Fighting Dragons With You

Cora threw the 15th outfit onto her bed and sighed, letting herself fall back onto her now messy bed. It wasn't even a date, just two friends who had danced extremely intimately together meeting up for a strictly platonic lunch. So why, dear lord why, was she getting so worried about it.

She hadn't felt this nervous since her last surgery, she thought to herself, but then scoffed and rolled her eyes in disbelief. Now she was comparing this date friendly meeting to a life and death situation. God, she was a mess.

She hadn't felt like this in a long time- no, scratch that, she'd never felt like this about a guy. It scared her, to be honest. She'd met the guy once in a club and she was rather tipsy during the meeting to add to it, and now here she was, stressing over having lunch with him and contemplating her feelings for him. It seemed like since that doctor's appointment, everything had been going in fast forward, but even with that excuse how could she feel this way about a guy she barely knew?

& even more perplexing, what was she feeling, because she didn't dare let the thought of being in love strike her mind. No, she'd learned long ago that love was out of the question. But then again, it seemed maybe God liked her, for the time being, seeing as how she was in remission for the moment, and so maybe He liked her enough to give her a chance at the one thing she had wanted after all those romance novels she poured over in her hospital bed, yearning to get out in the world and live- love.
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"Are you in a hurry or something Geno? Because you keep looking at the clock and tapping your foot." Sidney said jokingly, giving him a pointed glance as he once again looked up at the clock.

"Lunch with Cora," he said simply, not even bothering to look at Sidney as he stared at the clock and sipped his lemonade. Sidney's girlfriend, Emma, looked over at Evgeni quickly from her spot on Sid's lap.

"Cora? Geno, you dirty Russian, you've been keeping secrets," she scolded playfully, giving the big guy a wicked smile and, with a glint in her eye, continued. "Is this the infamous girl from the newspaper? Are you going to ask her to be your girlfriend? What's she like?"

Geno looked at the petite redhead with wide-eyes and then thought to himself for a minute, trying to answer all her questions.

"Yes, girl from newspaper. She nice, pretty, smart, funny. I like her. I no ask yet. Maybe soon." he answered quickly, then sneaking another peek at the clock. Emma let out a chuckle.

"You seem to really like her. When can we meet her?" she asked brightly, ignoring Sid's pointed look.

"Em, maybe you should give it a rest. Geno doesn't even know if he likes this girl that much yet. I'm sure-" Sid started to say, giving Geno an apologetic look. Geno just smiled and interrupted him.

"You come to lunch too, yes?" he asked, grinning at the two as Emma squealed happily.

"Oh, that would be great, Geno! When are we meeting her? Should I change?" she asked, excited. Sidney just shook his head at her bubbly attitude and grinned up at her, a look of intense love in his hazel eyes.

"We meet at 12:30. You no change, look fine." he answered, getting up as the clock read 12:00. "Time to go."

Sidney and Emma got up as well, immediately grabbing hold of each other's hands, seeming to not be able to go a second without being in contact with each other. They all piled into Geno's SUV and headed into town.
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Cora finally chose to wear a sea blue high-waisted skirt and a white lace top that she tucked into her skirt, putting on a beige peacoat over it. She wore black peep-toes that were maybe an inch heel. Her hair was down and wavy and her eyes had little makeup, just black eyeliner and a swipe of mascara. She had applied just chapstick to her lips to protect them from the cold Pittsburgh air.

On her way into town, she thought about everything. Her battle with cancer had left her scarred, but stronger than before. She barely remembered a life without hospital beds and needles and treatment that left her looking sick and ugly. it was a breathe of fresh air to feel free and in control of her own destiny, now that the medicine couldn't take the reigns. But doubt rose like wildfire in her mind, warning lights going off as she thought of Geno.

He was sweet and she genuinely liked him but, despite her lack of experience with men, she knew a relationship was hard and a lot of work at times. She didn't know if that was exactly what she wanted to start after only 2 days of freedom, after finally feeling alive for the first time in a while.

She shook it off as she parked her car and walked into Primanti Brothers. She didn't see the large, Russian man and she knew she was a bit early since it was only 12;15, so she asked for a booth and sat down, waiting for him to arrive.

She smelled him before she saw him, he smelled like the woods with a hint of freshly baked cookies. She didn't know how he acquired that particular scent, unless he either spent time baking cookies or had a cookie-&-woodsy scent of cologne, either way she loved it. It melted her to the core. She turned in the booth to look at him, but her welcoming smile fell as she saw two other people with him. It was a boy and a girl, the boy was very handsome and looked familiar. The girl was gorgeous with innocent, pretty doe eyes and a head of fiery red hair that hung in curls around her face.

Cora pasted on a polite smile as they approached. Evgeni just stood in front of the booth, his eyes locking with hers, his lips parted just the slightest bit and he didn't say a thing. She broke the eye contact after a minute and smiled a smile at the two strangers, wondering if anyone would introduce them to her. The boy nudged Geno in the ribs and Cora felt grateful because Evgeni finally tore his gaze from her and broke the silence.

"This Sidney and his girl Emma," he introduced, gesturing to them. he slid into the booth across from Cora and the boy, Sidney, sat next to him, while the girl, Emma, slid in next to Cora.

"Nice to meet you two. I'm Cora," she offered, smiling at Sidney and Emma, feeling like it would be awkward if she offered her hand over the table. they both smiled back and a waitress came over to take their order.

"Hi, my name is Theresa. I'll be taking care of you today- holy shit, you're Sid the Kid," she started dully, then her eyes widened as she saw Sidney. Cora furrowed her brow. Sidney blushed and sunk into the seat an inch. Emma and Geno stifled a laugh.

"Uh- yeah, I'll have ice water with lemon." he said meekly, tugging the brim of his Reebok hat a little lower. The waitress, Theresa, wrote down quickly, still staring at Sidney as she asked for Evgeni's drink.

"Water," he grunted out quickly, still looking at the menu for something to eat.

"I'll have ice tea, please," Cora asked politely, confusion still in her eyes from the waitress's outburst.

"Diet Pepsi, please," Emma ordered, then turning to look at Cora as the waitress hurried back to the kitchen, no doubt to tell everyone Sid the Kid was here.

"So, Cora.... what do you do for a living," she asked curiously, giving the girl a bright smile. Cora returned the gesture and sighed.

"Well, actually I'm not working right now. I was sick for a while, but I'm looking to maybe take pictures for the newspaper or something." she said simply. Then she looked at Sidney. "So, you're Sidney Crosby? I mean, I've heard of you but I didn't know what you looked like."

Sidney just stared, wide-eyed. He wasn't conceited by any means, but this girl lived in Pittsburgh and had never seen a picture of him or anything? Emma took notice of his face and laughed openly.

"I like you, Cora. I think you just knocked Sid's ego down a few notches, so thanks," she said playfully, winking at Cora.

Cora smiled and giggled a bit. Sure, this wasn't how she had pictured the lunch date, but she was starting to warm up to Geno's two friends. They spent the rest of lunch talking and laughing and Cora and Emma teased the boys mercilessly. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.