“Is it a man?” Delores asked.
“Yes…It’s Cedric, actually,” I whispered as I poured a cup of coffee for a man at the counter.
“Cedric? The Cedric? Blue Eyes? I thought he had a girlfriend?”
“No, apparently, they had broken off after that picture I showed you was taken. It’s a long story.”
I tried to condense it as best I could and relayed what happened Christmas night to Delores.
“Honey, I don’t know how you resisted doing the deed with him. That guy is the hottest thing on two feet and he rescued you, at that. I have to give you credit. I would have been all over him like Ben Gay on an old person.” She laughed.
“Yeah, tell me about it. Believe me, it wasn’t easy. I am not sure how much longer I’ll be able to behave.” I winked.
***
Nervous anticipation consumed me at home that night. I brought home takeout sushi and forced it down, my excitement taking away my appetite. A glass of wine was definitely needed, so I opened a bottle of cold Pinot Grigio and poured myself a large one.
After I had loosened up, I wanted to feel sexy for my Skype session with Cedric, so I perused my closet for something cute to wear. I decided on a pale pink tank top that had a thin border of pink sequins on the top. My house was warm, so the tank top in the middle of winter wasn’t totally inappropriate. I put on a tighter sexy pair of jeans and left my feet bare.
In the bathroom, I ran a blow dryer through my already dry hair to touch it up, did up my eyes and put some lip-gloss on.
It was only 8:53. I decided to go onto Skype to see if Cedric had sent me an invitation to be added as a contact. He did. His user name was CedricCallahan99. I accepted the invitation, of course and could see that he was not online yet.
I finished my glass of wine and sat on my bed, breathing in and out slowly to try and relax and put on some soft music, closing my eyes.
As it got close to 10:00, my nerves started to act up again.
It was 9:55 now. I began to wonder if I was supposed to call him or him call me. I decided it was best if I waited for him to call me. The minutes dragged on.
When 10:00 rolled around, my heart really started pounding.
Jesus, what is wrong with me? I wasn’t even going to be with him. We were thousands of miles apart. I couldn’t stand the anticipation.
At 10:05, I jumped at the sound of Skype telling me that CedricCallahan99 was online. Ahhhh!
My excitement was short-lived because it was 10:08 and he still hadn’t called, so I convinced myself that maybe he was waiting for me to call, since he appeared to be online. I impulsively hit the ‘call with video’ button.
After three times, the ringing stopped and I could see the video start to load. My pulse raced at the unexpected sight of what I was met with.
CHAPTER 20
CEDRIC
I sat by the Santa Monica Pier, taking in the sights and the ocean as I ate some of the best Mexican food I have ever tasted. It was nice to be in California in December, but I wished she were here with me. I have another couple of hours before my afternoon meeting at KLAG-TV and decided to drive down here to clear my head first.
It hasn’t even been two days and I was falling harder for her than I could have imagined. I missed feeling her next to me, sleeping next to her. Immense sadness came like a wave crashing in the ocean nearby when I realized that I was tricking myself into believing that she might not leave me if she found out the truth.
I wanted to stay in denial forever.
I needed more time with her; I would regret it forever if I left her behind and wasn’t ready to leave her, even though it might be the right thing to do.
I needed a cigarette, but am trying to make a commitment to be a better person for her. She doesn’t strike me as the type to appreciate me blowing smoke in her face…or for that matter, what I am really doing, I suppose, blowing smoke up her ass.
Amusement ride music and the sound of children laughing faded into the distance as I walked to my rental car and sped onto the freeway back toward Los Angeles.
***
I arrived just in time to meet the news director and general manager at KLAG.