Our Way

“I won’t.” Oh, he’s really cute.

He points at me as he walks backward. “Because I’ll come looking for you if you don’t call me. I mean it. I’m into you, Eliza. You better call me.”

I laugh at his over the top flirtyness. “Yes, okay, I promise.” I turn and get into the elevator and he puts his hands into his suit pockets as he watches me.

“Goodbye, Eliza.”

“Bye.” The doors shut, and I scrunch up my face in excitement.

Oh my God. Eek! This is getting me back into the dating game with a bang.

He is gorgeous.

* * *

I sip my red wine as I stir the beef Bourguignon I’m making. The potatoes are mashed, and the carrots and string green beans are in the steamer. I rushed home from work because I wanted to get dinner cooked early so that I can call Samuel before Nathan gets home. It would be weird having him listen to the conversation.

I glance at the clock. It’s 6:25 p.m. Nathe will be home in about twenty minutes.

Shit, I have to call now or not at all.

I look desperate ringing this early, I hold his card out and stare at it in my hand.

Samuel Phillips

Oh, well, here goes nothing. I drain my glass of red wine and refill it.

What do I say? Nothing…just let him do the talking. Don’t appear too eager, I remind myself.

With shaky fingers, I dial his number.

It goes straight to voicemail.

Shit.

“Hi, you’ve reached Samuel Phillips. I’m either on the phone or unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a nice day.”

“Hi, Samuel… it’s Eliza.” I begin to pace. “I’ll… I’ll try again tomorrow.” I hang up in a rush before I can make a fool of myself.

Oh, man, that was dreadful. What kind of sexy message was that? I get a vision of him listening to it, unimpressed.

I flop onto the couch and sip my wine.

Loser.

I’m so out of practice when it comes to dating, I have no idea what I’m doing here. I really need to up my game. There should be an up-to-date dating manual you can download on the internet with cool things to say and do.

I hear the key in the door before Nathan comes into view wearing a crisp gray suit and cream shirt, he looks every bit the smooth doctor he is. His sandy hair is longer on top with a bit of a curl, and his big blue eyes smile when he sees me. “There’s my girl.”

“Hi.” I smile as I jump up to greet him. He leans down and kisses me on the cheek. “You didn’t go to the gym?” I ask as I straighten his tie.

“No, got held up at work.” He walks over to the oven and peers in through the door. “Not long till we get a home gym. Dinner smells fantastic.” He pours himself a glass of wine. “My favorite.”

“I thought I was your favorite.” I tease.

“Apart from you, of course.” He touches his glass against mine. “How was your day?”

I shrug. “Pretty good.” I want to blurt out that I got asked on a date but I don’t quite know what his reaction will be, so I decide against it. “Dinner is twenty minutes away if you want to take a shower?”