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12. Saturday, January 7, 2012 around 10:00 AM

At Home

"So, how was the date?" Rose asks, looking up from her task of doing the dishes.

"Weird." I stumble to the coffee pot only to find it empty.

"We're out of coffee. A trip to the supermarket's in order."

"I need to do laundry. I had to wear granny panties to my date."

"Is that why you came home?"

"Nope. Had nothing to do with it. He didn't seem interested at all." I shake my head, still in disbelief about my date last night.

"I want the 411 on that date. And oh, by the way, Alice's still not home."

"Really?"

Rose shrugs her shoulders. "Go get your laundry bag. I need to do some, too. We can get coffee before."

Ten minutes later, still barely conscious, we're standing in line at the coffee shop.

"Hey, Bella," Edward greets me as if we're old friends. For some reason, I didn't expect him here. This morning. "How are ya? What can I get for you?"

"Ummm … still asleep. And you?" Glancing down at my ensemble consisting of worn-out sneakers, yellow t-shirt (formerly white) and old jogging pants, I feel oddly self-conscious, like it matters what I look like this morning. Edward's, of course, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, wearing a clean grey shirt with his face freshly shaven.

"Well caffeinated and awake."

"Could we get two large coffees, please?" Rose interrupts.

"Sure." He turns around to get the order ready and I'm left staring at this back, which is as nice looking as the front it turns out.

"Thanks," I mumble when he pushes the two coffee cups over the counter.

"You're welcome." He smiles as Rose hands him the money. "Here's the flyer for the gig I'm playing next Thursday." He pushes a piece of paper over the counter and hands Rose back her change. "You guys should come," he says to both of us, but strangely his eyes never leave mine.

"Yeah, maybe?" I answer quickly and run after Rose who's already heading toward the door.

"So when did you become best buddies with new barista?" Rose asks the second we step out of the coffee shop to walk to the laundromat a block away.

"I spilled coffee on him one day. And then I ran into him on the train coming home the other night." I remember New Year's Eve. "You've met him before, too."

"I'm pretty sure I've never seen him before," she answers with complete certainty.

"The beard is gone, but other than that he looks pretty much the same." I don't divulge the tit-bit that I didn't recognize him at first either. Rose now looks confused. "He paid for our drinks on New Year's, remember?"

"Oh. Him. I try hard not to remember that night." She shrugs. "Well, he definitely cleaned up nicely. Too bad."

"Too bad, what?"

"Too bad that he's off limits because he's hot and really seems into you."

I take a second sip of my coffee before I respond. "First of all, I doubt he's into me and even if he was, he has a job and I'm pretty sure he's not homeless. So what's the problem?"

"I'm also sure he has three roommates and can barely feed himself on what they pay there. For your own sake, stay away. Besides, he's a musician and way too attractive for his own good. I'm sure he's presented with ample temptation and you know how well that works out," she states matter-of-factly, as if it's a foregone conclusion that he has no money and would cheat on me.

"I'm not even sure why we're talking about this. It's not that he's interested and neither am I."

"Right." Rose gives me a look that tells me she doesn't believe a word I'm saying. "Have a roll-around-the-hay with him if you can't resist, but I'm making you pay then."

I huff—annoyed at first, but then Rose winks. "You know you want to," she adds, laughing. "He's really cute."

"Shut up." I giggle. I can't help but agree with her. I do want to, particularly now that she's mentioned it.

"So give me more about that date," Rose demands after we've finished loading the laundry and watch our clothes tumble around in suds.

"It wasn't bad, I'm just not sure I'm into the guy. I mean, he's perfect on paper, but we don't really click. Anyway, the restaurant he took me to was nice and he was trying to charm me and all. Even tried to make small talk about books which I'm pretty sure he hadn't read." I chuckle thinking about it. "He actually started talking about Joan Didion's last memoir."

"He's pretentious."

"Just trying too hard. I swear he sounded like he'd memorized a fucking book review from The New York Times."

"Jeez. He sounds kind of … desperate? Is he fat or ugly?"

"No, he's not. Sort of clean-cut and preppy, but overall, not bad. That wasn't even the weirdest thing about the dinner, though. Get this, he barely touched his food! I don't think I've ever met a guy who didn't chow down at least double the portion I eat, yet the only thing he touched all night was three pieces of lettuce, without dressing. I asked him whether he wasn't feeling well or something, but he said he was feeling fine. I got bored sitting at the table and ended up eating all of the three appetizers he ordered for us to share and my main course, plus the French fries from his plate." Rose eyes widen for a second in shock.

"Shit."

"In my defense, I've been so busy at work lately that I've been skipping lunch left and right."

"Have you done anything about finding a new job?"

"I applied to a bunch of stuff this week, but I haven't gotten any callbacks. You?"

"Honestly, I don't know what to do about it. Let's not talk about it. It's too depressing."

"Jeez, Rose." I feel like I should hug her, but hugging isn't Rose's thing.

"Was he at least a good kisser?"

"Who?" Rose smirks like she's on to something. Yeah, my obvious apathy. "Oh, Michael!" I remember. "I don't know. He gave me these two wet good-bye smooches, so I really can't tell yet."

"You didn't even kiss him yet?

"It's odd, right?"

"Kind of. Are you seeing him again?"

"Next weekend. His company is a corporate sponsor of the Whitney, so he can go for free. I'd said I'd go with him."

"Do you really feel like doing this to yourself?"

"I don't, but he had this sort of pathetic expression on his face when he asked, like he was actually thinking the date went well, so I felt sorry for him and said fine."

Rose laughs. "You're such a pushover, Bella."

"No, I'm not."

We sit in silence watching Telemundo for a while. I'm annoyed with her for calling me a pushover. I'm also annoyed that she declared Edward off limits, though I would never admit to that one. Eventually I get bored. Either my Spanish isn't good enough or the plot is really bad.

"So what did you do last night?"

"Emmett came up with a box of pizza. So I invited him in and we watched TV in Alice's room. So what's that guy she went on a date with like?"

"I don't know. Short."

Rose snorts. "I guess we'll find out more when Alice gets home."

Thanks for reading. Most awkward dates … some good stories? Please share.