Falling For You // Chapter Six

Kennedy

If you were taken by your date to a party where you knew no one, how would you respond?
I looked over the question in an attempt to figure out why Zac was being so damned secretive as I stuffed in my chicken fajita wrap. It told me nothing.

When in a relationship, are you a jealous person?

Maybe he had a wife and kids in another state.

Would you rather date someone who is:
A: very busy, with a sometimes chaotic schedule, who books time with you in advance
B: busy, with a structured schedule, you know what days the person will be available for fun
C: slightly busy, who works during the day and is available most nights
D: not busy and has lots of free time

Maybe he was a spy.

What is your opinion of committed long distance relationships?

Maybe he was a psycho. This was the one that I tended to worry about the most. Not only would I be dead, it would then be public knowledge that I was seduced to my death over a dating site. Good-bye dignity.

I had answered these questions of his, completed the open ended section of the question stage and was know on the verge of open communication. This is where my neurotic streak came in. I was a thinker and while I hadn’t hesitated once since we had started our communication, I always knew that I had the safety net of the eHarmony structure. Open communication meant that we would be free to e-mail, chat and meet up if we wanted to. So naturally, I wanted to know what I was getting myself into.

His answers to my questions had been perfect. He was laid back, funny and not at all clingy. He answered my questions with gentle humor and seemed to be taking this experience lightly, like me. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Russ had been so encouraging about Zac, I would have been convinced this was an elaborate joke he had set up.

I wanted a relationship and I was ready to commit to ‘someone special’ as they say but that didn’t mean I had a desire to be suffocated. Literally or figuratively. I knew from his answers that he wouldn’t be like that. If he was being honest, that was.

When I thought of how I had a gut feeling about him, I decided that I would be mad not to see if he was as fantastic in person as he seemed on eHarmony. So what if I had no idea what he looked like? Or what he did for a living. Hell, I didn’t even know his last name.

I had developed a new ritual since I’d started communication with Zac. I liked to call it the ‘I’ve developed an obsession with trying to guess who he is’ game. I would study bankers, laughing friends, artistically beautiful men, and down and out hobos seeing if I could fit a face to his name.

I had decided that he probably had brown hair and hoped he wore it in a longer style. I couldn’t imagine his everyday wear consisting of more than a t-shirt and jeans, a casually thrown together look that fitted him so well. His eyes, in my mind were dark and full of telltale emotion for whatever was happening at the time. In short, I had made up my own Zac and hoped that I wasn’t about to be disappointed.

Deciding that there was only one way to find out, I clicked to allow Open Communication and walked away from my computer before I could regret my decision. I hated regrets. They were pointless, time consuming, and impossible to get rid of. I had very few of those times in my life for the same reasons. I knew deep down that if I had chosen the easy route and ignored Zac that it would niggle at me, possibly even more than Russ would if he ever found out that I hadn’t taken the opportunity.

The shop had been manic for the past few days and that day was been no exception. Russ had taken the week off because his brother was in town so I had been left to manage the store alone. It would have been easy to handle on a normal week, I had help at the weekend and only the really dedicated flocked to the store consistently during the work week. However, tht particular week had coincided with the publication of an article on independent stores in the great New York City and it seemed like the whole of America had decided this was the best time to visit.

Lunchtime was the only time throughout the day when I got a chance to sit down, but as luck had it I only spent this time dwelling on the issue of internet dating anyway. Shockingly enough this hadn’t left me in the best of mood by the time I returned home.

I was greeted with extreme enthusiasm by Michael Valentine, my beloved spaniel puppy who was named for The Killers song and instantly went to my computer to check for contact from Zac. My e-mail inbox showed me that he had taken me up on the Open Communication offer. It also showed me that his e-mail address gave no more details away unless ZacAttack2210@hotmail.com was code for how he liked to kill his victims.

His phone number jumped out at me instantly and I forced myself to go back and begin reading at the beginning. His apology was sincere and I found that I had a strong desire to finally meet him, even if it was just to satisfy my own curiosity. If it was going to get to that point anyway it might as well be sooner rather than later.

The shrill ringing of my phone closely followed by Michael Valentine’s spectacular leap off my knee resulted in a near heart attack. I warily eyed the phone for a second, imagining it to be Zac before realizing that he had given me his number, not the other way around.

“Word, what up K-Dog?” I honestly don’t know why Russ could never greet me with a simple hello.

“Oh sorry. I think you may have dialed the wrong number, I don’t speak idiot.” Russ’ laughter rumbled from the other side of the receiver before he began an incessant stream of questions ranging from the store, my well being, and finally ending on Zac.

“Well, it’s funny you should say that because I was just reading an e-mail from him.” I then filled him in on our recent communication. “So you see I was thinking of e-mailing him and agreeing to the meeting.”

“Kennedy, ring the guy or I swear I will ring your neck. He gave you his number; he wants you to use it. E-mailing is taking the cowardly option and you’ve come this far. Show him what a confident, sexy woman you are. Ring him Kennedy Erikson or I will.”

“But what the hell am I meant to say?” I pleaded. Even I realized how pathetic I sounded. I was 23 and asking my best friend what I was meant to say to a guy.

“Honestly Ken, just set up a date. Be cool, be casual, be your usual charming self. There is nothing better than the girl taking the initiative. Take it from me. If I was in his shoes I would jump a girl who made the first move.”

“Gross Russ! As if I need to be reminded of your man whore ways,” I released a heavy sigh, “Fine, I’ll ring him first thing tomorrow.”

‘No Kennedy, you’ll ring him now. I know you and I know you’ll chicken out by then. Get it over and done with and you’ll feel better. Ring me as soon as you’ve done it,” he instructed. He had just put the phone down to stop me from arguing. Charming.

However, he what he’d said made sense. If I left it until the morning, I would find some excuse not to call him. I wouldn’t know what time was acceptable, or I would be busy at the shop, or I would be jumping in front of a taxi to an untimely death. You name it; I would use it as an excuse. Not to mention I would never sleep tonight for planning my speech.

I picked up my phone, dialed the number he’d left in the e-mail and prayed it wasn’t some sex line that Zac had sent me as a joke.

“Hello?” I heard him ask on the other end of the line.

“Hi, is this Zac?” I asked, trying to sound confident as Russ had instructed. We set our date for the following evening at 7 and I had avoided giving him my address so all that was left to panic about now was my outfit, how to keep Russ away and whether I’d be able to get through the date without making such an idiot out of myself that I had to leave New York completely to get over it.

As I dialed Russ’ number I felt the butterflies, realising that for once, I was excited about the date I was going on.

Chapter Seven

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