Page 4 of Falling for my Best Friend

“What?”

He pointed to a small pastry counter at the back of the room.

When I turned to look at where he was pointing, a middle aged couple waved at me. I lifted my hand. “I take it those are your parents?”

“Yep.”

“Do you always take first dates here or-”

He nodded. “Pretty much.”

“Don’t you feel a bit- I don’t know- stifled dating in front of them?”

“Not at all,” he said. “They’re eager for me to meet someone and-”

I bet they are.

“Bringing dates here saves me a lot of money.”

“How convenient,” I said, relieved that I wouldn’t need to go Dutch on this character building experience.

“Plus, the food’s delicious, don’t you think?”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “My panini was… unforgettable, and the hand cut chips were fantastic.”

He smiled like he cut them himself.

“Why don’t you work in the café with your parents if you’re between jobs?”

“I tried for a while, but washing my hands so much aggravated my eczema.”

Charming.

“So do you want the brownie, too, or would you rather have the strawberry cheesecake?” he asked. “They’re the best choices in my opinion.”

“I think I’ll go for the cheesecake.”

“Cool,” he said, pushing his chair away from the table. “I’ll be right back.”

I couldn’t decide if this set up was weirder or on par with the time I went out with the Indian guy whose parents sat at the next table while we had a drink.

The guy assured me that he wasn’t as traditional as his parents, but I kept imagining what it would be like for them to lay in the bed next to us while we got it on. In the end, I announced to the family that I had diarrhea from eating bad meat and excused myself… forever.

A moment after Cory brought our desserts over, my phone began to ring. I picked it up immediately. “Hello.”

“If you don’t leave right now, all the kittens on Earth will die,” Fiona said.

“Oh my god- don’t move. I’ll be right there.” I looked across the table at Cory with wide eyes before shoving the phone in my purse.

“Is everything okay?”

“No. No, it’s not. I’m sorry. I have to go,” I said, standing up. “It’s an emergency.”

His face fell. “Oh, okay. Do you want to take your cheesecake to go then?”

I looked down at the glistening red jelly coating the fresh strawberries. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.” I picked up the cheesecake with my fingers and wrapped it in my paper napkin. “I’m sure I’ll be better off taking it… in case I’m at the hospital all night.”

Cory stood up. “Do you think you’d like to go out again sometime?”

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