Part II
Seven Years Later
Chapter One
Janie
“Oh my God, this guy is so hot. Anabel, come here.” My voice rose in excitement as I studied the photos of the guy I had just matched with on the online dating app I’d joined the night before. “Anabel, where are you? Come now,” I shouted again, wanting my best friend to share in the moment. I hadn’t dated anyone in over a year and I was now ready and willing to meet the perfect guy; even though I was skeptical about how successful online dating would be.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Anabel sounded exasperated as she walked into my bedroom and sat next to me on the edge of my bed. “You always say guys are hot. Maybe you should have a more rigorous screening process,” she moaned. “Hotness is not the best criteria.”
“I know.” I made a face at her. Over the years I’d gushed about many hot guys to Anabel and none of them had actually turned out to be nice guys. But I didn’t need to be reminded of that now.
“This guy better be hot, at least,” she mumbled as she grabbed my phone and looked down at the screen. “Okay, he’s hot.” She looked at me and then giggled as I gave her my I told you so face. She scrolled through all of his photos on the dating app and I stared at her as she nodded with an impressed expression. “Whoa, he’s super-hot,” she said as she reached what I only assumed was his final photo—the one without a shirt. The one that made me think of hunky surfers at the beach and whipped cream. The whipped cream part was not exactly related to the beach, but my mind was wondering a hundred miles a minute. I hadn’t had sex in ages and I was ready to meet a man to have my wicked way with.
“He has abs for days.” I grinned at her as she handed me my phone back. “I’d love to run my fingers down them.” I stared at the photo on the screen as I giggled and pretended to run my fingers down his taut muscles. The guy staring back at me had golden blond hair, big bright blue eyes, olive tan skin, perfectly even white teeth with a smile that beamed like a toothpaste commercial. There was a sexy light scruff of stubble on his face and I wanted to touch it to see if his hair felt as soft as it looked. His body was muscular and tight and he looked tall, at least six feet. My eyes stared at the photo taking in this gorgeous specimen of a man and all I could think was, I hope I get to meet him. And soon.
“Janie.” She shook her head at me. “Do you know how you sound right now? I thought you got over your love at first sight stuff after college?” She gave me a knowing look. “And also, not to bring up college, but does he remind you of anyone we know?”
“What?” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and ignored her last comment. “As if I could ever get over love at first site! I’m a true romantic.”
“He has abs for days is a romantic comment?” She stared at me without blinking.
“I didn’t say that exactly. Also, do you think guys don’t make these comments?” I made a face at her.
“Who knows?” She laughed after a few seconds, her hazel eyes sparkling as she tossed back her light brown hair. “Janie, you know how I feel about your lust at first site crushes, but tell me what his profile says. I want to know if his personality was something that called out to you as well.”
“Hold on, let me bring it up.” I looked down at the screen excitedly. I was glad she wanted to hear more about him. “Should I message him, by the way?”
“No, no, wait for him to message you first.” Anabel made a face at me now, her pert nose screwed up. “You have to let the guys chase you on these things.”
“Fine, fine.” I sighed. “Okay, this is what his profile says: Fun-loving not too serious adventurous guy looking for the same in a girl.”
“That’s it?” Anabel frowned. “Nothing else.”
“Yeah, that’s it. There’s nothing else.” I shook my head. “Maybe he’s new or just prefers to chat in person.”
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “What does he mean by not too serious?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “But I’d like to find out.”
“Oh Janie.” Anabel laughed at me. “You’re too much. Any other guys you want to show me? I have to get ready for work in a little bit.”
“Aw man, you’re working tonight?” I pouted. “I was hoping we could go to a movie or something.”
“I wish. I’m on late shift all this week. Hopefully I make some good tips.” She sighed as she stood up. “I need to find a new job. Waitressing sucks.”
“Yeah, I hope you find a job at a newspaper soon.” I made a face. “The job market sucks. I can’t say I’m loving working at the law firm, but I guess it’s better than nothing.”
“At least you know you don’t want to be a lawyer now. Saved yourself thousands of dollars in loans,” Anabel said in her matter-of-fact way.
“That’s true, but being a research secretary isn’t that much more exciting either.” I lay back on the bed. “But I guess I’m lucky I have nights off. Now I just need someone to spend them with.”
“Yeah, maybe hot abs guy will be the one,” she said facetiously.
“Yeah, that would be cool.” I started daydreaming as I lay there staring at my screen. “Argh, I hope he messages me soon,” I said wistfully, already imagining the hottie on the screen and I going to movies and restaurants, and maybe even some concerts and nightclubs.
“If it’s to be, then it will be,” Anabel said in her seemingly wise way. “If he’s the one, it will happen.”
“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” I looked at her face to see if she was laughing at me.
“Just a little bit.” She grinned at me, her perfectly even white teeth shining like small pearls. “But that’s why I love you.”
“I just want to meet a nice guy.” I sighed. “Well, a nice guy that’s also hot. Is that too much to ask for?”
“And you want him to treat you like a queen, right?”
“Well of course.”
“Don’t forget that part.” She gave me one of her signature Anabel looks. “That’s the most important characteristic to look for in a potential mate.”
“What’s the most important characteristic?”
“How he treats you.” She pointed her finger at me and flicked it up and down. “How he treats you means a lot more than how good looking he is.”
“But not more than how good he is in bed.” I laughed and she just shook her head at me as I wiggled my eyebrows up and down at her. ““If he’s not good in bed, nothing else matters.”
“Janie, you talk a big game, but we both know that that doesn’t matter that much to you.”
“Only because I’ve only been with two guys.” I sighed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for a one-night stand or a male gigolo, but I would like someone that knows how to rock it in and out of the sheets.”
“Well this dude definitely looks as if he’s rocking something.” Anabel shook her head and laughed. “Let me know if he messages you.”
“He better message me.” I sighed as I refreshed my screen to see if I had any new messages. “He looks like a super amazing guy.”
“Have you told Nate that you’re online dating now?” Anabel asked with a sly smile.
“Nope.” I rolled my eyes at her. “I don’t need to be lectured about my love life again. I don’t know what his problem is. It’s not even like I have much of a love life.”
“I thought you told him the other night?”
“Well I told him I was going to sign up, but I pretended I wasn’t really serious about it.” I said, hoping she didn’t continue with the Nate talk.
“Haha.” Anabel laughed. “He’s going to be mad when he finds out that you’re going on dates and he hasn’t been able to vet the guys.”
“Whatever.” I made a face at her. “He’ll survive.” I felt a slight pang of guilt as I stared at her grinning face. Nate was my best guy friend and had been for the last seven years. We’d met in college and really bonded at a party where I’d gotten drunk and spilled my whole life story to him, including all of my emotional woes and ever since that night we’d been close friends. Well, technically not completely true, but close enough. The full story was a lot more embarrassing. Most probably because I’d clung to him like a stage five clinger during the first six months I’d known him and he hadn’t known how to extricate himself from my constant texts and calls. I’d had a small crush on him when I’d first met him, but he’d made it quite clear to me that he wasn’t interested in a relationship with me. Though that hadn’t stopped him from hanging out and hooking up with me. I’d taken it to mean a lot more. I’d thought he’d changed his mind about wanting to be in a relationship and that perhaps he was realizing I was the love of his life as well. That hadn’t happened. He’d basically blown me off for another girl and I’d stopped talking to him. I’d been a little hurt at first, well, really emotionally destroyed, but moved on quickly from my initial heartache and rejection. And when I say moved on, I mean stopped talking to him and hating him. We’d reconnected three years ago and ever since then, he’d become one of my closest and bestest friends, though he tended to act like my big brother and father, whenever he felt that I was doing something that he didn’t agree with or approve of (which tended to be quite often).
“I know he’ll survive and you’ll survive, but I’d rather not come home tonight or tomorrow and have a phone call from you telling me that he found out and started lecturing you and treating you like a kid.”
“It’s not my fault he acts like my dad. He needs to get a life.”
“Or a girlfriend.” Anabel rolled her eyes. “I swear I don’t know how the two of you have been friends again for so long and not shagged again.” She gave me a peering look and I blushed.
“Ewww.” I made a face at her. “That would be gross.”
“Would it really?” Anable wiggled her eyebrows at me. “Let’s be real here, Janie. I know your history with Nate. I still remember how much you loved him in college and how you thought he was such a hottie. And this new guy looks a lot like Nate.”
“Nate’s all right. The new guy is better.” I shrugged as I thought about my best friend. He was tall, ruggedly handsome with dark blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. Most women would say he was the most gorgeous man they had ever met (including me back in the day), but now I just saw him as my best friend Nate. Annoyingly bossy, super sarcastic and completely oblivious to my feelings most of the time.
“You should tell him about the online stuff though and this new guy. You know he doesn’t like to be the last person to know anything in your life.” Anabel stared at me. “I don’t know how you can stand such a controlling friend in your life.” I could tell from her tone that she was about to start going off on Nate again. Anabel had never really liked him and she didn’t understand our current friendship. To her, it was weird and unnatural that we’d made up after he’d treated me so poorly and broken my heart. And she thought he was a jerk.
“Nothing has even happened yet.” I sighed as I ignored her controlling comment. “There’s really nothing to tell him,” I said to convince her and myself that I didn’t need to tell him anything.
“Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when he loses his shit and gets all upset at you.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I should get going. Thanks for letting me stay over these last few days. My landlord says that the paint fumes have finally died down in my apartment.”
“Oh no worries, girl. You’re welcome anytime. I’ll miss having you here.” I gave her a quick hug. “And as for Nate, there’s nothing for him to get upset about,” I muttered. “And he’s kinda seeing some new girl that he met on the train a few weeks ago,” I said. “I’ve barely heard a word from him all week.”
“He met someone on the train?” Anabel looked surprised and shook her head. “I thought he’d be single forever.”
“Yup.” I laughed. “Who would have thunk it?”
“Have you met her?” Anabel asked me, her voice curious as she stared at me nonchalantly. “Is this a serious relationship or just another pretty notch on his bedpost?”
“Nope, haven’t met her yet. Though he says he wants us all to go to brunch on Sunday or something,” I said as I thought for a moment. “I hope she’s nice. Her name is Kylie or something like that.”
“That will be interesting.” Anabel was thoughtful for a moment. “Okay, I really have to get ready and head out or I’m going to be late for work.”
“All righty then.” I nodded at her. “Have fun.”
“Oh yeah. I’m going to have oodles of fun. Don’t forget to text me if you hear from any more hotties.”
“I will.” I grinned at her. “Trust me. I’ll be screenshotting all the way.” I walked her to the front door and then headed back to my room, trying not to think about Nate. A curdle of something akin to jealousy shot through me as I thought about Kylie. I bet she was blond and cute. I didn’t want to think about it. I had no right to feel jealous, but there was still a part of me that had an inkling of feelings left for Nate. I just had to keep pretending that they didn’t exist. I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it anymore. And I already knew how he felt about being in a relationship. At least with me. I wasn’t going to take it personally. I couldn’t. He was just my friend and I was okay with that.
***
“I am a pig,” I said to myself as I bit into a slice of gooey cheese pizza and grabbed some fries. “Such a pig.” I stuffed the fries into my mouth and let the contentment of a billion grams of fat satiate my soul as I sat back on the couch and watched TV. I stared at the screen full of beautiful people and sighed as I realized that I was never going to have the perfect body if I spent my afternoons and nights eating takeaway food and watching junk reality TV.
“Cody, you’re an idiot,” I shouted at the TV as I watched the Big Brother contestant saying something snarky to another guy in the house with him. “There’s no way you’re going to be in the house next week,” I muttered, almost gleefully as he got into a full-on argument with another contestant in the house. I took another bite of pizza and sank back into the cushions feeling content. “Snarky, stop it.” I glared as my terrier mix dog tried to slither onto my lap and take a bite of the pizza in my hand. Snarky looked up at my face with big brown doeful eyes and I shook my head at him. “No, Snarky, you’re not getting any of my pizza.” I took another bite and started chewing loudly. Snarky gave me a look of disgust and then jumped off the couch and walked over to the rug. He dropped down onto his belly, sighed and then farted. “Snarky,” I shouted at him as a smelly waft drifted over to me. He gave me a side look as if to say, this is what you get for being greedy and then dropped his head back onto the ground, wallowing in his sadness of not having been able to steal any of the pizza. I was about to call him over and spoil him, even though I knew I shouldn’t when the vibrating in my pocket distracted me.
The beeping of my phone made me jump excitedly and I grabbed the phone and entered my password as quickly as my fingers could type it in. I was almost giddy to see that I had a notification from the online dating app. I eagerly opened the message and my heart skipped a beat when I realized the message was from the cute guy I’d matched with earlier. Well, hello hottie, I thought as I opened the message with a huge grin on my face.
Hi there, pretty lady, nice to match with you. I see that you’re into books and movies? So am I. What are your favorites? Hope to hear from you soon. Dylan.
My heart swooned as I reread his message. “Dylan,” I said his name out loud and grinned. “Nice to meet you hot stuff.” I reread his message yet again and stared at his photo. His eyes seemed to be gazing into my soul, even through the phone. His smile seemed so genuine and kind and I could feel butterflies in my stomach as I stared at his image. I grinned to myself as I thought about my response and started typing my response.
Hi Dylan, very nice to match with you as well. I love movies and books. I think my favorite book is … I paused as I thought about my favorite book. Did I really want to admit to him that my favorite book was a romance novel? Nah. I chewed on my lower lip for a second before continuing. My favorite book is Crime and Punishment. I typed, feeling only slightly guilty about the lie. Have you read it? I continued. I also love most movies, though I would say my favorite is Fight Club. I just love Brad Pitt. That was also another semi-lie. My favorite movie was The Notebook, but I could tell him that later; once we got to know each other better. I’m new to online dating and so I’m not exactly sure how this works. Would you be interested in meeting up sometime? Janie I typed that quickly and reread what I’d written. Was I coming off too eager? This was only my first message to him. Should I wait for the conversation to progress? What if someone else got to him first and met him first? I didn’t want to miss out on Dylan and his sexy body because some other girl met him first. I pressed send on the message before I could change my mind. I started groaning about ten seconds after I’d hit send. Ugh! Why had I asked him to meet? I sounded desperate. I knew that. I threw my phone on the couch and picked up a pillow and buried my face in it and screamed. I’d most probably blown my shot with Dylan by being way too forward. I sighed as I thought about my text. I looked up and saw Snarky on the couch next to me, munching down on the half-eaten pizza slice that I’d left on the plate next to me.
“Snarky,” I growled at him to tell him off, but his eyes didn’t even leave the slice of pizza. “Naughty,” I said half-heartedly, my mind still on Dylan. My heart froze just moments later as I heard my phone beeping again. I grabbed my phone quickly and stared at the screen. I had another notification from the dating app. I opened it quickly and squealed in excitement. Dylan had messaged me again! Yes! I hadn’t blown it yet.
Hi, Janie, nice to have a name to match the face. Welcome to the world of online dating. I’m glad to be one of the first guys you’ve connected with. I’d love to meet up with you. Do you have any plans for tonight?
I read his message and my heart stopped for a few seconds. He wanted to know if I had plans for tonight? What did that mean? Was that a good sign? It seemed like a good sign that he wanted to meet me earlier rather than later? But we hadn’t really even exchanged any messages. He didn’t even really know anything about me. Why would he be this eager to meet me? Granted I was also eager to meet him, but only because he looked super-hot. Did my photos look super-hot to him? Somehow, I doubted it. I glanced at his message again and thought for a few seconds before responding. I wasn’t sure what to do. I wasn’t the sort of person who would meet a guy right away, but maybe I just needed to completely change who I was. My previous way of dating hadn’t gone well for me. I sighed as I thought about what to do. I grabbed my phone and logged onto Facebook to distract myself for a few minutes. The first thing that showed up on my newsfeed was a photo of Nate and some pretty blonde on a beach together from the previous weekend. No wonder he hadn’t really been in contact recently. He’d been too busy with his new girl. I dismissed the small bout of jealousy that popped into my body as I stared at the photo. He was my friend now. One of my best friends. I was happy for him. He deserved to meet the right girl. I closed the app down quickly before I thought about it too much.
“Screw it. I’m going to go,” I muttered to myself as I brought up the dating app again quickly. If Nate was going to occupy his time dating. I, too, could do the same thing.
Hey Dylan, I actually don’t have any plans for tonight. What were you thinking? I hit send before I could stop myself, though a part of me was thinking that I should talk to Anabel first and get her feedback. I was pretty confident that she would say I wasn’t acting cool enough. Ding went my phone as another message came through quickly.
May I suggest we meet up for a drink and go from there? 8pm? Dylan’s beaming face stared at me from the top of his message and I knew I wasn’t going to say no. All that I could think about in my mind was, what am I going to wear? And will he try to kiss me? I groaned out loud and it was only when Snarky started licking the side of my face that I jumped off of the couch and headed toward the shower. Today was the beginning of a new era in my life. I was going to grab life and love by the horns and do everything differently. Maybe now would be the time that I would finally hit a homerun and get everything right.