Are You Locked Up in a World That's Been Planned Out for You?

I was drumming my fingers in an awkward manner on the tabletop.

Mike was definitely trying to buy time, I had no idea why. He kept looking around the café, and would not make eye contact with me.

When he continued to behave like this even after the coffees arrived I decided to speak up.

“Thanks for the coffee and all but are you actually going to talk? Because if not, I have study to do…” I stated.

I felt a little bad as I didn’t mean for it to sound so annoyed and rude, but I was getting increasingly frustrated. I was also very curious about what it was that he wanted to say.

He sent me a sharp glare, but then dropped it a few seconds later and replaced it with a sigh.

“You wanna know why I wanted to talk? Alright I’ll tell you. After your genius plan of deciding to kiss to get over my little crush, it’s made me like you more. In fact, sometimes I even find my thoughts trailing back to you.” Mike said loudly, pointing a finger at me.

“Oh, get over it. You’re the one with the issue not me.” I stated, but smiled to show I was joking.

After my action Mike cracked a small smile to show he now felt easier about having this discussion.

“You should do what I do. Just push the feelings to the back of your head so you don’t have to think about them.” I suggested to Mike, adding a small smile onto the end of my suggestion.

Upon hearing this, Mike’s head shot up and he gave me a blank look.

“Are you saying that you have feelings for me? That it wasn’t some drunk tryst for you?” He asked me sounding very curious.

“I was nearly sober by then anyway. So it was all my free will.” I smiled brightly to confirm to him.

“I feel a little less creepy now. I looked up the age of consent laws for New York and they say the age of consent is seventeen, which eased my mind. Then I realised how creepy it is that I’m looking them up in the first place, which made me feel worse.” Mike admitted, looking a little gloomy by the end of his statement.

“Look, I’ll be the one to stop beating around the bush. We’re now at a crossroad. I like, and you like me, but there are obviously more serious things to take into consideration. We can choose that it’s too much hassle and go our separate ways, or we can conjure up certain rules and standards and decide to see each other. Take your pick.” I bluntly concluded.

I nervously bit my lip as Mike took everything I said into consideration and let it sink in. Whilst at this point I wouldn’t be heartbroken if he decided it was too much hassle, my nerves confirmed to me which option I definitely wanted him to pick. I even had butterflies in my stomach as I tried to study his face. I had never had butterflies over someone of the opposite sex before!

I gulped, as I noticed Mike was about to reply. This was it. I could still walk away from this situation unscathed but if Mike chose the option I wanted him to I would soon become in too deep.

“I already took my pick, but it seems like it didn’t work. I called this meeting, so it’s pretty obvious what I want now.” Mike weakly smiled.

It seemed like the butterflies then let go in my stomach. This was really happening. I finally liked someone who liked me back, and they wanted to pursue this. I feared rejection, but got the opposite. It was hard not to grin like an idiot, but I didn’t want Mike to think I was weird.

“Alrighty then. Let’s lay some ground rules then. Let me get the obvious out of the way so nobody gets offended. This thing, whatever we’ll call it will be strictly casual. It’s pretty obvious we’re not going to last forever and get married so let’s just enjoy the ride while it lasts. Also we obviously can’t tell anyone, so it’s top secret. Do you object to any of this?” I proposed confidently after hearing what I wanted to hear, adding a question to the end to make me seem less bossy.

Like before, he was silent for a few moments. From his body language I could tell he was letting my proposal sink in whilst he pondered it. He eventually broke out into a wide sheepish grin.

“Alright, all my terms are met. I guess if anything rises on this ride as you put it, we’ll call it the.” Mike agreed, nodding his head softly.

I sent him a small smile, unsure of the exact words to use. Instead I offered him my hand to shake, and he shook it.

“Now let’s get out of here and I’ll take you home for real. It’s incredibly lame and cliché to have a first date on Valentines Day.” Mike stated, as he downed the rest of his coffee. I giggled as I got up. Let the wild ride begin.

***

I was now finally home. I spent an extra five or so minutes in Mike’s car around the corner having a celebratory make out session. It was a bit awkward now that I was sober, and I knew that Mike felt a bit awkward too. But this impromptu make out session broke the ice and made it seem less like hanging out and more like we had romantic intentions.

After that make out session I knew there would no longer be any hesitations to get physical from here on in. It didn’t mean I was going to throw my virginity into the wind, but it meant that we wouldn’t be like two fourteen year olds on their very first date at a movie theatre who are even too scared to hold hands.

The phone then rang and I froze up, just as I turned the heater on low. I was almost so far on cloud nine that I didn’t realise what had happened down at the precinct earlier this evening. Dad would have found out as soon as he finished with the witness/suspect, had he been trying to call me this entire time and I had not answered, therefore he knew I spent extra time with Mike than I should have?

I shakily walked over to the phone, and answered it with the correct way my father had always told me to so do.

“Hello Caine residence, Emma speaking.” I answered.

“Hi Emma! It’s Uncle Raymond. How are you this evening?” I heard the loud confident voice of my uncle ask, and I held back from sighing a breath of relief.

“Yeah, I’m alright. How are things going with you? How are Aunty Yelina and Ray junior?” I asked, feeling a little awkward.

My uncle Raymond and I got along really well, obviously we weren’t as close as my father and I were but as I was the only family he had left for a long, long time he made sure to keep in contact with me as well as he could. He tried to be a best friend figure, as although dad was the closest thing to me he always had to be a father figure. But the way he was talking, he was in a rush and needed something. I also only wanted to speak to Jessica right now so I could tell her everything that happened.

“Busy, of course. Yelina has started taking on a few more cases, jugging caring for Ray junior during the day and working these cases. Of course there are no major ones at the moment, but her hands are full at the moment. Ray junior is loving all the attention from the new day care staff at the moment,” Uncle Raymond beamed into the phone, but then his tone changed “Sweetie, is your dad around?”

“Nah, he’s at the precinct at the moment, you should try him there. I think he’s questioning a witness at the moment, so I’m not sure if he’ll answer the line.” I informed uncle Raymond.

“Okay. I’ll give him a call there. Sorry to be so abrupt but I need to get a hold of him as soon as possible. I’ll call another time for a catch up. Have a good evening Emma.” Uncle Raymond said, hanging up before I could even say goodbye.

I shrugged my shoulders, clearly not miffed. It’d be nice to speak to Uncle Raymond soon, but like him I had a certain phone conversation to make.

I went over to the phone connection near my room. I had my own connection and my own extension number, so people were able to dial me directly without having to go through the home phone. However sometimes the chord was pulled out, usually due to an accident as the chord had to go under my door to the connection. The one time I had been grounded (I got bad grades for a while because Jessica and I used to hang out at a skate park in Queens – she had a boyfriend called Shane there for a while and I was crushing on his friend, nothing ever progressed obviously) Dad had also taken the connection line away until I was ungrounded.

Seeing everything was all in order I smiled as I shut my door, jumped onto my bed, picked up the receiver and dialled Jessica’s extension.