Page 16 of Caffeine & Chaos

“Aww that is so cute!” Mandy groaned and rolled her eyes. “Didn’t I say to skip the boring parts and get to the good stuff already?”

“Mandy! Come on, don’t you think that’s weird? He had his people do some digging around on me and that’s how he knew. It kind of freaks me out to think about it.”

“You worried he’ll dig too deep and find out you’re not the church-going virgin he is expecting you to be? Come on girl, what’s he going to find out? He must already know that you’re a vapid slut!” Mandy flipped her head back and laughed raucously. Nadia wasn’t sure she had ever met someone who enjoyed their own jokes as much as Mandy.

“You are the worst friend ever,” Nadia retorted, having taken no real offense to her friend’s jabs. “Seriously though, could you please pretend your interest in this isn’t completely self-serving?”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. You know I’m just messing with you,” Mandy said, straightening her posture and adopting a more serious expression as she turned towards Nadia.

“It’s just weird to think about strangers looking into my life, you know? I feel kind of violated.”

“Did you tell him that?

“Honestly, I didn’t even have the chance to process it at the time. Everything was so intense in the moment, I don’t think it really sunk in until afterwards.” Nadia paused as Mandy walked over to the garbage can to throw out the wrapper from the candy bar she’d just eaten.

“Ummm, Nadia, why is there a bouquet of flowers in here?”

“Oh shit!” Nadia jumped up off the couch and snatched the bouquet out of the garbage. “Maybe I can still save them.” She ripped the paper off to take a look; they were pretty badly wilted.

“Hello over here?” Mandy rapped her knuckles on the quartz countertop. “What the hell is going on?”

“Oh god, this is another layer of his weirdness. After he jumped me in the washroom, when I got home, the doorman had a bouquet of flowers for me. They had been delivered by a service, but there was no note. It had to be him; I don’t know who else it could have been.” Nadia poked at the stems, pulling the flowers apart to see if there were any she could salvage.

“And he sent you daisies? What a cheap prick! I mean the man is worth a fortune.” Mandy picked up a sad looking flower and tossed it aside with disgust.

“That’s exactly what I thought! So, I chucked them. But you know, I never did get a chance to ask what the deal was with that. I totally forgot about them until now.” She crumpled the flowers back into the paper, realizing they were beyond salvaging.

Mandy snorted, “I wouldn’t have forgotten. I would have told that pompous ass where he could stuff his daisies the moment I saw him.”

“I’m telling you Mandy; he has some kind of hold on me. I turn to jelly when he’s around, and the moment he touches me the only emotion I feel is desire. Everything else just melts away.”

Mandy laughed, “You sound ridiculous.” She threw back a swig of wine and continued, “speaking of desire, did you two do it today or not?”

Mandy had such a one-track mind. Nadia loved her to death, but for the first time she was noticing that she wasn’t the best of listeners. Maybe she was noticing it now because this was the first time that Nadia had a genuine concern to discuss.

“No, we didn’t.”

“So, you had a picnic on the key and that was it? Weren’t you just telling me to reserve my judgment of him until the end?”

“Yeah. We made out a little more in the lighthouse and went up to the observation deck to check out the view. His cell phone rang, and he got called away by someone at his office.”

Normally, Nadia would be eager to spill all the juicy details to Mandy, but suddenly, she found herself holding back. Mandy’s judgmental reaction to things so far had made Nadia reluctant to share the rest of the story. Mandy certainly wouldn’t approve of the promise she made to Ryan in the heat of the moment. Only you forever.

“What a disappointment. With all the hotness rolled into that body, you’d think he’d be more fun. Are you going to see him again?” Mandy fished the remote out from between the couch cushions.

It dawned on Nadia that she didn’t even have his phone number. She had no way to reach him. If he didn’t show up at the cafe, she might never lay eyes on him again. The mere thought tightened her chest. “I think so. He had to leave so abruptly, I didn’t even get his phone number. I’m sure I’ll see him at the cafe in the morning though.”

It was weird that Ryan hadn’t asked her for her phone number. Unless the call from his office was a ruse. She had certainly used the rescue call tactic for a quick exit strategy when dates weren’t going well, and she never gave her number to a guy she didn’t want to see again. She clenched her fists at her sides, cursing herself for feeling so insecure.

Mandy gave her a sidelong glance, picking up on her distress, and placed her hand over Nadia’s clenched fist. “You really like him huh? I am sure he’ll come into the cafe this week. He’s a regular now. He probably really did just get called away.”

Nadia smiled at Mandy, relieved to get some reassurance from her friend. Perhaps she shouldn’t have left out what else happened, but it was too late to re-hash it now.

Mandy hit the power button on the remote. “What do you feel like watching tonight? Maybe a rom-com?” she grinned widely at Nadia as she pulled her brown hair back into a ponytail.

“Oh, please no, that’s the last thing I wanna watch!”

Nadia stared at the tv, her mind a million miles away. Only you forever. What the hell was she thinking?

---