“Argh,” I sigh, throwing my spoon into the soup in front of me. I ordered a soup because I’m trying to be strict about my diet, but now I’ve already regretted my decision; all I want right now is a greasy burger.

“Someone’s in a mood today,” Lana chuckles to herself, taking a large bite out of her burger. Damn it, couldn’t she have ordered a salad or something?

“Oh, shut up,” I whisper, grabbing my spoon again and taking it to my mouth. It doesn’t taste as good as a cheeseburger, but I think my waistline will thank me in the following weeks.

“Seriously babe, what’s going on?” Lana asks me, and I stare down at my soup, almost as if I expect to see the answers to all of life’s questions floating in there. “It’s about WineBar, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is,” I admit with a heavy sigh, raising my gaze and looking into her eyes. “It’s just that… ugh, I don’t even know anymore!” I continue, once more throwing the spoon into my soup. “I want things to remain casual but —”

“But at the same time you don’t,” Lana finishes my sentence for me, nodding gravely. We’ve know each other long enough for her to be able to read my mind with one passing glance, but I guess she doesn’t even need to do it today; I’ve been acting kinda funky, and she has already picked up on that.

“Maybe? I don’t know. It’s just that he acted a little odd the last time we were together.”

“Odd? Like what? Did he want you to dress up like a pirate? Is that kind of odd we’re talking about?” She asks me and, for once, I can’t tell if she’s being serious or teasing me.

“No,” I frown. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh,” she says, “too bad. Pirates are fun,” she whispers wistfully and, for a fraction of a second, I can’t stop myself from imagining with excruciating detail the kind of action she must be getting with her husband whenever they’re alone. Ugh, now I’ll never see pirates in the same light again, that’s for sure.

“Don’t even elaborate on that, please,” I tell her, still frowning.

“Oh, don’t worry. I wasn’t about to. But, seriously, what’s up with WineBar then?”

“I’m not sure… Things were going well, you know? We went at it in his office, and later on he invited me to go over to his place and —”

“And you did it,” she says, finishing my sentence for me again. “I already know that. I spent the whole night waiting for you to call so that we could start working on the new outline, but voilá, you were busy with Mr. 12 Inches.”

“Stop calling him that,” I protest, although I have to admit; the name fits him like a glove. Even though I wrote a book called 12 Inches, I never thought one day I’d actually meet a guy that hung. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecies.

“You were the one who told me he was huge,” Lana shrugs, and this time I let my frown go. I crack a slight smile and shrug right back at her. Oh, well, I guess I did tell her that.

“So, in the morning, we woke up and —”

“Woah, stop right there!” Lana says, raising one open hand and narrowing her eyes. “Are you telling me you’ve slept over? Like, really sleep? Oh, it’s happening, Em, I can feel it!”

“No, it isn’t happening. And that’s exactly it. I know we’ve agreed to keep it casual, but he actually brought that up the moment we woke up… I mean, he mentioned it three times! Three times! Like, I got it the first time, no need to be repeating that all morning.”

“So… I’m guessing that kinda ruined the mood, huh?” she asks me, taking another massive bite out of her burger. Swear to God, if she doesn’t finish it soon enough, I’m going to rip it off her hands and devour it with one single bite.

“Yeah, it totally ruined the mood,” I admit, still trying to fill the hole in my stomach with soup. “Not to mention that after waking up he bolted out of the apartment faster than I could snap my fingers together.”

“Just admit it, Em, you’re dying to have something serious with this guy, aren’t you?” I open my mouth to reply, but she raises her hand and stops me again. “No, don’t even try to bullshit me. I know you, Emily, so just give it to me straight.”

“Okay, okay… You win. Yes, you’re right; I’d love to try and settle down with him. We’re still getting to know each other, but he seems like the kind of guy I always dreamed of, you know?” It’s true; when I was a little girl, I used to dream of the perfect guy. He’d be tall, handsome, charming and rich. Kirk’s all that and, besides, he’s got a cut body and he’s hung, and that makes him even better than perfect. “Too bad that he seems to be a die hard player,” I sigh, pushing my plate to the middle of the table. I’ve had it with this soup; I’m not in the mood to be healthy today.

“Maybe he’s just testing you,” Lana whispers, almost as if she’s thinking out loud. “I mean, just think of it; he’s a bit older than you, he has the money, the experience… All he really needs is someone to settle down with.” She falls silent for a few seconds, biting on her lower lip as she retreats deep into her mind, and then she gives me a nod. “Yup, that’s my bet. He’s probably looking for a relationship, and he’s just testing the waters.”

“Well, that’s a weird way of testing the waters,” I grumble. “Besides, even if you’re right, I can’t think of that right now. I’m meeting Freeway tonight.”

“Oh, still haven’t given up on that guy? That’s my girl. You’re a heartbreaker, Emily, a true rockstar,” she laughs, and I don’t even know if I should laugh with her or just tear my hair out.

“I can’t even tell if you’re happy for me, or just plain mocking me,” I sigh, and her reply comes fast.

“It’s a little bit of both,” she admits, but then her grin turns into a soft smile. “Relax, Emily… I’m sure that in the end everything will work out.”

Pursing my lips, I look down at my unfinished soup and take a deep breath. Yeah, whenever I’m the writer of the story, I always make sure to wrap everything up with a perfect little bow; my two favorites words, besides ‘The End’, are ‘Happy Ending’.

Unfortunately for me, happy endings are never guaranteed when it comes to real life.