“So did anything happen after you guys left last night?” Anna asked.
“Well, you mean, did he kiss me or stay over?” I had a huge grin on my face.
“Julia Hayes! I’ve been with you for an hour already and you haven’t said anything to me about this yet? Spill the beans, girl!”
“Yes, we kissed.” I giggled. “But nothing more.”
“And … How was it? Is he a good kisser?”
“Oh my God! Good is an understatement.” I closed my eyes to remember the moment. “I felt that kiss … everywhere.” I emphasized each syllable of my last word.
“Ooh la la. Yay, Jules!” She jumped up and down, in baby jumps of course, as she was still in her gown. She was clapping her hands like an excited schoolgirl.
“Anna, I think I really like him,” I said with a concerned look on my face. “When I’m with him, the rest of the world doesn’t seem to exist. It’s like, literally, from the first moment I met him, there’s been this electrical current drawing us closer together.”
“And that’s bad because?”
“I just can’t help thinking that he’s holding something back. He didn’t want to come in last night. He said he wanted to take things slow.”
“What’s wrong with that? Maybe he was being a gentleman. You said he was recently taking a break from someone. I don’t blame him, but that doesn’t mean anything’s wrong,” she reassured me.
“Yeah, I guess so. You’re probably right.” I picked at some imaginary lint on my dress. “I think maybe this is too good to be true and I don’t trust it yet. You know me; I’m not one to be lucky in love,” I said sadly.
I couldn’t get the feeling out of my mind that there was something more to it. I feel like there was a reason why he didn’t ask for my contact information that night at Betty’s. I held back that same night because I just wasn’t ready. I wondered how recent this “break” was from his ex-girlfriend. Maybe he was having second thoughts and wasn’t quite ready to get back into another relationship. Or maybe I was a rebound. Or worse yet, maybe he’s still in love with his ex-girlfriend. No, I knew that wasn’t the case. The way he described their relationship, it sounded so passionless, so convenient. It’s possible that maybe he was underplaying his emotions for my benefit. And if he was, could I handle being disappointed again? Would he have the ability to hurt me right now after spending only one day together? It certainly didn’t feel like one day.
“So, are you going to see him again soon? Did you guys make any other plans?” Anna interrupted my thoughts.
“No, we haven’t. I guess I assumed we would. I haven’t really thought about it.”
“That dress looks great on you, by the way.”
We stood next to each other, looking at ourselves in front of the mirror. We both smiled at our images and then hugged.
“Julia,” Anna said wistfully. “It’s going to be you standing here someday, with your wedding dress on. Maybe it will even be with Ryan.”
I gave her that look again like she was nuts and heard my phone chime an incoming text. “Speak of the devil,” I said, but couldn’t hide my excitement. I showed Anna my phone so she could see it was from Ryan.
Ryan: Had a great time with you yesterday
“He’s totally thinking of you!” Anna squealed and we both did a little happy dance.
Me: Me too
Ryan: How are the dress fittings going?
I took a picture of us in the mirror and sent it to him.
Ryan: Beautiful
Ryan: And the bride isn’t bad either ;-)
Anna giggled like she couldn’t be more pleased. “You should ask him to be your date at the wedding, Julia.”
“Oh, God, this again?” I exaggerated a pained expression. “Do you really think so?”
“Why not? Carpe diem!”
Yeah, she was right. Why the hell not?
Me: Would you like to be my date for the wedding?
There was a long pause. Uh oh.
Ryan: Can I get back to you on that?
Me: Sure
Anna’s brow furrowed. “Well, he didn’t say no.”
“Great. Now I’ve put him in an awkward spot. It’s probably way too soon for this sort of invitation. He doesn’t want to meet the whole family already, for Christ’s sake. I should’ve thought of all that first.” I hit the phone to my forehead a few times.
There was another chime from my phone.
Ryan: Are you doing anything tomorrow night after work?
Okay, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
Me: I was planning to go for a run