The Beating of Our Hearts

“Sorry Jared, I’m busy tonight.” I said down the phone, trying to do my makeup at the same time.
“Busy? Whatcha doing?” He asked.
“I’m going out.”
“Oh, well I’ll just come with you, I’m not doing anything, and I don’t want you to be on your own.”
“You can’t come Jared, plans have been made and I can’t change or add to them now. I’m sorry; I know that sounds harsh, but it’s just for tonight.” I tried to explain to him.
“Oh, OK, fine.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just-“
“Hey, no worries. Look I gotta go. Bye.”
I tried to say goodbye back but I was just met with the dial tone. Great.

I made sure I had everything in my purse and grabbed my coat to wait in the living room for Jacob to call. I was sat on the sofa for no longer than five minutes before my phone buzzed in my hand. Pressing the accept button, I placed the phone to my ear.
“Hey Riley, I’m downstairs.” Jacob's voice came over the phone.
“OK, I’ll be right down.”

I put on my coat and made my way downstairs. Walking out of the main doors, I saw Jacob leaning against his car.
“Hey Riley.” Jacob smiled, pushing himself up from his car, walking over to me and leading me over to the passenger side.
“So where are we going?” I asked, pulling on my seatbelt.
“Just this little Italian place down by the beach, it’s awesome.”
“Cool.”

We sped off and made comfortable small talk on the ride. When we got to the restaurant I noticed how gorgeous it was. A tiny little restaurant that overlooked the ocean, it looked so warm and inviting. The inside was intimate and tasteful.
“Wow, this place looks great.”
“Yeah, and they do the best lasagne.”

We spent the next two hours to getting to know each other, laughing at anecdotes and having a great time. Jacob seemed like a really nice guy. And he was right, the lasagne was amazing.
“You want some dessert?” Jacob asked.
“Hmm, I might be able to squeeze in some chocolate cake.” I smiled.
“Excuse me, waitress. Can we get a chocolate cake with two spoons? Thanks.” Jacob ordered the dessert.

The cake was delicious, and it was made even better by the good looking guy that I was sharing it with. I couldn’t honestly remember the last time I had such a good date.
Before I knew it, we were back in the car and on the way back to my apartment.

“I had a great time tonight.” Jacob said, pulling up on the curb outside my building.
“Me too. I’m glad I went into that dress shop.”
“I’m glad I let my sister drag me out shopping.”
I just smiled at him.
“Come on. I’ll walk to the door.” He got out of the car and walked around to open my door for me; perfect gentleman.
“So, goodnight.” I turned around to face him.
“Night.” He took half a step toward me.
For a second we just looked at each other, there was a tension hanging in the air.
“So, um...”
“Yeah...”

He leaned in softly, his breath tickling my face. I closed my eyes and leaned in the rest of the way, closing the distance between our lips.
To be honest I expected something more. Maybe my heart skipping a beat, or a sudden light-headedness, but there was nothing. Just the sensation of his lips against mine, but nothing magical between the connection.

To be honest, instead of thinking of Jacob kissing me, my thoughts went immediately to Jared and how I treated him on the phone earlier that evening. I felt bad; maybe I would call him when I got in to explain my behaviour.

When we pulled away, Jacob looked into my eyes.
“Nothing?” He asked.
“No, I’m sorry.” I admitted.
“Me either. But it was a great date though.”
“Yeah. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”
“Friends though?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“OK, night then Riley.”
“Night Jacob.”

I made my way up to my apartment, running over the entire evening in my head. It all seemed to click, we had similar interests, same sense of humour, and he was smart, he worked at the University of California. No matter how engaging or interesting Jacob was, my mind was still wandering back to Jared, how he held me on the couch, how his lips left a tingling sensation on my forehead when we kissed the skin there.

I slumped down into my sofa, switching the TV on. I needed to stop thinking about Jared, but every day I spent with him made it harder to now think of him. I didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of being with Jared; he had supermodels falling over their eight inch heels to be with him, why would he be interested in a school teacher?
I pulled out my phone, looking at the background picture of Jared and I sitting, eating ice cream on the sofa. I needed to talk to someone, someone who knew what was going on and how I felt. I needed to talk to Shannon.

Dialling his number, it only took three rings before he answered.
“Hey Riley.”
“Hey Shan, are you busy?”
“No, but I thought you were, Jared said you blew him off cause you had plans.”
“Yeah, well those plans have finished now. Could you come over please?” I asked.
“Sure, just give me twenty minutes.” He said before hanging up.
It felt like hours before the knock finally came on my door.
“Hey, you look nice.” Shannon commented when I opened the door.
“Thanks.” I couldn’t bring myself to smile; I had too much on my mind.
“Come on. Tell Shannon everything.” He led me over to the sofa and sat me down.