Zea continued to fume the rest of the morning and afternoon grumbling under her breath about Stella not being the friend she should be. She couldn’t believe that Stella was going to keep the hot gossip Alex gave her a secret.
“Some friend she is!” Zea grumbled in the kitchen as she grabbed and apple and tossed it into her lunch bag; making sure that it didn’t have any soft spots to bite into.
Stella had left earlier with Alex leaving Zea to glare at the walls and appliances in loneliness. Everything was changing with her and her friends and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. That probably is what was frustrating her the most. This was the first time in their whole friendships that her friends were picking their men over her!
Zea considered maybe she was being possessive of her friends, but then she thought that they were the ones to blame. Her friends had changed their attitudes about things. They were letting these guys tell them what to do.
She huffed again as she flung her sandwich and crystal light into her lunch bag on top of the apple. Her cell phone rang and took her off guard. She jumped, then immediately smiled as Maxey’s picture danced across the screen.
“Hello?” she tried to sound as if she had no idea it was Maxey.
“Well hello there beautiful!” he said happily on the other side.
“Two calls in one day? That’s definitely stalkerness!” she teased.
“I don’t even think that’s a word.” He teased back.
“In my world it is!” she didn’t skip a beat. Maxey laughed on the other side.
“So, what’s up?” she asked curiously.
“Just wanted to talk to you before you go to work and I got a little break from what I am doing.” He explained.
“Well I’m definitely flattered.” She smiled into the phone.
“That’s what I’m aiming for…flattery…” he said sexily. Zea laughed nervously. “Besides…” he continued. “I wanted to button down a time for lunch, before you had a chance to back out on me.”
“Is that a bit of insecurity I’m hearing?” Zea teased.
“Me? Insecure? Have you seen me Zea?” he teased right back.
“I’ve seen your dance moves…” she shot right back. “Don’t worry Maxey, I’ll keep my word…” she teased again. Maxey laughed on the other end.
“Never doubted it!” he said with more assurance. “Guess I shouldn’t double guess someone I just met.” He teased again.
“And kissed…” Zea flirted back.
“This is true…” he joked back. Zea giggled.
“Guess we both have some proving to do…” Zea said more seriously, thinking about what Stella and Alex had talked about earlier. Maxey coughed nervously. There was a moment of awkwardness. Zea thought maybe she had hit something right on the head with her last comment.
“Maxey?” she questioned into the phone.
“You are a very complex woman Zea.” He said matter o factly.
“I’ve been told.” She sighed into the phone. Maxey laughed.
“So..one o’clock good for you?” he asked.
Zea made a mental check of her calendar for Sunday. It was all clear other than being on call for her volunteer time at the Y.
“Zea?” it was his turn to question the silent side.
“What? Oh! One is fine Maxey. Where are we going to meet?” she questioned. Suddenly she heard a girls voice on the other end.
“Foster! Come on!” went the shrill little voice. Zea frowned.
“Guess that’s my cue.” He explained. “Oh…no meeting. I’ll pick you up. Old fashioned, remember?” he asked warmly.
Zea wasn’t sure what to make of the voice she just heard. Was he on another date? Maybe this was the secret Stella and Alex were talking about! She tried to push the insecure thoughts to the very back of her thoughts. She didn’t want to think poorly of Maxey without an explanation.
“How could I forget? You are the original Knight in Shinning Armor!” she teased.
“You know it!” he joked right back. Again the shrill voice came.
“Foster!”
“Gotta go Zea, but I can’t wait to see you tomorrow!” he said quickly. “Bye…”
“Bye Max…” she didn’t even get to finish his name, his side went silent. Suddenly she felt very uneasy about Maxey. Why was there a girl calling him? What if he was married! She shook her head.
“What is wrong with you Zea?” she semi-shouted at herself, then glared at herself in the mirror. She didn’t understand why she was so wound up about Max Foster!
“Shake it off Zea…shake it off.” She told herself as she reached for her brush. Her cell phone rang again. She didn’t look at the screen just answered it.
“Maxey you really need to stop, I may just have to take a restraining order out on you…” she teased.
“Zea?” a gruff voice questioned on the other end. It was the director at the Y.
“Oh my gosh Frank! I’m so sorry, I thought you were someone else!” she tried to explain.
“MMMMM-Hummm” he laughed.
“I’m sorry Frank…” she said sheepishly into the phone.
“That’s okay Zea, I just hope someone really isn’t bothering you.” He said more seriously.
“No..no…I’m good. Just thought it was a friend of mine…” she explained further. “So…what’s up?” she was now curious about the call.
“Oh yes…” he continued. “I was hoping you could come into the Y tomorrow morning. Our new volunteer can’t come in on Sunday mornings. Do you think you could come from 9-12:30?” he asked hopefully.
“Sure Frank, anything for you guys! I will be there ready to help!” she assured. At the same time she was smacking her forehead for answering so stupidly. Why would she think that Maxey was going to call her right back?
“Great!” she could hear the relief in his voice. “See you in the morning then!” he said happily.
“Definitely!” she agreed one last time
“Bye Zea…”
“Bye…” she hung up and sat down on her bed. She decided she better take clothes to change into at the Y and let Maxey know to pick her up there for their lunch date. She still couldn’t believe she answered the phone that way. She really needed to get a grip. What was this guy doing to her?
She glanced over at the clock. She still had 45 minutes before her shift started, but she needed to get going. Traffic would be about 20 minutes. She quickly put on her uniform on and pulled her hair back and ran out the door.
Her rigid routine had suddenly been thrown upside down.
“Dang you Max Foster!” she argued into the air as she slammed her door and revved up her car and booked it out of the apartment parking lot.