me expectantly. Then I realize.
"Oh, Chris, these are my friends." I give Mercedes a warning look, "You already know Tara."
"Hey there Mr. Eaton." Tara lightly waves at Chris, who presses me tighter against him.
I point as I go around the table. "That's Halee, Adora...Mercedes, Kayla, and Whitney."
Chris nods to them, a thin lipped smile. "Hi."
"Hi, Chris." They all say in unison, annoying me.
Chris pulls a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'll leave you be."
Chris kisses my cheek before reluctantly letting me go. I pout at the loss of his touch. I wish he would come back and hold me more. Chris walks over to a group of guys around their late 30s to early 40's. Around his age. I sit back down. It's quiet for the longest time and I cannot manage to look up from my lap.
"So...you're not THAT close, huh?" Whitney says mischievously, her brow arched to match her wicked smile.
Adora lightly moans, shaking her head. "Damn, he was fine as hell."
"His friends aren't too bad either." Mercedes turns and looks at Chris and his friends, "I'd start out with the one covered completely covered in tattoos, all but on his face."
All of our mouths go wide. The things that come out of Mercedes mouth. You never know what.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris say in eye view of me. I don't know if he did that on purpose or if it was a coincidence, but he did. Through the rest of lunch, Chris and I kept making eye contact. Every time I would look up from my nuggets, he was looking up from his menu. Eventually, it sort of became a game. A game that made us both laugh. I think not only did my friends get annoyed by it, but his friends did too. Eventually, I forced myself to not look at him. I felt like I was sitting at the wrong table.
As we started to get up to pay for lunch, I debated on whether I should go say goodbye to Chris. Maybe introduce myself to his friends. I don't want to be rude and NOT say goodbye and give Chris the wrong impression. But I also don't want to go over there and rudely interrupt his lunch with his friends.
I put my hand on Whitney's shoulder. "Should I go tell him goodbye? Or is that too...?"
"I wouldn't. He seems like he's really interested in his friends right now." Whitney shrugs, "And plus, you can't surprise him like he surprised you."
I nod, feeling guilty about that idea. Adora speaks up.
Adora's deeper voice talks over the table. "Well, he did at least say 'hello' to you and didn't just ignore you because you were sitting with your friends. I would at least return the gesture."
I blush, feeling shy about going over there. There's about 7 other guys with Chris. I bite my lip at how anxious I am about social interaction with men.
"Oh, GOD! Are we going to do the whole how-should-I-handle-this-kind-if-situation-with-the-guy-I'm-dating now?" Halee says annoyed.
Kayla rolls her eyes. "I think it's kind of cute. Katie's first boyfriend."
I give Tara the amount I owe for the meal. "Pay for me, please?"
Tara gives me a huge grin. "Go Katie!"
Mercedes claws in my direction. "You get that hunk of ground beef, Tiger. You sink your teeth in him. Rawr!"
I let out a deep breath, grabbing my purse. "Here I go."
I slowly make my way over to Chris's table, mentally backing myself out of this. My hands begin to shake and I feel consumed with dread. What if he doesn't want to talk to me? What if his friends are mean? What if Chris acts different when he's with his friends than when he's with me? Craporito, it's too late. Chris has already spotted me. I force a smile, waving as I slowly walk up.
Chris stands up quickly, moving even quicker to hug me. I awkwardly stand there stiff as he hugs me tightly.
"I-I just wanted-ed to say goodbye." I say nervously, trying to be smooth.
Chris gives me a kiss on the lips, I can't help but smile. My cheeks turn bright pink. My head starts to spin.
"Gorgeous, let me introduce you to me friends." Chris doesn't sound too thrilled about that as he takes my hand and pulls me along with him.
The group of men all look at me with wide eyes, their expressions blank. Chris's fingers intertwine with mine. His thumb rubbing over my thumb knuckle.
"Hey, this is the girl I've been talking about." Chris says with a shy smile, "Katie Morgan."
"Well, you're a lot more gorgeous than what Chris said." A guy with a pointy nose but beautiful blue eyes says.
I blush. Chris's grip on my hand tightens, making my heart quicken its pace. If anything, I was flattered by the man's remark. The handsome black guy with a little bit of hair on his chin is the first to speak. He sits next to the guy with the pointy nose and blue eyes.
"Well, Sweet Thang, if Chris won't introduce us, I will." The man chuckles, wiping his mouth with his napkin. "My name is Dominique. This here is Jason. That there is Jamal, Andrew, Adam, Balsey, and the pervert staring is Joshua."
They all smile at me and I just shyly wave. Chris's hand goes from my hand my waist. I look up at him awkwardly.
"I'll walk you out." Chris tugs me away from the guys, who wave goodbye as I try to.
"They seem nice gentleman." I say with a small smile.
Chris smirks. "That's because a gorgeous woman was standing there."
YOU ARE READING
In Your Arms
Fanfiction"I didn't want a fight." I look down in my lap sadly, "That's one of the reasons why I didn't want to tell you." Chris walks over and sits next to me. He puts an arm around my body, pulling me closer to him. He kisses the top of my head. I...
