Chapter Twelve
Liz
A few days passed. Work was hectic as ever, with Mishka micromanaging everything from project dates to whether or not the toilet paper rolls got replaced in the restrooms. That woman needed a hobby.
So did I, apparently. I hadn’t heard from Jamie since our lunch date. We’d said goodbye quickly because I needed to get back to work. He hadn’t promised to call me or anything, but really, we didn’t need to since we often saw each other coming to or from work. I’d liked our little chats over the shrubs dividing our yards.
But I hadn’t run into him, and I hadn’t seen him at his house, either.
Even tonight, as I stared out of my guest bedroom window that faced Jamie’s house, I didn’t see any lights on.
I unlocked my phone and stared at the contacts list. Jamie Tolbert, his name in blue letters, promising conversation and… fun. There was something fun and unexpected about him. He had some ghosts in his past, I could tell, but maybe, if things got far enough along with him, I’d learn what those were. I was hoping for that at some point.
My fingers hesitated over his name. I didn’t want to sound desperate, and the thought of trying to make small talk over the phone had me cringing inside.
But where was he? Why hadn’t he come by?
Maybe I’d been building up the whole thing in my head.
To hell with this. I was going to call him and figure it out. I was tired of living in my head, wondering what was going on. I’d just come straight out and ask him.
He picked up on the first ring. “Hello?” He sounded groggy.
“I’m sorry—it’s Liz. Did I wake you?” It was only nine-thirty, but maybe he’d gone to bed early.
“Yeah.” I could hear the rustling of covers. “No problem, though, what’s up?”
“I…” I didn’t know what to say. Now I had him, and there had been questions in my head three seconds ago, but I couldn’t remember a single one. “Where are you?” I finally blurted.
“I’m in Philadelphia, doing some work things.”
“Oh.” Then it hit me. “Oh, shit. It’s after midnight. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, really,” he said.
Feeling mortified, I said, “I’m so sorry I woke you up. I was just worried because I hadn’t seen you around. Look, I’ll let you get back to bed. Glad you’re doing okay. See you when I see you. Talk to you later. Bye, then.”
Before he could respond, I hung up. Then I realized I’d said goodbye about three times all in rapid succession. I let my head fall against the window. The cool glass soothed my burning face.
Shit, shit, shit. I came off like such a weirdo.
Plus, I thought I’d feel better if I knew what he was up to. Obviously, he hadn’t been ignoring me; he was just out of town again. No big deal, right? Except why hadn’t he told me?
Because he’s not your boyfriend, Liz, I reminded myself. We weren’t dating. We’d hooked up several times, sure, and we’d gone out to lunch. But we weren’t dating. He had no obligation to tell me of his travel plans.
I unlocked my phone again and called Amy.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey. You got a minute?”
“Sure, just exercising the cat. You should see how crazy she gets when I pull out the laser pointer. What’s up?”
“Oh, just the usual weirdness with Jamie.”
Her voice lowered. “What is it this time?”
I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “I think it’s the fact that there’s even a ‘this time.’ It means there’s usually something going on, huh?”
“You said it, not me,” she said.
“He’s a great guy, and we had, you know, some special moments. So, is it then weird that he takes off for the East Coast without even telling me?”
“Eh, I don’t know,” Amy said. “I mean, I agree, he seems pretty great, although there’s definitely been some rockiness for you two. You guys haven’t talked about being exclusive or anything?”
I sighed. “I don’t even think you could call what we’re doing ‘dating.’”
“Ha, what are the kids calling it these days?”
“Shut up. But seriously.”
“Look, I don’t know if you want advice or not, but I’m giving you some—I think you still need to be putting yourself out there. You’re at a great place in your career and it would be an ideal time to settle down. No, you don’t need a man, but now wouldn’t be a bad time to find one, you know?”
“I guess?” I could see her point, but… I wasn’t interested in meeting anyone else.
“Look, clubs aren’t your thing, I get that,” she continued. “What about doing something like what my sister and Marco did?”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t sound so glum, it’s not like it’s speed dating or anything like that. It’s a messaging app, where you can chat and get to know each other before wasting all the time and money going out. My sister said it was a fantastic experience.”
“What’s it called?”
“Scintilla.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Doesn’t mean it won’t work,” she said. “I’ll do a profile if you do one.”
“I’ll think about it.”