Ace of Hearts - All We Are Series [NaNoWriMo 2014] [#JustWriteIt]

Chapter Twenty Two [Edited]

My phone rang around nine in the morning one Sunday about a week or two later.

“Hello?” I answered groggily.

“Hey, is this Anaya?” A male voice spoke through the line.

“Yes, who is this?” I asked, yawning as I woke up and sat up in my bed.

“This is Dave.”

“Dave?” I asked, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry if I woke you up.”

“No, it’s not a problem. Is something wrong?”

“Actually, I had a question.”

“Shoot.”

“I got some testing done, and I need to go to the hospital for a procedure. Could you give me a ride to and from the hospital?”

I frowned, suddenly wide awake. “Dave, is it something serious?”

“Doctors perform the surgery successfully all the time, so it should be fine,” he stated, evading my question.

“Are you sure?” I asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it, Anaya,” his voice warned me.

“Dave,” I sighed into the phone, but I respected his right for privacy. “All right. When is the procedure?”

“It’s this Friday, but I’ll probably stay overnight a few nights.”

“Okay, just let me know when you need to be picked up.”

“Will do. Thank you so much, Anaya,” Dave said, clearly relieved that I wasn’t asking any more questions and he didn’t have to worry about rides.

“No problem.”

Although Dave said it wasn’t serious, I still worried about his procedure. It kept me from focusing on work, and Daniel noticed that I was a bit distracted over dinner Friday night after I dropped Dave off at the hospital.

“Is everything alright?” He asked me.

I played with my food, using my fork to stack some green beans together. “I’m fine,” I sighed.

“You don’t sound fine,” Daniel stated the obvious.

“One of my friends is in the hospital,” I confessed, “And I don’t know why. I know it’s not really any of my business, but I’m still worried.”

Daniel smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Relax. Did your friend tell you it was a risky procedure?”

“No, it’s supposedly a high success rate surgery.”

“Then why are you worrying? Would your friend lie to you?”

“No,” I said, smiling a bit. “I guess you’re right. Besides, it’s not like there’s anything I can do about it now.”

“If you’re worried that much, you could go to visit.”

“No, I don’t want to invade anyone’s privacy rights. It’s hard to just not worry, though,” I sighed, giving Daniel a weak smile. “I’m too nosy, I guess.”

“It’s only natural to be worried for your friend. Try to keep yourself distracted. We could go see a movie if you want,” Daniel suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Maybe we can go tomorrow evening? I’m going to yoga with Shelly tomorrow morning.”

“Works for me. I need to go into the office tomorrow morning but I should be free around five or six. We can meet up sometime then.”

“What are you going into the office for?”

“There’s a little bit of paperwork I need to finish for a client. It’s nothing big, but I forgot to take home my computer, so I can’t just work from home.”

“Oh, okay. Have fun,” I grinned at him, making him groan.

“Fun isn’t exactly the right word for it.”

“Don’t we all love work?” I questioned sarcastically, making him just shake his head at me.

“Oh, Anaya…” he sighed, taking another bite of his mashed potatoes and steak.

“So, how’s work?” Daniel asked me, resuming conversation.

“It’s going pretty well. Lily and Charles are dating or sleeping together, I think. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but luckily it hasn’t affected the workplace much. I haven’t seen Shelbie in a while. Dave’s been out. I think Margaret is doing something with another department because we haven’t talked in a week or two.”

“Maybe you can get together with Margaret and Sheila. You said they’re your closest friends, right? Have a, what do you call it, gal pal day?”

I gasped, sitting up straight. “It’s Shelly’s birthday on Thursday! I can’t believe I forgot!”

“The 7th of May?”

“Yeah! I have to plan something!”

“Is she not planning anything?”

“No, but I think Margaret was talking about surprising her with a shopping trip for her birthday and going out to eat afterwards. I’ll have to ask her.”

Daniel smiled at me, resting his head on the palm of his hand as he watched me grab my phone and shoot off a text to Margaret asking the plans. “You’re adorable when you’re excited like this.”

I blushed. “Oh, stop, you,” I muttered. He just gazed at me.

“I’m serious.”

I smiled and shook my head at him.

“You’re absolutely beautiful. I could stare at you all day,” Daniel stated. “But I can see that you’re starting to get uncomfortable, so let’s go ahead and finish up dinner. Are you done?”

“Yeah,” I said, playing with the tips of my hair. I loved that he could read me so well, but it also made me really nervous to be unable to hide my emotions from him. I hated feeling vulnerable.

“Let’s go,” Daniel said, calling for the check and paying the bill.

We walked out of the restaurant, hand in hand. He unlocked his car, opening the door for me. I was grateful for the cold air, as it hid the small tinges of a blush that were forming on my face. Daniel drove back to the apartment building, playing oldies songs on the radio and tapping his fingers to the beat. When we got back, we both went into our separate apartments down the hall from one another, bidding one another farewell.

I stepped into my apartment, dropping my keys into the bowl.

“Home, sweet, home,” I muttered to myself, shedding my coat and taking off my hat and gloves. I checked my phone for messages. Surprisingly, there was a missed call and a voicemail.

“Hey Anaya! It’s Margaret! Sorry for interrupting your date with Daniel. Listen, two things: One, we need to plan Shelly’s surprise birthday party; and Two, Olivia and I are throwing another potluck for her birthday on the 23rd. Yes, she opted for something on the actual day of her birthday. You should come! Anyways, talk to you in work on Monday. Bye!”

‘Wow, there’s a lot of May birthdays apparently,’ I thought to myself, kicking off my shoes and heading to the kitchen for a glass of milk. ‘What should I make for Olivia’s potluck? I could make my traditional dish. Maybe I could make a cool shape in it or something to make it exciting. The shape of an “O” would work,’ I mused to myself.

Yawning, I decided to determine it tomorrow. As I glanced at my calendar and set an alarm for yoga tomorrow, I noticed an event to pick up Dave from the hospital. I sighed as I tensed up a bit.

‘Life is stressful sometimes, but it just keeps moving on. Just go with the flow. Everything will be alright with Dave, and soon enough you’ll be celebrating a ton of birthdays. Sheila’s wedding is in a month and a half, and everything is looking up. You’ve got Daniel looking out for you, too, now. Don’t worry so much. Everything will go greatly.’