Say Hello For Me

t w e n t y || first date

It's around three o'clock on a Friday afternoon when Cynthia rolls her chair over to Nessa and hands her the phone without any clear explanation.

"Just take it," Cynthia says with a relieved expression on her face. It's like all the weight has been lifted from her shoulders. "I can't even understand half of what he's saying. I think he's looking for you, though. It sounded something like Vanessa. Whatever. It was close enough."

"Hello? Who is this?" Nessa answers the phone hesitantly, trying to figure out who is on the other line. Normally, clients don't ask for a specific consultant. Most of the times, clients don't even know their consultant's name at AskAway.

"Nessa!" a far too familiar voice by now shouts through the line. "I was two seconds from hanging up and trying again. Why is it that someone else always picks up when I don't call at ten?"

"Because other people work at AskAway." Nessa shakes her head as she responds to Liam's complaint. "It's not just me here all the time by myself, Liam. We're actually quite busy right now."

"Oh." Liam really didn't think about it that much. After a couple more seconds and a little more pondering, Liam adds, "I totally forgot to say hi. Hi, Nessa."

"Hi, Liam." Nessa laughs. "What's up with you today? Why are you calling so early?"

He leaves her hanging for a couple seconds, purposely building the suspense.

Eventually, he says, "I called her, Nessa."

"And?"

"And she picked up." Liam is being purposely short with his responses.

"Well if she hadn't, you wouldn't be calling right now, would you?"

He laughs in a way that answers her question without words. "Has anyone ever told you that you're really smart?"

"Has anyone ever told you that flattery gets you nowhere?"

"No, but I'll make sure I keep that in mind for tonight."

"What's tonight?"

"I have a date tonight."

Nessa's heart tightens as she hears the news and she can't really explain why. All she knows is that it feels like someone is squeezing her heart. She can finally hear her thoughts after the feeling subsides.

"What?! Liam! I'm can't believe—"

"But I have a problem!!" he shouts into the phone. "And I think I need your help, Nessa."

Nessa tries to think of all the possibilities before she takes a stab at it. "With what? Are you having second thoughts about going on a date with her? Do you think you're going too fast? Do you want—"

"WHAT DO I WEAR?"

"What do I wear?!" Nessa repeats after him. "That's the reason you need to talk to me?"

"At this point, I think I'm better off wearing nothing. What do you think about that?"

Nessa laughs, his proposition bringing up another image in her mind.

"Why are you laughing? What's so funny about that?"

"I just thought of something funny."

"And that was..?"

"Well, in this TV show, this man called himself the naked man and what he basically does is strip and lay naked in plain sight after a date so he can—"

"How I Met Your Mother, right?" Liam asks without having to hear the entire story. "Season four, episode—"

"Nine," Nessa finishes his sentence. "I didn't know you were a fan of the show."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Nessa."

"Like what?"

"Like... I like pineapples on my pizza even though no one else seems to. Sometimes, I order cocktails after cocktail hour. And I have a deadly fear of clowns."

"I guess you really do learn something new every day," Nessa responds. "So, what's her name?"

"Whose name?"

"The girl you're going on a date with tonight, Liam."

"Oh! She goes by Vy, but I think it's short for Violet or something."

Nessa thought of her friend Vy at first, but Vy's name isn't short for anything. The thought is quickly dismissed from her brain.

"Violet's a really pretty name," Nessa says. "And she's a lucky girl."