I Have Been Chosen

Oliver 22

Oliver waited.

No response. Oliver checked his phone, and it appeared that Cody had been online in the last thirty minutes after he had finished work.

Oliver waited.

He had been here almost an hour now. He had seen couples arrive after him, dine and drink and pay and leave. And he was still sitting there alone. No Cody. No response from Cody. Oliver tried calling, but it didn't even go to voice-message; instead, the robotic voice on the line stated that the phone was not in use. What did that mean? Had something happened to Cody's phone? Did something happen to Cody?

And Oliver waited.

However, he was more anxious now, more so because more waiters came by to check up on him, either out of sympathy that he had been stood up or because Oliver had been sitting at the table for over an hour and not ordered anything, a waste of a customer. Perhaps it was for both reasons. The nearby tables of couples also looked at him with pitying looks, a few offering him to sit with them instead of alone, but Oliver politely declined. Instead, he called Kara, telling her the situation.

After about fifteen minutes, Kara came in, rushing over in such a hurry that she almost knocked the chair over, swearing loudly, and everyone looked at her and then at her casual oversized t-shirt and jogging bottoms.

"Well, what are we having?" she asked, sliding her chair forward to the table.

Oliver smiled softly, glad that she was not bringing up Cody or the fact that he had been stood up.

Kara glared at the menu, wincing and then swearing. "Yeah... a steakhouse isn't exactly very vegan, is it?"

"There are vegan options-"

Kara made a disgusted face. "Why is it all peas and asparagus? And all the potatoes come in some dairy-based sauce too!"

"You know, I think it shouldn't be allowed for such picky eaters to become vegans," Oliver teased.

Kara stook her tongue out.

They both finally ordered; Oliver a steak and veg, Kara a bowl of chips, and then two cocktails each. Tonight was now for drinking, it seemed, rather than eating, with Kara planning on having her proper dinner at the chippy below her flat. Whilst Oliver attempted to enjoy the evening with his best friend, who rushed over to accompany him in her lazy day clothes with food stains, he continued to check his phone in case Cody had seen his message.

He had not. Nor had he been online.

"I'm sure he just fell asleep," Kara reassured him as they paid the bill, or rather Oliver did, wanting to treat Kara and repay her, though it was just two drinks and a bowl of chips.

"Hmmm...." was the only response Oliver could muster on the topic. It was fine. It was perhaps for the best that his first date with Cody was not at the restaurant he had frequented with his ex-boyfriend Arden, with the reservation for their Valentine's Day to celebrate.

As they left the restaurant, Oliver's phone buzzed with a notification. In haste, he fumbled his phone, only to find that it was a message from Zeke asking how dinner was going with an underlying tone of teasing, followed by emojis of the suggestive kind.

Oliver replied, stating that Cody didn't show up and he went with Kara instead.

Eventually, Zeke replied with sincere condolences, followed by jokes about Cody having just overslept.

Whilst everyone else seemed to be sure that Cody was just busy at work or asleep, Oliver's anxiety and self-doubt loomed in with the possibility that Cody had purposefully stood him up. That he had not wanted to come. It was silly. After last night and this morning, it was clear that Cody was just as interested as he was, yet Oliver's low self-esteem could not help but put it at the top of the list of reasons why Cody hadn't shown up, paired with Cody's reputation of one-night stands. Cody had already gotten what he wanted last night; why did he need to go on the date now?

"Do you wanna pop by his workplace?" asked Kara. "Though I don't know when it shuts. Or we could go back to yours; he lives across the road from you, right?"

Oliver shook his head. "Let's go to yours."

Kara frowned and took Oliver's hand. "He probably just fell asleep."

"And when he wakes, he owes a very big apology," Oliver attempted to joke. "But I want to enjoy this night." He squeezed Kara's hand back. "Valentine's Day is supposed to be spent with those you love and care about, so I think it is better spent with my best friend than with someone I've known for a month."

Kara did not argue or speak on the topic again, so they headed over to her place, getting her usual order of vegan cheesy chips, gravy, and mushy peas. As they settled in on the sofa, snuggling under a blanket, Oliver tried to focus on the new romantic period piece drama Kara had been fixating on, but he was bombarded with messages, not from Cody, but from the rest of the band.

It seemed that Zeke had told everyone else what had happened.

Note to self, don't tell Zeke secrets. He will either tell everyone or tease you relentlessly with it.

Zeke, Rheanna, Darren, and Sasha's responses ranged from sincere to joking, but all four just dismissed Cody's absence as him falling asleep, overworking, or losing his phone and getting lost and forgetting the place to meet up.

Oliver eventually turned off his phone when it got close to midnight, feeling it now unlikely that he would be seeing Cody anytime soon.

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Fool In The Rain by Led Zeppelin

[The band plays, Kara on drums, Darren on bass, Rheanna on keys, Zeke recording the performance, Sasha being generally supportive by just being present, and Oliver at the controls, ready to act if anything needs fixing.

And they all wait expectantly for the vocals and guitar to come in. They're late. When it reaches the chorus, Darren and Rheanna begin to sing to recover the song, though neither of them are as familiar with the lyrics as Cody was.

Where was Cody?]