“That doesn’t even make sense, though. You’re Jackson Pierce—the forever bachelor. Since as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never mentioned being interested in a girl for longer than a few months. Twenty years?”
“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you about it sometime. But I need to get going, so can you tell me the name of the restaurant?”
“All right, but you owe me a story when you get back into the office.” He laughed as I heard the sound of his keyboard start up again. “Okay, found it. It’s Ela in the Queen Village neighborhood in Philly.”
As soon as I hung up on Nick, I called Ela and made reservations for tonight. I also called the florist to pre-order a special bouquet of Chloe’s favorite flowers. I wanted tonight to be special. I wanted Chloe to know how much she meant to me.
After I made all the arrangements for tonight, I jumped into the shower to get ready. As much as a part of me didn’t want to wash off the smell and memory of her from my skin, I wanted to look good tonight for our first date. My stomach flipped with anticipation at the thought—it was finally going to happen.
By the time I got out of the shower, I was filled to the brim with nervous excitement. I’d spent the last twenty minutes in the shower playing various scenarios of what would happen tonight on our date. I’d imagined how beautiful she would look as she smiled at me—that smile that was sure to be the end of me. I’d imagined the different ways I’d try to sneak in an extra kiss from her at every chance I could. I’d imagined how cute she’d be when she playfully punched me on my chest after I teased her about something.
I looked over at my alarm clock on my nightstand and groaned. There were still four more hours to kill before I was supposed to pick Chloe up from her place. There was so much pent-up nervous energy swirling inside me, I started pacing my room, wondering if I could really wait another four hours.
I strode over to my window that faced her house and glanced over at the window to her bedroom. I smiled and wondered what she was doing right now. Is she as happy as I am right now? Is she nervous about tonight like I am? Does she miss me already, too?
“Maybe I could see if she wants to meet earlier?” I asked aloud as the idea popped into my head. I reached for my phone and wondered if I should call her and ask.
Just then, I saw the front door to the house swing open and a second later, Chloe stepped out. A wide smile spread across my face as I felt my chest soar at the sight of her. Did she have the same idea? Is she coming over to see me?
But my smile quickly disappeared when I saw the bewildered expression on her face. As I watched her sprinting from the house, leaving the front door wide open behind her, I knew that something wasn’t right. What’s going on?
Without missing a beat, something propelled me to run out of my house and catch up to her. But when I got out of the house, I saw that she had already gotten into her car.
“Chloe!” I cried out as I ran across the lawn. But she didn’t hear me. Before I was able to get to her, she had already backed out of the driveway, knocking over the recycling bins at the foot of the path, and was speeding down the block.
My stomach lurched as a wave of worry hit me. By the way her car swerved, I knew with certainty that something was really wrong. I rushed back up my own driveway and jumped in my rental car. I turned onto the street as I saw Chloe’s car round the corner.
I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. Her phone started ringing but she didn’t pick up. When I was sent to her voicemail, I hung up and called her again.
“Pick up, Clo!” I could hear the panic in my voice as I felt nerves gnaw against my insides. Is she ignoring me? Or is her phone on silent? Or did she leave her phone behind at the house?
I must have taken the wrong turn after rounding the corner on my block because I didn’t see her car. After several blocks and turns, I finally saw her car driving erratically down the block from me. I started honking my horn at her, hoping to get her attention, hoping if she saw me, she’d come to her senses and slow down or pull over to tell me what happened.
But she didn’t pull over. She didn’t slow down. It was as if she couldn’t hear me. It didn’t take long for me to catch up to her. I continued to honk at her as I approached her car from behind.
It was no use. She still didn’t stop or slow down. I felt completely powerless as I continued to honk at her while trying to call her phone. As my heart pounded violently against my chest, I knew I needed to get her attention.
I rolled down my passenger-side window and tried to drive my car up next to hers.