The Story of Really Cute Waitress and Really Handsome Stranger Part 2

Waiting for a phone call without actually appearing to be waiting for a phone call is like… well, it’s like waiting on Christmas morning – slow, painful, boring and.. did I mention slow?

I had set my alarm for 3:00 PM, thinking I would sleep a while, get up, shower, put on clean jammies, gargle and put on some lip gloss (thanks ‘Stopbouncing’).

That was the plan anyway. 

Instead, I ended up tossing and turning in my blankets until I just had to get up. I muddled around a bit, made a few more necklaces (see photos at the end of the post), cut some papers for a collage I want to do, did a load of laundry and mended a pair of jeans I’d torn the last time I went to the park. OH! If you go to really big fountain in really big park, beware the fourth bench on the lake facing side. Any-who…

By then it was  – noon.  Noon? Good gawd time was dragging.

I had a lot of those little one sided conversations with my self, in my head, that went something like this:

‘Why are you so anxious?’

“I dont’ know!”

‘What if he wants to ask you out?’

“He won’t. I’m sick. He’s only here till Friday.”

‘Yah but its the weekend then and he could change his plans and stay till Sunday.’

“Ooo I never thought of that!”

‘I know, that’s why you have me.’

“No. I have you because I’m insane. Here I am talking to myself. Stop it Chloe!”

‘You started it!’

And so the afternoon wore on, until my phone rang at 4:04 PM.. I don’t know why, but I have this habit of writing down what time it is when people call me. I told you I was strange.

“Chloe?” He asked.

“Yes.” I replied. “Hello.”

“Listen, I really hate to do this on our first phone date (Say wut?) but, I’m stuck in a meeting and probably won’t be out of here until about 5:30. Would it be okay if I called you back around 7:00? After I grab a bite to eat?”

:Voice in my head: ‘Three more hours of waiting? Are you insane? NO you cannot eat!’

::Me on the phone:: “Sure, that’s fine. I’m not going anywhere.”

::Him:: “Oh thanks! You’re a peach. Molly said you were sick. I hope you’re feeling better.”

::Me:: “Yes, a bit actually. I’ll talk to you around sevenish then?” What was that? I NEVER say sevenish, or any ish for that matter!

And thus ended part one of our conversation. I continued to berate myself for being so nervous all the way through to 7:00 PM when the phone rang.

“You’re prompt.” I answered.

“Habit.” He replied. “I was going to call the minute I got in, but I didn’t want to appear too eager.”

“Yah, eager on a first phone date is scary.”

“So you’re feeling better?”

“A little, yes.” I replied. “I’ll probably go back to work tomorrow. So long as I’m not contagious.”

“Good idea. I don’t think your patrons would appreciate steak with a side of flu.”

We both laughed.

The conversation flowed like wine and I was pleasantly surprised to find how  easy it was to talk to him.

We talked about art, and music and books and movies. We talked about growing up in small towns and the culture shock one first experiences when you move from Hickville to Urbana.  I can still hear the entire conversation in my gray-matter, but will spare you the majority of it because it was a long phone call. Very long.

Around 9:30 or so, he mentioned needing to shower, so I told him I’d hang up.

“NO!” He protested, “I want to talk to you some more. I”ll shower later.”

“Don’t you have to work in the morning?” I asked.

“Oh yah. That pesky little four letter word. Sure does get in the way of a social life sometimes.” He chuckled.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call this “social”.

“Oh yes. It  is! This is the first date I’ve had in months!”

And we laughed and talked more. And more. And more.

Around midnight he said he’d like a cup of coffee but didn’t want to ring room service.

“You’re a local girl, do you know of any coffee shops still open?”

I swear for a minute I felt a little pang, thinking that our conversation was about to end. “Uhmmm….” I stalled, “Let me think.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “If I leave this room, I’m taking you with me.”

“Huh?” I asked, sort of impressed that he was such a mind reader but sort of afraid he’d suddenly turned stalker!

“My cell. I’ll call you on my cell, silly.”

“Ohhhhh.” I laughed nervously, “I knew that!”

I told him where the nearest all night coffee shop to him was and he said, Okay, hang up. So I did, and a second later he was on the phone again from his cell, and I “went with him” to the coffee shop. Actually, I think I “went” with him to several places, including the bathroom which is kind of gross, yet strangely quaint.

Finally, I looked at the clock and it was 2:00 AM.

“Oh my gosh did you look at the time yet?” I asked.

“Nope, time is standing still right now.” He said in this really sexy husky sort of voice that would have made my knees wobble if I’d have been standing up.

“Awww, that’s sweet! But I bet your bosses won’t buy it if you’re late in the morning.”

“Yah, you’re right.” He said, and I could hear him rustling around in blankets. “Actually, I was already laying down, quite comfortably.”

We agreed though that he really needed to get some sleep.

“Chloe?”

“Yes?”

“What time do you get up in the mornings?”

“Hmm depends.” I said. “Sometimes 8, sometimes 9. But if I think I’m going to be getting a call….”

He cut me off chuckling. “What time do you go to work?”

“I’ll go in at 4 and be off at 10″ I said, probably too quickly.

“Can I buy you dinner?”

“Uhm.. sure!” I said. “Want to meet me somewhere?”

“I’ll pick you up from work at 10, if that’s okay?”

I said sure, and gave him my cell number. I was SO tickled on the inside, all little schoolgirl  like.

We were saying our goodbyes and he said “Chloe? This is the best date I’ve ever had.”

I didn’t know what to say. And its good that he didn’t give me the chance to try to come up with a response.

“Goodnight” He said.

“Good night moon.” I said. He laughed and hung up.

Okay now, picture me, standing by the counter, holding the phone, going “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and doing this little happy dance sort of thing kind of reminiscent of Flash Dance, but not nearly as sexy.

Ohmuhgosh! I have a date tonight. After work! What am I going wear? I’ll have to take something to change into at work because I am totally NOT going on a date in my uniform.

He asked me at one point on the phone if I was going to call my girlfriends and ask their advice about dating an out-of-towner (Are we going to be dating? He’s only here every few months, how would that work?), and I said no, but I’m totally going to blog you. He said “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t!” And laughed.

So, here am I. Thinking a million miles a minute, wondering what I’m going to wear, hoping I have “neat” customers tonight so I don’t get too grungy from work. I still don’t feel fantastic, but I feel heaps better than I did.

Funny how a little thing like a phone call can lift your spirits!

PS. I just realized why Iwrite down the times when people call me. In college I was totally addicted to that cop show “Homocide – Life on the street” and I can remember hearing the investigators ask “What time did they call?” or “What time was it when dot dot dot” and somehow it became deeply ingrained in my gray matter to take notes when people call. Yes, I told you, I’m weird with a capitol W.