They Never Said It Would Be Easy

June 16, 2018

In my endeavor to get over Colin and get Brooks to leave me alone, I agreed to go on a date with a guy that I met at a coffee shop a few days ago. After James and I completed our project at work, which consisted of reading five manuscripts that could potentially be published and then convincing Bennett of which one to publish, we decided to go to our local coffee shop on our break to celebrate our completed work. In the end, James and I chose the same book so we were hoping that we were both correct and we could receive some praise for all of our hard work. We were both thinking that we could possibly get promoted too, considering we have been in the same position since we got hired about two years ago. But back to the coffee shop. We walked inside and got in line to get our drinks, vanilla iced coffee for me and a black coffee for James (I don't know how he gets the bitter drink down but he manages every time). After we ordered our drinks, James and I sat at a nearby table and waited for our names to be called. Unfortunately, it was taking longer than usual due to the crowd, so as soon as the barista called our names, we had to grab our drinks and rush out the door. Of course, just my luck, I slammed right into a guy that was coming in and spilled my entire coffee down my blouse, ruining my shirt with half of a work day still left to go.

"I am so, so sorry," the man exclaimed, picking up what remained of my drink and grabbing me napkins to help clean up the spill on my top. "Can I buy you another drink to make it up to you?"

"Oh my gosh, don't be sorry, it was completely my fault. I am such a klutz. I am in a huge rush to get back to work, but thank you anyways!" I responded, trying to clean off as quickly as possible to avoid being late.

"How about Saturday night? I'll take you to dinner?" he asked, completely throwing me off guard.

I look to James, and he is nodding his head, trying to telepathically tell me to accept the date. Maybe this will be good for me. It's worth a shot. "Sure, here's my number. Text me and we can figure it out," I said, scribbling my name and number on a napkin and running out the door. Normally I would never do something like this, but I normally don't get asked out on dates and things haven't been normal lately, so why not see how it goes?

So today is the day. Noah, the guy at the coffee shop, is going to pick me up at 7:00 and we will be going to an Italian restaurant that is just a few minutes away from my apartment. I was a bit nervous, but I wasn't as nervous as I would normally be for a first date. My life has been a roller coaster over the past few months and it seemed like there wasn't much that could phase me anymore. I told myself over and over again to go into this date with an open mind and be myself. I made a promise to myself that from now on, I was going to unapologetically be myself, so if Noah can accept me for who I am, things could potentially progress past this first date. I know that I am thinking pretty far ahead considering our first date hasn't even started, but I was pretty much desperate to have a man in my life that wasn't Colin or Brooks, so I was hoping for the best.

I didn't tell Casey or Morgan about this date for a few reasons. First, I didn't want them to put any pressure on me. I didn't want them to put ideas into my head or make me overthink anything. Second, I didn't want word getting out to Colin. If Casey knew, she would tell Connor, who would probably end up telling Colin. Connor and Colin were still really close, considering they have known each other for about four years now and were still roommates whenever Colin was home, and I wasn't ready for Colin to know that I was trying to move on. What if he wasn't and the door was still open for us? I don't want to ruin that opportunity just in case it is there, but I will never admit that out loud. I have to remind myself that I am trying to move on. Third and finally, they haven't been home much and I didn't have the opportunity to mention it, so for now, only James and I know of the current situation.

It is 6:00, so I decide to start getting ready. I straighten my hair, as usual, and apply minimal makeup to make it seem like I wasn't trying too hard. In reality, I really wasn't trying hard, but we all know that people tend to infer things about girls based on the amount of makeup they wear and the amount of time they spend getting ready, so I didn't want him to think that I was trying too hard for him. I throw on some dark skinny jeans, a black long sleeve top (just in case I spill anything, which is why this date is happening in the first place), and some black platform boots (my go-to pair that matches with everything). By the time I am done getting ready, it is 6:50, so I check myself out in the mirror one last time and realize that I forgot my necklace from Casey. Even though I originally bought it for her, we decided that either of us could wear it, especially when we needed a bit of extra luck, so I add the silver heart necklace, apply a bit of lip gloss, and wait on the couch for Noah to pick me up.