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Timing
I held my head on my hands, feeling nausea creep up my throat. The idea of having dinner with Scott made me physically ill. My heart skipped a beat whenever I thought that soon I’d be having his undivided attention for hours on end. Worry also consumed my mind.
What if while I was eating, something got stuck in my teeth? Or what if I spilled something on the table? Or what if he didn’t have a good time? What then? How could I possibly get back from that kind of failure?
I felt as though this was my one and only shot, but I was nowhere near ready to tell him the truth. I pictured that scene a million times in my head and things turned out alright in that scenario, but this was real life. And real life wasn’t as smooth and perfect as my imagination was.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I checked whether my face looked flawless. I could never manage to cover up my freckles so I quickly accepted that and decided to wear a bold, wine red lipstick to keep attention away from them. I ran a hand over my maroon dress and nodded to myself, standing a little bit taller as I mentally reassured myself that I’d be fine.
I wished John were here.
He’d know what to say to put me at ease. I considered calling him, but there was nothing I could do to change our fall out—he’d have to be the one to make things right, and I didn’t think he would since he was so distant with me to begin with.
Instead of calling him, I grabbed my purse and headed towards the hotel’s restaurant with my heart in my stomach.
The restaurant had a vintage Parisian atmosphere. The dim lights definitely contributed to a romantic factor, along with the flowers on the tables. The place was extremely busy, much expected for a Saturday night. When I arrived, I immediately began searching for Scott through the crowd.
He sat at a table by the window. The curtains were drawn and the moonlight seemed to be gazing at his beauty, embracing the high points of his face. His hair was gelled back and he was dressed in his usual formal casual style. His five o’clock shadow was missing and I liked it gone.
I stood from a distance to observe him while he was oblivious to my presence. When he looked towards the entrance and spotted me, I tried to pretend I hadn’t been staring at him for the past five minutes. His lips broke into a smile as I made my way towards him, wondering whether I should run back to my room. My nausea had settled down, but my nerves were still all over the place.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said with an apologetic smile.
He stood up to pull my chair, “Don’t sweat it.”
Once he returned to his seat, he proceeded to look at me with a smile. I thought he’d say something but after several seconds passed in silence, I frowned and tried not to chuckle, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. Shall we order?” He continued with his odd expression and I laughed it off. Was he as nervous as me? Or was this just him freaking out and wanting to play sick soon so he could get out of this?
We ordered our food and drinks and once that was out of the way, we proceeded to awkwardly stare at each other and our surroundings in no particular order.
Scott had never invited me to dinner before. I knew this was a date. He knew this was a date. And that added an enormous amount of weight to both our shoulders. Suddenly, we forgot how to have a conversation.
John came to my mind—our last conversation earlier today and how he kept himself distant from me. I didn’t want to be like that with Scott. Regardless of how I felt for him, he was my friend first and friends didn’t act this way. So I shook the pressure off and tried my best to switch off my feelings and nerves. This is just a meal between friends, Georgia. Keep it together.
“I couldn’t help but notice that your lady friend isn’t around,” I said through a polite smile. I mentally cursed myself. Out of all things, you decide to start with that?
He chuckled and scratched his eyebrow, “Yeah. It was stupid of me to bring someone I didn’t know to my sister’s wedding. That mistake cost me a very expensive plane ticket.”
“I’m glad you came to your senses,” I laughed louder than I should’ve thanks to my nerves.
“And how’s your flight friend?”
“Uh,” I mumbled, trying not to think about John any longer than I had to. “He’s fine, I guess. I’m not sure we’re friends though.”
“Really?” He raised his brows in surprise.
With a shrug of the shoulders I said, “Yeah.” I softly chuckled to cheer up the conversation a bit.
“I wanted to show you something.”
Scott reached for under the table and pulled out a box. It was simple and small. I looked at it while searching my brain for what it could be.
He pushed the box towards me and nodded, “Open it.”
Lifting off the lid, I peeped inside to find a thin photo album. I lifted a cautious gaze to him as he smiled with anticipation. Flipping through the album, all I could see were photos of what appeared to be an empty room.
“What’s this?”
He held back a smile by bitting his lower lip, “A place for your very first exhibition.”
“What?”
“I’ve always wanted a studio of my own, so I thought it could also be an exhibition space.”
I looked at him with a half opened mouth. “I’m sorry, I—“ I shut my eyes and shook my head for a second in utter confusion, “I’m not following you.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I bought a property and I want it to be an exhibition place. I want you to showcase your work for the opening night.”
I looked back and forth from the photos to Scott, having a hard time to breathe. Placing down the album back into the box, I tried to process his words.
“What happened?” My eyebrows remained knitted.
Scott’s expression grew solemn, “Do you not like it?”
“No, no! I’m just having a hard time processing this. Why did you buy a building?”
“It’s not a crime for an architect to buy a building instead of building one from scratch,” he chortled. “I wanted a bigger space to be creative in, so it’ll be a studio and exhibition space into one. I even thought about building several studio spaces and renting them out, I think it’d be fun.” I nodded, wondering whether Riley had called quits because of this. “Say something.”
His plea interrupted my thoughts and I leaned forward, “I love it,” I whispered through a smile. We grinned at each other like fools. I was sure that the shock rushing through my veins prevented me from being crazily excited about this, but inside I was crazily excited about this. I’ve never had an exhibition of my own before.
“I don’t even know what to say, really.”
“Just don’t forget about me when you get famous and all,” he smirked.
His smirk reminded me of John. Not that it looked anything like John’s, but ever since I met John, a smirk coming from anyone would remind me of him. I apprehensively smiled at Scott, annoyed at how John managed to be on my mind when he shouldn’t have been.
Dinner was a delicious two-course meal washed down with a great bottle of wine. Soon after, Scott paid the bill and we slowly walked back to my room.
I held my heels and purse over my shoulder since I wasn’t able to stand on them for prolonged periods of time—I had no idea how I’d survive through the entire wedding in them tomorrow.
“So… Riley?” I left the question hanging in the air.
“She didn’t agree with where I was heading.”
“Rough,” I said as consolation, feeling the buzz from the wine. “Timing’s a bitch.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know all about that!”
“Oh please,” I spun around to stand in front of him, walking backwards through my floor’s corridor, “As if you’d know anything about it. You’ve always been great at that! All that’s missing is the right timing to win a lottery ticket,” I laughed.
“I sucked once.”
He looked at me with such resentment in his eyes that I came to a stop and my laughter died. We stood still on the hallway halfway to my room, staring at each other with such an intensity that it caused me goose bumps.
“When?”
What if while I was eating, something got stuck in my teeth? Or what if I spilled something on the table? Or what if he didn’t have a good time? What then? How could I possibly get back from that kind of failure?
I felt as though this was my one and only shot, but I was nowhere near ready to tell him the truth. I pictured that scene a million times in my head and things turned out alright in that scenario, but this was real life. And real life wasn’t as smooth and perfect as my imagination was.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I checked whether my face looked flawless. I could never manage to cover up my freckles so I quickly accepted that and decided to wear a bold, wine red lipstick to keep attention away from them. I ran a hand over my maroon dress and nodded to myself, standing a little bit taller as I mentally reassured myself that I’d be fine.
I wished John were here.
He’d know what to say to put me at ease. I considered calling him, but there was nothing I could do to change our fall out—he’d have to be the one to make things right, and I didn’t think he would since he was so distant with me to begin with.
Instead of calling him, I grabbed my purse and headed towards the hotel’s restaurant with my heart in my stomach.
The restaurant had a vintage Parisian atmosphere. The dim lights definitely contributed to a romantic factor, along with the flowers on the tables. The place was extremely busy, much expected for a Saturday night. When I arrived, I immediately began searching for Scott through the crowd.
He sat at a table by the window. The curtains were drawn and the moonlight seemed to be gazing at his beauty, embracing the high points of his face. His hair was gelled back and he was dressed in his usual formal casual style. His five o’clock shadow was missing and I liked it gone.
I stood from a distance to observe him while he was oblivious to my presence. When he looked towards the entrance and spotted me, I tried to pretend I hadn’t been staring at him for the past five minutes. His lips broke into a smile as I made my way towards him, wondering whether I should run back to my room. My nausea had settled down, but my nerves were still all over the place.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said with an apologetic smile.
He stood up to pull my chair, “Don’t sweat it.”
Once he returned to his seat, he proceeded to look at me with a smile. I thought he’d say something but after several seconds passed in silence, I frowned and tried not to chuckle, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. Shall we order?” He continued with his odd expression and I laughed it off. Was he as nervous as me? Or was this just him freaking out and wanting to play sick soon so he could get out of this?
We ordered our food and drinks and once that was out of the way, we proceeded to awkwardly stare at each other and our surroundings in no particular order.
Scott had never invited me to dinner before. I knew this was a date. He knew this was a date. And that added an enormous amount of weight to both our shoulders. Suddenly, we forgot how to have a conversation.
John came to my mind—our last conversation earlier today and how he kept himself distant from me. I didn’t want to be like that with Scott. Regardless of how I felt for him, he was my friend first and friends didn’t act this way. So I shook the pressure off and tried my best to switch off my feelings and nerves. This is just a meal between friends, Georgia. Keep it together.
“I couldn’t help but notice that your lady friend isn’t around,” I said through a polite smile. I mentally cursed myself. Out of all things, you decide to start with that?
He chuckled and scratched his eyebrow, “Yeah. It was stupid of me to bring someone I didn’t know to my sister’s wedding. That mistake cost me a very expensive plane ticket.”
“I’m glad you came to your senses,” I laughed louder than I should’ve thanks to my nerves.
“And how’s your flight friend?”
“Uh,” I mumbled, trying not to think about John any longer than I had to. “He’s fine, I guess. I’m not sure we’re friends though.”
“Really?” He raised his brows in surprise.
With a shrug of the shoulders I said, “Yeah.” I softly chuckled to cheer up the conversation a bit.
“I wanted to show you something.”
Scott reached for under the table and pulled out a box. It was simple and small. I looked at it while searching my brain for what it could be.
He pushed the box towards me and nodded, “Open it.”
Lifting off the lid, I peeped inside to find a thin photo album. I lifted a cautious gaze to him as he smiled with anticipation. Flipping through the album, all I could see were photos of what appeared to be an empty room.
“What’s this?”
He held back a smile by bitting his lower lip, “A place for your very first exhibition.”
“What?”
“I’ve always wanted a studio of my own, so I thought it could also be an exhibition space.”
I looked at him with a half opened mouth. “I’m sorry, I—“ I shut my eyes and shook my head for a second in utter confusion, “I’m not following you.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I bought a property and I want it to be an exhibition place. I want you to showcase your work for the opening night.”
I looked back and forth from the photos to Scott, having a hard time to breathe. Placing down the album back into the box, I tried to process his words.
“What happened?” My eyebrows remained knitted.
Scott’s expression grew solemn, “Do you not like it?”
“No, no! I’m just having a hard time processing this. Why did you buy a building?”
“It’s not a crime for an architect to buy a building instead of building one from scratch,” he chortled. “I wanted a bigger space to be creative in, so it’ll be a studio and exhibition space into one. I even thought about building several studio spaces and renting them out, I think it’d be fun.” I nodded, wondering whether Riley had called quits because of this. “Say something.”
His plea interrupted my thoughts and I leaned forward, “I love it,” I whispered through a smile. We grinned at each other like fools. I was sure that the shock rushing through my veins prevented me from being crazily excited about this, but inside I was crazily excited about this. I’ve never had an exhibition of my own before.
“I don’t even know what to say, really.”
“Just don’t forget about me when you get famous and all,” he smirked.
His smirk reminded me of John. Not that it looked anything like John’s, but ever since I met John, a smirk coming from anyone would remind me of him. I apprehensively smiled at Scott, annoyed at how John managed to be on my mind when he shouldn’t have been.
Dinner was a delicious two-course meal washed down with a great bottle of wine. Soon after, Scott paid the bill and we slowly walked back to my room.
I held my heels and purse over my shoulder since I wasn’t able to stand on them for prolonged periods of time—I had no idea how I’d survive through the entire wedding in them tomorrow.
“So… Riley?” I left the question hanging in the air.
“She didn’t agree with where I was heading.”
“Rough,” I said as consolation, feeling the buzz from the wine. “Timing’s a bitch.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know all about that!”
“Oh please,” I spun around to stand in front of him, walking backwards through my floor’s corridor, “As if you’d know anything about it. You’ve always been great at that! All that’s missing is the right timing to win a lottery ticket,” I laughed.
“I sucked once.”
He looked at me with such resentment in his eyes that I came to a stop and my laughter died. We stood still on the hallway halfway to my room, staring at each other with such an intensity that it caused me goose bumps.
“When?”