Chapter Seven: Shameless Invitation
Callie spent the rest of her Saturday in her bedroom, keeping her father at a distance. In between watching movies on her computer, she found a friend in Emily. The two traded texts and eventually linked up their social media accounts.
On Sunday morning, Callie found an envelope had been shoved underneath her door. She picked it up and saw that it contained a note from her dad along with some cash.
Will be home late. Please get groceries.
-Dad
Callie got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and the cabinets, making a list of things to buy from the store. Then she headed out to catch the bus.
A few aisles into her shopping trip, a box of cereal went whizzing past her head and landed in a cart nearby.
"Hey, watch it!" she shouted.
When she turned to look at the thrower, she saw it was Ian. He quickly walked towards her.
"Sorry," he said. "But I'm glad it got your attention."
Callie smiled at him. "I'll let it go this time. How's your weekend going?"
"As well as it can be, all things considered. How about you?"
"Well, it turns out I didn't have to tell my dad about my Friday night misadventures because his cop buddy did it for me."
"Shit. How'd he take it?"
"Not completely crazy, but he was not happy."
"Well, if children weren't meant to piss off their parents, what were they meant for?"
"Pretty sure that was for the free manual labor."
Ian chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so." A long silence passed between them. "Hey, I just thought of something."
Callie gave him an intrigued look. "Yeah, what's that?"
"You said your dad works nights. If you want, you're welcome to join us for dinner sometime."
"Ian, I really don't want to impose any further on you and your family."
"Let me give you my number in case you change your mind. Here, gimme your phone."
Ian extended his hand. When Callie didn't respond he flexed his fingers.
"You're not going to back down on this, are you?" she asked.
"Not a chance," he replied.
Callie sighed and pulled her cell phone from her purse. She handed it to Ian and he programmed his number into it.
"So," he said. "Dinner?"
"What, tonight?"
"Why not?" Ian handed her phone back. "We'd all be glad to have you over."
"Even Lip?" The words came out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying. She was sure her face was blushing.
Ian just smiled at her. "Especially Lip. Stop by around six?"
"Yeah. OK. I'll see you tonight."
Then Ian headed for the checkout. As soon as he was out of earshot, Callie dialed Emily's number on her cell phone.
"Hey, Em," Callie said. "You're not gonna believe what just happened."
