Page 31 of Love's a Glitch
“Outside,”George said, and after too many seconds begging my phone to chime with a reply, I pushed to my feet and granted my nephew’s wish. The service was just as good out on the lawn anyway.
Unfortunately, an hour later, I still hadn’t received a response.
By midnight, I was ready to launch a manhunt.
* * *
Ellie:Your nephew is adorable.What’s his name?
Great.I’d spent too much time on Monday re-reading the text, trying to sort out what she’d meant by that.That George is adorable, you dumbass.
So maybe it wasn’t so much what she’d meant, but why had she ignored the question about her date? Where was the woman who could create an entire conversation around a coffee maker and a color? Instead, the text informing Ellie that his name was George went unanswered. Not that there was a question.
After going back and forth, I set my phone on the top of my desk and returned to the email I was composing to the web designer. I’d told myself not to reply to a message she’d sent over the weekend, as if she cared whether or not I had a social life.
We were approaching the twenty-four-hour mark from when I’d received it, and yet my attempts to compose the right message were met with the same sort of blockage Ellie’s text caused. Words weren’t cooperating today, and this was why I didn’t belong in a suit and tie in an office, behind a desk. The blue sky and waters out the window were either calling me or mocking me, and I wasn’t sure which was worse, but it didn’t really matter because I was stuck here.
I had half a mind to call up my brother and tell him that he was the one living in the mansion, so he could stop milking Dad’s situation for all it was worth and set me free.
My fingers tiptoed their way over to my cell again. If Ellie wasn’t going to initiate a conversation, I’d have to take the wheel. I needed my sunshine girl today.
Yeah, that’s a super friends-like thing to say, dude. Keep telling yourself that’s all it is.
Me:Adorableness does run in the family.??
Me:So, how was the date? Poetic?
Ellie:??It was good.
“Good?”
Heather poked her head through the open office door. “Did you say something to me?”
“Not to you.”
She glanced around the room, a crinkle of concern forming as she debated whether or not to inform me there wasn’t anyone else around.
I wiggled my phone. “Just wrapped up a call.”
“Speaking of, Marge from Zero Gravity Designs left a message. She said she spoke to her designer and that they’d like to set up a time next week for you to head into the office and get a full demonstration. She mentioned it helps to see it on the large screen, and in-person meetings help them to see where things might be getting lost in translation.”
At least it sounds like I made some progress there.“I’ll give her a call back and set up a time. Thank you.”
Heather nodded and then strode down the hallway, and I spun toward the window and gazed at my phone, irritation rising. Like the email I’d received from the web designer yesterday, Ellie’s message was innocuous yet packed with a lot of implications. Her unwillingness to expand meant she didn’t want to talk about her date, and that led to obsessing over why.
Had it gone that bad?
Worse, had it gone that well?
I should be happy for her and let it go. But my mood flipped the switch to destruct with a side of selfishness, and before I could think better of it, I sent another message.
Me:When are we gonna go on another adventure? I’m thinking it’s time we play in the ocean. You free on Saturday?
Minutes passed.Enough time to compose and send a proper email. Not that I used the stretch of silence for that. Just saying I could’ve.
Just when I’d almost given up and vowed to let go of whatever this thing with Ellie was, my phone chimed. I snatched up my phone so quickly I nearly dropped it, and ended up juggling it from hand to hand and catching it on my stomach.
Ellie:How deep in the ocean? I’m looking for adventure, not to become shark bait—ooh-ha-ha! And before you rattle off the statistics, I know them. My brain doesn’t.
