Tonight, Not Again

I was bombarded with photos of Rob whenever I left my house. It had been four days since our little “tryst” and he hadn’t called. At one point, I had tried to trick myself into thinking that I didn’t want him to call, because everybody told me that you never see a one-night stand again. But I wasn’t falling for that. I didn’t care that I’d just broken up with my boyfriend. I wanted to someone to have fun with.

And most particularly, I could vividly remember how much I liked his lips. And other parts of him for that matter.

But I knew I had to get over all of that. He hadn’t given me his number, which meant he probably wanted to have control over whether or not he wanted to see me again—and judging from the fact that he hadn’t called, he didn’t.
So with Rob out of the picture, my mind was once again preoccupied with a certain ex-boyfriend. School started up again and I was swamped with classes and work. So really, all of that plus Brett left no time for Rob.

Adrienne was still getting over the fact that I’d “nailed” a celebrity. Every time she looked at me, she had this dopey smile on her face. However, no matter how greatly she wanted to meet Rob and touch his hair, she thought it would be better if I didn’t get mixed up with “someone like him”.
I pretended to agree, but Rob had seemed like a pretty decent guy. He hadn’t done anything wrong to me. Nothing was going to leave me internally scarred for the rest of my life and he seemed like he was telling the truth. And he hadn’t tried to bite me or anything so I knew he couldn’t have been that much of a weirdo.

…

Three weeks later, I was doodling on the side of my notes during a lecture on Socialism when my cell buzzed. It was Rob.

Zoey, it’s been a while—sorry I haven’t called. I’ve been away but I’m getting home earlier than I thought. Free Thursday? I know you’ve got class and work, but give me a call when you’ve got time.

This is Rob by the way.

A sigh escaped my lips faster than I could catch it. The guy beside me, whose hair was an atrocious orangey-blonde, gave me a quizzical look and I snapped my head to the front of the class, straightening in my seat. Rob wanted to see me again.
As much as I wanted to say yes, I hesitated. Did I listen to any of my friends? Or did I throw in the towel?
I didn’t really have to date him. Couldn’t we just casually see one another? I threw caution to the wind and thought up a reply. Men and women did this kind of stuff all the time. We could simply have fun, no strings attached. It would work.

Thursday sounds great. I’m not sure what time I’m scheduled until though.

I waited—more anxiously than I wanted to—for his response. When Professor Hewitt started talking about the Soviet Union, I started thinking about sex.

That’s brilliant. Dinner? Or something?

Whatever you want, just don’t get me too drunk this time.

Satisfied with my decision, I leaned back in my chair and continued my doodling. So now what happened? Since we had already slept together, did we just start off that way again? Or was an actual date required beforehand?

Wasn’t planning on it, though now that you’ve brought it up…
Only kidding, can’t imagine your pretty head can take much more.

…

“So what, you’re just going to sleep with him?” Carmen was leaning on the orange counter at Sonny’s Java. “That seems so unlike you.” I decided to tell the girls, mostly because I lived with Adrienne and knew she would find out sooner or later.
“I know, right?” I nodded and continued wiping the counter. Adrienne stood beside us, scooping a bit of whipped cream off the top of her smoothie and licking it off her finger. It was her break—she worked at the boutique three doors down from the coffeehouse.
“I’m glad you’re making an effort to get over Brett,” Adrienne started to say, while Carmen nodded enthusiastically. “But I just have a bad feeling about this.”
“Nah.” I shook my head vigorously. “Rob just broke it off with his girlfriend, I doubt he’s looking for a lot.”
Adrienne contemplated the idea and sighed. “Well, whatever you say. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll have the tub of Ben & Jerry’s ready.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Despite Adrienne’s disapproval of my choice, she and Carmen couldn’t keep from talking about how “delicious” Rob looked in all the tabloids.

If only they knew how much better he looked in person.

And naked. But I didn’t really want to go there.

Adrienne headed out after a few minutes and left Carmen and me to our coffee. There was usually a rush right around six and we had to get ready for it. She refreshed the pastries and I stocked the fridge. A heard of high school students came in right on schedule. They ordered their drinks, one of which I dumped on myself, and sat down at one of the tables.
I listened intently as they ran lines from Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” Shakespeare’s words had the power to make me swoon—I couldn’t help it. Lost in the language, I blotted the mocha-frappucino off my apron. Then I heard knuckles rap on the counter top. I looked up to see a familiar crooked smile.
“Rob!” I gasped, clutching my chest in fear that I’d pass out—he had a knack for scaring the shit out of me. He held a finger to his lips and shushed me. Judging by the dark sunglasses and black beanie, I realized he must have been incognito.
“Right. Sorry.” I tossed the wet paper towel in the garbage can and turned back to him.
“So I was in the neighborhood,” he began, tracing shapes on the counter. My eyebrow arched and I put my hands on my hips. “ No? You’re not buying that one?” He chuckled and shook his head. “Alright then, I wasn’t in the neighborhood but I did want coffee and am terribly too lazy to make it myself. Then I thought, ‘Hm. Zoey makes coffee’ and here I am.”
“What do you want?” I grabbed a cup off the stack, figuring he’d go for the Grande.
“I just told you…” I turned to the menu board and pointed to it. “Ha, right. Well I would like a Grande—very good—regular. Thank you.”
I stepped back and got his coffee, being extra careful not to spill it on myself. Coffee stains on Sunshine Yellow aprons didn’t look good. Personally, I envied the Starbucks baristas—nothing showed up on those dark green things they wore.
“So…how are you?” Rob came around to the side of the counter, hands in his pockets.
“Not bad, yourself?” I smiled at his shyness.
“Oh, you know. The usual.” He teetered on his heels, watching me as I set the coffee cup onto the counter in front of him. “What do you want to do tonight?”
“Really, I’m good with anything. As long as I’m not at Sonny’s Java, I’ll be alright.”
“Well this great band is playing at, er, that bar. Do you want to go?”
“Absolutely!” I loved watching live music. From his smile, it seemed like Rob did as well. “What time?”
“When do you get off?”
“Eight o’clock sharp.”
“I’ll be here then.”
“Alright, sweet.”
“Yupp,” he turned around and made for the door, looking over his shoulder with a grin. “Eight o’clock sharp.”