Fate Interrupted

12. Showin' Off

Ren

"This! You definitely need one of these!" Sydney exclaims as she grabs a colander off the shelf and puts it in the second cart she's pushing. "Oh, and these!" And she's off again.

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and we are at Ikea. It's a frigging madhouse, but we've made good progress. We've already selected a bed frame, a sofa, kitchen stools, and a coffee table and are now deep into the belly of the marketplace.

I'm already dreading how much this shopping trip will total as plates, sheets, and pillows keep piling on.

"A plant! You need a plant!"

"No, Syd. We don't have room in the cart." I motion widely to our overflowing carts. We are nearly out the door to the warehouse, and I'm so over it.

"You can't be the only living thing in that apartment."

"God, don't remind me," I groan.

"I'll bring you one when I come over to see it."

We head out into the vast grey warehouse to find my bed and tables. Then wait in the predictably but epically long lineup to check out.

"So, tell me more about this Bryce guy. Are you totally sure you want to date another marketing man? Sydney asks, arching an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not totally sure. But if you saw Bryce, you'd see why it's hard to say no."

Sydney grins. "Oh yeah? Do you have a picture of him?" 

"Not yet," I say. "Oh, I know! We've all got photos of ourselves on the website."

"On it." Without further ado, Sydney is swiping out her phone from her purse.

"Look up Vibe Marketing, and click on Team." 

Sydney deftly finds the website and the Team page. She's seriously focused as she swipes, and suddenly, she stops.

"Him?" She thrusts the screen in my face, both eyebrows up as high as they can go.

"Yep," I confirm, and she retracts the phone for a closer look.

"Damn, okay. Yeah, no, yeah. I can see that. But this is a nice photo. I mean, he doesn't look this good in person, right?" referring to his perfect studio-posed photo.

"Let me see again," I ask. "No, he's actually better in person."

"Not possible," she mutters, looking closer again.

"It's also his expressions, his personality." 

"Well, crap, looks like Gio's got some serious competition," she starts, and I roll my eyes and blow air through my lips. I wish he thought of it like that. 

"But..." she continues.

"But what?"

"But...I think Bryce looks more like my type, don't you think?" she deadpans, giving me a playful side glance, then puts away her phone.

"Sydney!" I give her a playful pinch. "You already got a good one. Leave some for me." 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Why do I feel like I might puke?

I'm all nervous again, studying how I look in the dress I picked out in front of my full-length mirror. I guess getting ready for dates does this to me.