Chapter 1

There was nothing more awkward than a silent carpool.

No, that wasn't true. Plenty of things were more awkward-like asking an overweight (not pregnant) woman when she's due, or insulting the boss when trying to make a joke. It wasn't as though he hadn't embarrassed himself before in worse ways, but it was Friday, the week had been stretching on since what felt like a year, and the silence was near unbearable.

"So, what did you do last night?"

"Not much."

"Yeah? Cool. I caught up on some TV shows. What kind of stuff do you watch?"

"I don't watch TV."

"Huh."

Trees raced by his vision at 80 miles an hour, blurring into a mass of brown and green hues behind the tinted window. It was too bad he didn't know anything about cars. He was pretty sure this was a nice one, it was really shiny and most of it was chrome-plated, but cars held zero space in his occupied "give a shit" memory banks.

"Movies?"

"Mm."

I'll take that as a no. He sighed and reached up to run his fingers through his hair. There hadn't been enough time to properly dry it, so the ends were sticking up a little in the back.

"Glad it's Friday, huh?"

"Mm."

Obviously this wasn't going to be a chatty morning. It hardly ever was, but sometimes Ryan would talk a little bit, at least to indulge his curiosity about what was going on in the other cubicles.

Thank God it was Waffle Friday.

It was annoying, like the buzzing of mosquitos in the summer when trying to enjoy a BBQ. The tapping of keyboard keys and clicking of buttons on computer mice echoed in the office, interrupting what was otherwise a pleasant, quiet Friday morning. Two hours into the shift and he was already starving, but was determined to hold out for the promise of Friday waffles. A half-eaten powerbar was tucked away behind his water bottle, taunting him. His work queue was currently empty, and he was trying to find creative ways to waste time by mindlessly poring over the Internet. Halfway into a discussion thread on the latest episode of the sci-fi thriller he was watching, a hand tapped on the wall to his cubicle, startling him.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need those TPS reports on my desk by lunch, that'd be great."

"Fuck off," he replied with a chuckle, leaning away from the computer monitor to look up at his friend standing in the cubicle opening.

"That's no way to treat your boss!"

"Then it's a good thing you're not my boss."

"You wound me, Dave." Sean held the back of his hand up to his forehead, mimicking a faint.

"Pretty sure you do that just fine on your own. Come to show off your newest scars?"

Sean smiled widely and pointed to his neck. Nestled just above the collar of his favorite casual Friday band t-shirt was a medium-sized reddish bruise. "Things got a little crazy last night, not gonna lie."

"Do you ever need to? Your whole life is crazy," he replied with a quick shake of his head. Glancing away to grab a folder, he assumed Sean was rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, well, at least I got laid. That's more than you can say!"

"Don't feel bad for me; I had a quiet night in and was in bed by ten. That's all I need."

"Oh, man, I was four drinks in by ten, and by eleven-"

"Please don't finish that sentence." He heard Sean huff in annoyance over his shoulder. "I need to get back to work. Are we still on for lunch? Don't you dare bail on waffles," he threatened, looking back up to see Sean picking at a thread on his shirt hem.

"I'd never miss waffles. That's the best part of Friday," he replied.

"Good. See you in two hours."

"Fine."

Waffle Friday was a rare time of joy in the office. Most days were fine, if even a little boring, but he didn't mind. His co-workers were pleasant enough to be around; the job paid well enough to support a lifestyle of movies, video games, and more books than he had time to read; and he had plenty of downtime to pursue a social life...if he ever found someone he wanted to date.

Well, again, that wasn't quite true. There were plenty of women he wanted to date, but none he had the courage to actually ask out on a date.

The waffle food truck came around once every two weeks, bringing with it promises of happiness and sugar. It used to only come once every few months, but several of the employees staged a mock-protest and basically begged them to park nearby more often with promises of buying plenty of food. It worked, and the bi-weekly schedule was enough to placate them. New employees were bribed with delicious, powdered-sugar-covered fried dough. Established employees spun tales of glorious lunch hours spent on the nearby grass field, enjoying new flavors of waffles and making new friends. It was the one thing that brought employees from all areas together. It was magical.

Personally, he mostly enjoyed it because waffles were delicious, and eating them for lunch seemed like such an anti-adult thing to do. He reveled in the feeling of childhood happiness they brought him, despite being 31 years old. Also, chocolate melted over waffles was just the best thing ever.

There may have also been one other reason he enjoyed the waffle truck so much, but he'd be damned if Sean would ever find out.

"You ready, man?"

He looked up from the keyboard to see Sean standing at the entrance to his cubicle again, wallet in hand. "Yeah," he replied, swiveling his chair around to grab his own wallet from the end of his desk. "I'm starving, let's get there before the mad rush."

"Sounds good. Race you!" Sean took off in a mock-run and dashed to the end of the hallway as he rolled his eyes, following after him at a slightly quicker walking pace. People were already starting to file outside, eagerly talking about what sort of waffle they'd been craving for the past week.

"What are you getting today?" Sean asked, staring at the menu board.

"Same as usual, the chocolate-covered one."

"Never change, man."

"Not if I can help it."

"Who's next?" An older man leaned out of the truck window and waved at the two of them. Sean perked up and jumped in front of him to order. He stared at the menu for a moment longer, fidgeting a little bit. Maybe she's not working today, she wasn't here the last time, so-

"I can help the next person," a cheerful voice said loudly, and he looked up to see a familiar smile that he'd been thinking about for the past month.

"Hi!" he said quickly, scooting up to the window, nearly running into Sean as he backed out of the way. "How are you today?"

"I'm great! Do you want the usual?" she asked, reaching up to flip a lock of blonde hair behind her right ear.

He felt his lips quirk up in a reflexive smile. "You remembered?"

"Of course! Maple-Bacon Bliss, right?"

The smile fell as quickly as it had appeared. "No, actually, it's-"

"The Choc-ffle with extra whipped cream. Like I could forget. I was just messing with you." She turned away and he felt his stomach churn slightly, knowing that Sean was probably giving him a look. Turning back to him, she slid a piece of paper across the thin ledge of the truck. "Credit or cash?"

"Oh, uh, cash." He pulled his wallet from his pocket and removed a few bills, putting them on the ledge for her to take away. She did so with a flourish and handed back his change a few seconds later, which he took, his stomach flipping as her fingertips brushed his palm.

"Thanks! We'll call it out when it's done. Can I help the next person?" She leaned out of the window a little and he caught a flash of a tattoo on her shoulder as he turned away, pocketing his change. "Hey, you forgot your receipt," he heard her say, and he looked back to see her holding the paper out over the ledge.

"Sorry!" He took it and she smiled at him before turning to talk to the next customer. Shoving the paper in his pocket, he looked over at the grassy hill next to the truck to see Sean sitting there, hands splayed behind his back as he stared up at the sky. Walking over, he sat down on the grass next to him and prepared for the questioning.

"Look at that bird circling up there, it's like he knows there's waffles down here," Sean observed, nodding towards a large bird flying overhead.

"Yeah. He probably smells them."

"You think birds know what waffles are?"

"I have no idea."

"Yeah, me neither. That'd be pretty cool though. To be a bird and be all, 'oh man, Waffle Friday, let's go terrorize some helpless idiots down there!' Wouldn't that be hilarious?"

He chuckled, glancing sideways at the truck where he could watch the girl fill orders as fast as possible. "It'd be pretty hilarious if they started dive-bombing you, that's for sure."

"What makes you think they'd go for me first?"

"You attract the crazy, it's not that much of a leap in logic."

"Pft, screw you." He glanced over to see Sean motioning a hand towards him in disdain. "I may be crazy but at least I go out of my comfort zone."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dude, you clearly like the waffle girl, and it's been like a month since you've seen her. In that month, you could have gotten up the courage to-"

"Dude, she's right there, shut up-"

"To actually man up and ask her out on a freaking date," Sean finished a little too loudly, obviously ignoring the failed attempts to get him to shut the hell up by waving his hands at him in frustrated circles. A few coworkers glanced towards them, but kept talking amongst themselves after Sean gave them a stink-eye look.

"European and Choc-ffle?"

"That's us!" Sean jumped up and headed for the truck as he stayed on the grass, trying to avoid eye contact with the girl as she handed out food. He watched Sean take two trays from her and felt his cheeks flush as she glanced over at him with a smile. Smiling back, he nodded at her as Sean sat back down next to him, handing him a waffle tray. "Dig in," he instructed with a sideways grin.

He pulled into the driveway and flicked off the engine, letting the car settle for a moment as he looked up at the front of his modest two-bedroom townhome. Usually when he came home he felt at peace, but today he felt especially empty as he studied the blooming snapdragons in the small pot on the porch. It'd only taken the past month but at least they were finally growing. It was nice to see he wasn't completely useless when it came to gardening.

The townhome was quiet as he stepped inside, dropping his keys and wallet on the small table next to the door. The faint outline of a tall mirror on the faded, gray-shaded entryway wall stared back at him; he'd removed in upon purchasing the townhome. Unnecessary mirrors freaked him out, so the one in the bathroom was enough. It wasn't as though he really needed constantly criticize his reflection. It drove Sean crazy whenever he came over to hang out, since he was always preening in every reflective surface he could find and hated that the mirror had been removed. He even found him looking at his hair using the chrome toaster one time, and made fun of him for weeks afterward.

He really should get a cat or something. It was too quiet.

The laptop sat on the kitchen counter, waiting for him to get going on updating his checkbook. He'd been neglecting it for a few days, knowing finances were getting a little low, but the motivation just wasn't there. With a sigh he walked over, lifting the lid to hit the power button. "Might as well see how bad off I am," he muttered aloud, pulling over a stool.

After a few moments of filling in numbers and marking bills off his "To Pay" list on his phone, he remembered the receipt from the waffle truck and dug in his pocket to pull it out. He looked at the total and blinked, momentarily thrown off. Where there should have been a charge for around $8 and change, there was a zero, with nine unfamiliar numbers and a smiley face scribbled underneath.

"Hey, what's up?" Sean's voice greeted him after he'd fumbled on his phone for the speed-dial.

"I have a problem," he replied, his voice sounding shaky even to his own ears.

"I hope it's not a math problem."

"I've had girls give me their numbers on napkins, receipts, hell-even my own skin, and I've never freaked out as hard as you are right now," Sean observed, taking a sip from his beer before setting it back on the counter.

"I'm not you!" he countered, staring down at the receipt. His palms were pressed to his temples, his fingers scratching at the ends of his hair. He needed a haircut soon. "I don't know how to deal with women giving me their numbers!"

"Women? I think it's just the one-"

"Really not the time for a technicality check, dude."

"Sorry, sorry." Sean put a hand up in surrender, turning it outwards to grab his beer. "Are you gonna call her?"

"I don't know."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because it's weird! I don't even know her name!"

"It's Waffle Girl, right?"

"Come on, that makes her sound like some superhero. A pretty fucked-up one."

"Aw, I dare you to call her that when you talk to her."

"I'm not going to call her!"

Sean shook his head and took another sip of beer. "You're no fun."

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, then we should go get some food. I haven't eaten since lunch anyway." He slid out of his chair and headed for the bathroom down the hall, leaving Sean to finish his beer.

"Do you guys know what you want?" the waitress asked, pen poised above her order pad.

He tuned out as Sean ordered a couple beers and an appetizer sampler, and stared out at the crowd of people filling out the restaurant. At least he'd managed to talk him into coming to a real restaurant instead of a bar; he was pretty over the whole bar scene, and he really wasn't in the correct headspace with all this 'waffle girl giving him her number' stuff going on.

"Hey, you okay, man?" Sean waved a hand in front of his face and he started, nodding quickly.

"Sorry, just distracted."

"I know what'll cheer you up-let's buy those ladies a drink over there."

"Who?" He followed Sean's gaze over to a side table where two women were sitting, talking over plates of fries and half-eaten hamburgers. He shrugged and leaned back, knowing already that Sean was going to do what he wanted anyway and it mattered little what he thought.

"I bet they'd be a good distraction."

"Go for it, man."

Sean smiled and reached up to pat his hair, ensuring the swoop was still perfect, before getting out of his chair. He watched as he walked over to the table, hands in his pockets, and started talking. After a few seconds the girls smiled, glanced at each other, and shrugged, each scooting over a little to make room at the table. Sean looked back at him and gestured for him to come over. The waitress came back with their drinks and he explained that they'd be moving tables, helping her gather the silverware and coasters to move.

They settled in at the small table, Sean sitting next to the redhead while he was next to the brunette. He smiled awkwardly and extended a hand to the short-haired brunette, trying to swallow down nervousness. "Hi, I'm David," he said, wincing inwardly as his voice came out a little higher than normal.

"Connie," she replied, taking his hand with a firm shake. She let go and reached over to shake Sean's hand.

"Sean." He shook it and pivoted around to face the redhead, offering his hand to her. "And finally, we have…"

"Carolina," she said with a smile. She let go of Sean's hand after a moment and reached across the table to complete the ritual with him, awkwardly shaking his hand. "Are we all good now?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sean said, pointing a finger at everyone as he counted. "Yup, that's all of us. So what are you ladies doing out tonight?"

"Relaxing after a long week of work. Is that so wrong?" Carolina asked, sounding nearly interrogating.

"Hey, nothing wrong with that," Sean replied, leaning towards her, chin propped up on one hand as the other played with the label on his beer. "Work's a real...grind sometimes."

He was watching Connie's face as Sean emphasized the word, and her cheeks grew slightly pink while Carolina apparently wasn't even fazed. "Yeah, rough week," he agreed, reaching for his beer.

"What do you guys do?" Carolina asked, grabbing a fry to dip in ketchup. Sean's eyes clearly followed the trail it made from the plate to her lips, and he let out a small huff. He couldn't take him anywhere.

"Office work. Pretty boring, really. We work in an accounting firm," Sean said, reaching for a fry.

"Well, he does accounting, I do more finance-based projects," he interjected. Connie cocked her head at him, looking confused.

"What's the difference?"

"Sean works with spreadsheets and I work with presentations, that's really it," he replied with a small shrug. "I mostly just make sure stuff looks good while he makes sure the numbers are correct."

"And ensure that people aren't embezzling money," Sean added.

"Does that happen?"

"Well...I'm sure somewhere it does, but I've never caught anyone."

"You sound disappointed," Carolina observed.

"Accounting is just boring some days," Sean said with a frown. "I wish I was like...a space pirate or something. That'd be exciting!"

"A space...pirate."

"And what do you do that's so cool?"

Carolina rolled up the sleeve of her t-shirt to show off a very toned bicep. "I teach fitness classes at a gym up north."

He laughed as he watched Sean's face, going from a look of confidence to one of complete insecurity. "Yeah? That's impressive."

"Do you do private lessons?" Sean asked, obviously trying to gather his wits together. She was more toned than he was, and he spent half his life at the gym.

"Only for those who think they're up to the challenge," Carolina said, raising an eyebrow. A smirk crossed her lips as she rolled down the sleeve of her shirt. "You interested?"

"Maybe…"

"So anyway," Connie interrupted, shaking her head. "I'm getting full. Do you want the rest of my burger, David?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks." As he finished talking, their waitress came over with the appetizer sampler Sean had ordered, setting it directly in front of him.

"You guys need anything else?" she asked, glancing between him and Sean. Sean shook his head and she left.

"So my food isn't good enough for you?" Connie said, reaching over for a cheesestick.

"No, I didn't-I mean, we'd already ordered, and I guess-"

"Oh, calm down, I'm kidding. I didn't really think you'd want leftover food from someone you just met," she reassured with a smile.

"Well, I mean, not really, but I wanted to be nice-"

"David, stop talking," Sean ordered.

"Yeah, okay."

"So…"

"Yeah…"

"Anything fun going on with you lately?"

"Not really...I mean, work's not the most exciting thing to talk about."

"Yeah, mine isn't either."

"But your job is interesting!"

"Grooming pets isn't my ideal job."

"Yeah, but at least you get to play with all the animals! That's-dude, come on-" He shifted in the cab, trying to aim his backside more towards Sean and Carolina, who were busy playing tonsil hockey. She was straddling Sean, who had his hands up the front of her shirt, both of them completely oblivious to the leers coming from the cab driver.

Sean huffed a little in response, unable to form words as Carolina had her tongue against his upper lip, licking lightly. He heard Connie sigh in defeat on his other side.

"She's not normally like this," she said, and he smiled with a small nod.

"He is," he replied.

"Can I get you, uh...some water, or a drink, or something? A snack, maybe?" he offered, gesturing over to the kitchen.

"No thanks, I'm okay," Connie replied, her eyes glued to the television screen. They'd chosen a movie to put on in the background, but neither of them were paying much attention to it, due to the insane sounds coming out of the back bedroom. "Do you think they're going to be done anytime soon?"

He checked his phone and saw that it was 10:34pm. "I'm gonna go ahead and say not for at least another few hours."

"Do you mind if I just get a cab home?" she asked, turning to face him. "This is super uncomfortable."

"God, I thought it was just me who was that uncomfortable," he replied, standing up. He offered her his hand and she took it, getting up onto her feet. "I'll wait with you outside, it's a safe neighborhood, but still."

"Thanks," she said, dialing a number on her phone. He waited as she held the phone to her ear, and a moment later he heard a catchy R&B song playing from Sean's room. It continued to play as she tapped her foot, and when it finally went to voicemail, she rolled her eyes. "Hey, Lina, it's me. I'm going home. Clearly you're going to be a while, so I'll see you later." She hung up and tucked the phone into her back pocket, smiling at him. "Shall we?"

"How long have you and Carolina been friends?" he asked, fidgeting as they sat on the curb waiting for the cab she'd called to arrive.

"Oh, since forever, it feels like. Really it's been about…" She counted on her fingers as he watched with a smile. "Let's see, since junior year of college. I don't know how many years that is. A lot?"

"Yeah," he agreed.

"What about you and Sean?"

"High school. He was a nerd back then, if you can believe it."

"No."

"Yes! Actually, I was kind of the cool kid at school. Well, I mean, I wasn't in sports or anything, our school didn't really have cliques like that. I was on the debate team, and I'll have you know, we were quite good."

Connie shook her head. "Oh man, I would have loved to see that. Back in high school, I was totally in the punk rock crowd."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. Blink 182, Fall Out Boy, Sugarcult. All that crap that was popular on the radio, I listened to it."

"Did you live at Hot Topic?"

"I would have if I'd had the money," she said with a chuckle. He smiled and leaned over to nudge against her shoulder.

"I bet we'd have hung out back then."

"No, we wouldn't."

"Aw, don't say that."

"Dude, you were on the debate team, and Sean was...what did he like to do?"

"He was in this engineering club. And by club, I mean he and two other guys who built robots to fight each other in the parking lot after school."

"Wow. Yeah. I would have made fun of you guys so hard."

He hung his head in defeat. "Yeah, probably."

"Oh, cheer up. We can hang out now, you nerd." She bumped against him and he looked up to see her smiling at him, watching as she brushed some hair away from her face.

"I'd like that."

"Well, we're gonna have to, seeing as how they're getting along so well up there," she said, grimacing.

He groaned. "Oh man, don't remind me. I still have to go back in there!"

"And on that note," she said, standing up as the cab pulled up to the curb a few feet away, "I am going to go home and do my best to ignore Carolina when she comes in at 5am."

"Yeah, good luck with that." He stood up and brushed off his pants, reaching a hand out to shake hers. "Good night, Connie."

"Good night, David." Connie stepped towards him and pulled him into a quick hug instead, squeezing tightly. "And good luck," she added, letting him go to climb in the cab.

"Thanks," he muttered, kicking the ground as the cab pulled away. He glanced up at the building, dreading what was waiting inside.