Page 92 of Bewitch

Even though we will.

It doesn’t take me long to get to the bakery. Ten minutes have passed since Cindy and I got off the phone, and she should’ve been here already. I’m toying with the idea of calling her when a college girl walks inside the, looking around nervously.

“Cindy?” I call, standing and waving her over to the booth I claimed.

She makes a face. “No. I’m Vickie.” She glances around.

“Vickie?” A guy at the booth behind me waves a hand. “I’m James.”

Ah, so a blind date. Hmm. That’s a cute idea, testing the water at a bakery. Even if the date is a dud, you got something tasty out of it.

And trust me, this place has all kinds of delectable delights here. I have my five dollars burning a hole in my pocket, and I’m not sure what to spend it on. I keep changing my mind as I watch other people order, and I lean one way or another, and maybe I should just get nothing because how can you only get one thing?

And then another girl walks in, just as hesitantly as Vickie had. I hold up a hand, and she comes on over.

“Cindy?” I ask even though I’m pretty sure I’m right on the money this time.

“Dawn? You look like a Dawn.”

I blink a few times. “What does that mean?”

“Bright and sunny. Happy.”

I laugh and force a smile, but inwardly, a part of me is dying. I can’t believe what I did earlier, and now I’m here, trying to figure out if I can prove that a man should be fired. What I did to Lucas… Well, I guess tomorrow will tell me if I crossed a line that can’t be forgiven, but I mean, he’ll still be my fitness trainer, right? Or maybe he’ll hate me and want nothing to do with me. So long as he’ll be willing to hear me out and explain why I did what I did, maybe he’ll stop calling people Fattie in the name of so-called motivation. Trust me. If a person is overweight, they already know it and don’t need to be told it or mocked for it.

But for her to say I look happy, that I don’t get. The sunny part, maybe that’s because I’m constantly blushing and all flushed from what happened with Lucas. What almost happened.

What maybe I should’ve let happen.

My one and only chance to be with him, and I walked out on him.

“Sit, please,” I tell her. “Or do you want to get something to eat?”

She glances over at the line and grimaces before sitting down. “Maybe once the line dies down.”

“So… what made you call me back?” I ask.

“I… I don’t have a lot of friends here,” she says. “I know that Eliza gave you my number, and you seem nice enough, but… ah…”

“The rest of it?” I prompt.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

I nod. “I can respect that, of course.”

“I just…” She wrings her hands. “I never know what to say to people.”

“Small talk isn’t for everyone.”

She shakes her head. “When people ask me questions, I tend to freeze up. I don’t like to be put on the spot.”

“I think most people feel that way. I know I do.”

Cindy glances out the window. “Sometimes, when you’re so quiet, other people will almost talk for you. They’ll ask a question and then answer it themselves. Has that ever happened to you?”

“I’m not sure that it has.”

“It’s very unnerving. They make assumptions… and those assumptions aren’t always right.”

---