Opposites Do Attract

“How did it go?” Carmen asked over lunch. It was just me and the girls again. Jack had lunch with his parents, Chris had an org thing, and Tommy and Lee had school council. I was supposed to go to the council meeting, too, but they didn’t really need me there so I decided to just spend lunch with my girls instead.

“Awfully surprising,” I answered with a straight face, choosing my words very carefully to sum up the entire talk I had with Luke yesterday.

“How are we supposed to know whether that was good or bad?” Anne chimed in with a frown.

“Well, we are good now. But something weird happened along the way,” I supplied. I had battled with myself whether what happened yesterday was something I’d like to share with the girls so soon. I am actually quite the private person when it came to stuff like these. But my need of assurance prevailed over my need of privacy at the moment.

“Spill it, Miller,” Anne said after a moment’s pause on my end. That’s Anne for you. No-nonsense. Straight to the point. It’s what I actually love about her.

“Well. In the middle of explaining things about what Seth did and about how he acted over the horrendous dinner, Luke actually said he loved me.” My voice had grown tinier and tinier as I reached the end of that sentence. Just the faintest reminder of that moment sent my nerves tingling and cringing and what-not. And my friends did not disappoint either. They all cringed almost in unison.

“Oh. My. God. I would not have picked him for that type of thing,” Olive whispered in shock. Olive was a very opinionated person and she makes herself heard when given the chance. Her commentaries, admittedly, are entertaining for the most part and very brutally honest. Like right now.

“Me neither,” I agreed solemnly. “But it was just a slip, though. He wanted to take it back. But of course he couldn’t. And he offered me an out, which obviously I didn’t take. So there’s that, too.” I didn’t know who I was trying to convince at that point, but I could see clearly that I hadn’t sold the idea well despite my uber-defensive way of explaining things.

“Well, I say if you’re comfortable enough to let it slide and go with it, then I fully support your judgment,” Carmen said with an encouraging smile. And that was really all I needed to calm myself down completely. Carmen was the type of person whose opinion you would really value. She knew just what to say in any situation and how to say it.

Anne remained quiet although she looked as if she wanted to say something. She tackled her veggie panini instead and busied herself with finishing her lunch. I knew exactly what that meant. She had nothing nice to say and would only say things if invited to do so. I was scared to ask her about it, knowing my confidence about staying with Luke was still faltering, so I also just shut my mouth and finished my lasagna.

The topic didn’t resurface in our conversation as we all complained about how wide the scope was for this block and how impossible it was to tackle it. And that went on until lunch break was over. On our way back to our classroom, my phone beeped obnoxiously loud. And twice. The hallway was severely quiet that the beep of my phone visibly destroyed its serenity. People trying to catch up on reading assignments and loitering the corridor were literally startled. I apologized loudly and embarrassedly took the phone out of my pocket as I realized I forgot to put it on silent mode that morning. I was surprised to see both were actually texts from Casey, Seth’s lovable fiancée who made me believe in the theory of “opposite attraction”.

Hey, Samantha! Doing consult at your hospital in a few. Wanna join me for dinner later? I pay, you spill! –Casey

Oh, and don’t worry. Definitely NOT bringing Seth with me. –Casey

I smiled and quickly replied an affirmative. I couldn’t help really liking Casey. She was very thoughtful, welcoming and warm, and she left a very good first impression on me.

“Cabeza at 8!” Casey replied. She was referring to the fancy but laidback Mexican restaurant just across the street from the hospital, which was really nice and convenient for the both of us, I think. I lived near and she’d be coming from the hospital. My inner penny-pincher was also doing a happy dance about the upcoming free food. (So sue me, I love anything that’s free.)

I sat through the afternoon class in a breeze. The topic was relatively easy to digest and was actually very interesting. Plastic Surgery Overview. I never realized the genius behind this specialty until this afternoon. Skin flaps and z-plasties, ah! Whoever thought of how to make a vertical scar horizontal was a god. I mean, who would even think that, right?! Okay, enough of me fangirling.

I was on my way home at five. Luke was stuck with (more) database tweakings and couldn’t time out at five and walk me home, which was absolutely fine with me. Nothing wrong with some time apart. Works with the plan of slowing some things down, right? I also texted him about the upcoming dinner with Casey, but he was no longer able to reply. Must have been a very busy workday for him today.

Anyways, I lounged about in my comfy couch for about an hour before deciding to shower and dress up for dinner. Nothing to pressure myself to study on tonight because I had already caught up with last week’s difficult topics last night, and today’s load was relatively ultra-light. I mean, I could probably do with some advanced reading (obviously), but the procrastinator in me was already stomping its feet in utter rebellion, so…

I had fifteen minutes to spare after I had ransacked my closet through and through, and decided I looked nice enough for a dinner with my boyfriend’s brother’s perfect fiancée. I chose to wear a nice pair of washed jeans and a dressy teal top, with a pair of grey heeled boots to finish it off. I gathered my hair up in a messy-but-not-messy ponytail and put on some natural makeup, and I was good to go.

I walked the distance since I didn’t want to have to spend money for cab fare, and I still arrived a couple minutes early. When I walked in, I told the receptionist about the 8 pm reservation on Casey’s name and I was immediately seated in the VIP booth… thing (LOL). I knew it was VIP because these were the booths/tables that my friends and I would despise (‘cause we couldn’t swing it) whenever we had something to celebrate at this restaurant.

I glanced at my phone momentarily, aiming at pretending to busy myself and not look awkwardly out of place just in case a waiter passed through. (That’s just socially awkward me.) I saw two messages, though, so I didn’t have to pretend at all. Score!

The first one was from Luke, saying he was on his way home and that I should enjoy dinner with Casey. I figured maybe he was doing the slowing down thing, too, because it was just so easy for him to invite himself to dinner, right? Him and Casey were practically family, anyways. I was really glad and sorta relieved that he didn’t do that.

The second one was from Casey, saying she was running a few minutes late and that I could order appetizers for the both of us so she could stuff her mouth STAT when she arrived. Yeah, she actually said that. And I panicked a little. I wasn’t bothered at all that she was gonna be late. Most everyone in the profession didn’t actually hold their own time; things happen, people get called to do things. What I worried about was that I was tasked to order appetizers for the both of us! What if she would judge me based on what I ordered for her?! (Ok, admittedly, that would be ridiculous.)

I called the attention of a waiter and asked for the menu. I only ever knew the affordable ones on their list, so I had to take a look. Casey did give me free rein, so I thought I might as well try better tasting things on here. I decided on a sampler just because it all seemed the most authentic and delicious. Plus the waiter also told me it was a running favorite amongst the VIPs, HAHA! (Fine, I cheated there.)

When the dish arrived, I was floored. Everything did look and smell so good, my mouth watered. Casey has yet to arrive, though, but she had already texted me she was gonna be in in about five minutes tops so, even though I so wanted to take a bite right then and there, I knew I had to wait for her.

Within five minutes, I saw her walk in. She was wearing black skinnies and a white chiffon long-sleeved top in an “editor tuck” with black high-heeled boots and her hair up in a loose bun. Gosh, she looked sublime even at a distance. She quickly scanned the room, found me, and smiled a big smile before the receptionist could catch her attention.

“God, I am so sorry I am late!” she exclaimed as she kissed me on the cheek before she sat in front of me. “Haven’t you started yet?” she asked looking down on the untouched plate on the table.

“It just arrived a couple minutes ago,” I smiled at her, trying my best not to show how much I totally admired her. I thought I had gotten over it after I have seen her in her utmost best (in a cocktail dress), but my, my, there’s just something about a lady who glows even in simple clothes.

“Oh! Let’s dig in, then! And thanks!”

After a couple bites, she asked me what I wanted to eat after. I had decided to just let her order whatever for the both of us since she obviously knew the menu better than I did, and I told her that. She had waved for the waiter in no time and was ordering dish after dish of this and that (with several specifications). She kept saying excitedly how she wanted me to try everything she dictated to the waiter, and her giddiness was just infectious.

When all the food came, I was excited to try everything. But before I could choose which one I wanted to devour first, Casey decided to start what we came here for.

“So you thought Seth was a total ass, right?” she was smiling, complete with twinkling eyes. And the visual stimulus was so off the mark from the auditory one. The statement caught me off guard and for a moment, I didn’t know what to say.

“Yes. I’m sorry,” I answered after I recovered, quickly thinking up a standby plan for dinner if ever. I could buy fast food if she should decide to kick me out of the fancy restaurant. McDonald’s was just a block away, anyway.

She laughed. She still looked marvelous, but I couldn’t really figure out why she was laughing like that.