We Used To Be Friends
Chapter Seven
Many hours later, Lucy was brought out of her dreams when the phone started ringing in her ears. She groaned and reluctantly picked it up. This better be good. It's my day off. "Hello?" she grumbled, angry at whoever was keeping her from her sleep. She was having a very good dream where she actually got to find out whether Carter wore boxers or briefs.
"Lucy? Did I wake you up?" Carter asked, noting her grumpy mood. He knew that she didn't like to be woken up and hoped she wasn't mad at him.
When she realized it was Carter, most of the anger she had felt washed away. "Yeah, but it's ok. What's up?"
He felt bad about waking her up. "You have the day off, right?"
"Yeah. You're not gonna tell me that I have to come in today, are you?" Lucy asked, praying that he wasn't going to do that.
He laughed. "No! I'm definitely not going to tell you that."
"Good, because I have things I need to do." Lucy laughed.
"Oh, so you're busy today?" Carter asked. He had wanted to spend some time with her today since they both had the day off.
"Well, I have some errands to do now that I'm going with you on Saturday." She explained.
He smiled. "Would you have time to go out with dinner with me? We can catch up on the past."
He wanted to have dinner with her? Her heart started to race. Calm down! He's just your friend and nothing more. "Um, sure. I can make time for that."
"Great!"
"Do you want me to meet you at the restaurant?" Lucy asked.
"Naw, I'll just come pick you up. That way you won't have to take a cab."
"Ok. Thanks."
"No problem. So why don't I pick you up at eight? Will that be enough time to run your errands?" Carter checked.
"Definitely. See you later." She hung up the phone and laid back down on her bed. Dinner with Carter. She knew that it was just as friends, but that didn't stop her heart from racing a little. A confused look appeared on her face as she realized that Shelby was right. She did have romantic feelings for Carter. Damn, when did that happen? This was only going to cause trouble. Sighing, she quickly got up and decided to take a quick shower before grabbing some lunch.
Shelby was working on a design logo at her desk in the living room when Lucy came out of her room. "Well, sleeping beauty finally emerges!" Shelby smiled. "Nice of you to join the land of the living."
"So what? I slept in til noon. That's no big deal considering that I went to bed at three." Lucy smiled. "Speaking of sleep, did you get any last night? Cause I ran into Dave when I came home."
Shelby laughed. "Yeah, he told me about that encounter. Sorry that I didn't warn you he was staying here. It was sort of spur of the moment."
"That's ok." Lucy shrugged, heading into the kitchen to get some lemonade. "Are you terribly busy today?"
"Not really. Why?" Shelby was one of the lucky people who got to do most of their work at home. She only went into the office for meetings.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping with me." Lucy replied, coming out of the kitchen with a full glass of lemonade.
"Are we shopping for anything in particular?" Shelby asked.
"Yeah. I need a formal dress for a fundraiser Carter's taking me to on Saturday." Lucy replied casually.
"Ooh, a fundraiser?" Shelby got out of her chair and walked over to where Lucy was standing. "So is this like a date?"
"No. We're going as friends. He just wants me to come along so that he doesn't have to alone again. His grandmother always makes him feel bad for not having a girlfriend." Lucy explained.
"Is that what he told you?" Shelby smiled.
"Yes. Now are you coming with me or do I have to go alone? Cause I have to be back here by six so that I can get ready."
"Get ready for what?" Shelby raised her eyebrow.
"Carter's coming by and we're going to dinner." Lucy explained, knowing what Shelby was thinking. "It's not a date, and it doesn't mean that we're in love with each other or anything. It's just two friends going out to dinner with each other."
"When is he coming by to pick you up?" She asked curiously.
"Eight."
"A-ha!" Shelby squealed, pointing a finger at her. "If it's just a friendly dinner, then why do you need two hours to get ready for it?"
Lucy was getting frustrated. "I don't know!" She exclaimed. "Why are you interrogating me?"
Shelby smiled and laughed. "Cause it's fun!"
Lucy grabbed her purse. "Are you coming or am I shopping alone?"
"Oh I am definitely coming with you. I'm gonna make sure you get the perfect dress that will make Carter drop to his knees!" Shelby exclaimed, running after Lucy.
At a quarter till eight, Lucy looked in the mirror at her outfit. Since it was September, she had decided to wear tan pants and a maroon blouse with three-quarter length sleeves. Taking another look at herself, she decided that it was a good outfit. It didn't make her look like she was trying to dress up, yet it wasn't completely casual. She heard someone knock on the door and knew that Shelby would answer it. She checked her hair one last time before going out into the living room. Her face brightened up when she saw Carter there. He appeared to be telling Shelby about a case that he had treated a few days ago.
"So the guy just got up and walked off in the middle of the exam?" Shelby asked with a laugh.
"Yeah." Carter laughed. "I don't know why. He just got up and said 'I've changed my mind. I'm not sick. I'm getting out of here and you can't stop me'."
"That's weird." Shelby shook her head.
"I know..." his voice trailed off as he turned around and saw Lucy coming towards where they were standing. "Hey."
"Hey." Lucy smiled back.
Shelby smiled too, but for a different reason. She saw the looks on both Carter and Lucy's faces. The looks were definitely looks of lust. But of course, Carter and Lucy were oblivious to the looks.
"Are you ready?" Carter asked.
"Yeah. Let's go." Lucy nodded, picking up her purse.
Carter turned to Shelby. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"
"I'm sure. Dave will be coming by soon when his shift ends." Shelby smiled.
"Ok." He turned back to Lucy. "Looks like it's just us then." He opened the apartment door for her and they started to head outside.
"So where are we going to eat?" Lucy wondered.
"A restaurant called Fly Me to the Moon." They had gotten outside and reached his jeep. He opened the passenger door for her. "It's supposed to be great." Carter explained when he got in the driver's seat. "You don't mind Italian, do you? Because I know that you used to love it."
"I still do!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Good." Carter smiled as he started up his jeep and headed to the restaurant.
Lucy looked around at the décor of the restaurant. They were sitting in a small booth on the side. There was a small stage and a dance floor in the middle of the restaurant. It was a very romantic place, and she started to wish that they were actually on a date. But she quickly scolded herself for that thought and looked over at Carter, who was looking at her. "This place is great." She smiled.
"I'm glad you like it." Carter smiled back.
Lucy took a sip of her wine. "So what did you do today since you had the day off?"
"I really didn't do anything, and it felt nice." Carter replied. "Did you get all of your errands done?"
"Yes." Lucy nodded, starting to laugh. "Shelby came with me to buy my dress for Saturday. I found the greatest dress at the first store we went to, but she dragged me to about a dozen other stores before she decided that the dress I had picked out at the first store was perfect!"
He laughed. "Sounds exhausting."
"It was." Lucy grinned.
The waiter approached their table with their food. "Chicken Alfredo with a penne sauce for the lady." He placed the plate in front of Lucy. "And Chicken Parmesan for the gentleman." He placed the other plate in front of Carter. "Can I get you two anything else?"
"No thanks." Carter smiled.
"Enjoy your meal then." The waiter smiled back, leaving them alone.
He took a drink of his wine before beginning to eat his food. He was enjoying Lucy's company a lot. When he got up this morning he hadn't intended on asking her out to dinner, but he got the sudden urge to see her...to talk to her...so he called her. Now that they were at dinner together, he was starting to get confused. They were friends—just friends. Right? So why was he starting to have feelings for her that were more than friendly? He thought back to when he saw her at the apartment. When she came into the room, it was almost like a scene from a movie. It was as if she was walking over in slow motion. She looked beautiful tonight. He hadn't really noticed it at work, but she was gorgeous. He had always considered her pretty when they were growing up together, but now he noticed that she had developed and matured into this spectacular woman.
He's staring at me again. He'd been doing that all night, and it was starting to get to me. Do I have something in my teeth? Is my make-up smeared? Why is he staring at me like that? She tried to just eat her dinner without worrying about the way he was looking at her, but it was hard to do. Her thoughts then turned to what this night meant. They were here together at a very romantic restaurant, but they were just friends. Right? So why was she wishing that this was a real date?
"How is your meal?" Carter asked, finally emerging from his thoughts.
Lucy finished the bite she had in her mouth before replying. "Wonderful, and yours?"
"Great. You want a bite?" he offered. He was trying to be nice by offering her a bite of his food, but he also had ulterior motives. He wanted to try her food.
She knew what he was doing and grinned. "If you want to try my food, why don't you just ask?"
Knowing he was caught, he shrugged. "Can I have a bite of you food please?"
"Only if I can have a bite of yours." Lucy replied.
"Deal." He exclaimed. They scooted their plates closer to each other and each took a bite from the others' plate. "That is good." Carter smiled.
"Yeah, and so is yours." Lucy agreed with a chuckle.
They ate in silence for a while, each contemplating the feelings that were starting to emerge. After a while, they were both finished with their meals. Carter looked over at the stage and noticed that the piano player was getting ready to start another set. Within seconds, the restaurant was filled with the sound of a piano and string bass. He got an idea.
"I don't think I can eat another bite." Lucy exclaimed, pushing her plate away.
"Well then there's only one thing left to do." Carter grinned.
"What?" Lucy asked curiously.
"Dance with me?" He held out his hand for her.
She looked at him and then his hand. She wasn't sure that she could handle dancing with him and being in that close proximity to him. But it was too tempting to resist. She grabbed a hold of his hand and he led her to the dance floor. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist, so she wrapped her arms around his neck. But she made sure that there was some space between them, after all, she didn't want to be too tempted.
They danced in silence for one song. Then another slow song came on and they continued to dance. "So I've told you about what's been going on in my family. What's new with yours? How's your mom?" Carter asked, unable to stand the silence any more.
"She's fine. She wasn't too happy with my decision to come to school in Chicago though. She wanted me to go and finish up med school at Indiana University and work at Methodist Hospital so that I'd only be twenty minutes away from her. But I wanted to get out of Indiana."
"Why?" He asked interested in everything that she was saying.
"Indianapolis has its' advantages I guess, but it's not Chicago. I missed this place, and I didn't realize just how much I missed it until I came back." Lucy explained. She was talking about Chicago, but she also meant him. She hadn't realized how much she had missed their friendship until recently. It was like there was a big hole in her heart that she couldn't fill, but now it was full again.
"Well I'm very glad that you came back. You've already made my life better." Oh wow, did I just say that out-loud? I didn't mean to. Maybe she won't notice it.
She noticed his statement, and it intrigued her. "I've made your life better? How so?"
He knew that he couldn't get out of this one, so he decided to tell the truth. "You've made it more enjoyable." He replied. "I missed you Luce. I missed you a lot."
"I missed you too." Lucy smiled.
As they were dancing there, he found himself wanting to lean down and kiss her. This realization shocked him. Since when did he think of her as anything more than a friend? Even though he really wanted to, he resisted the urge to give her kiss. Instead, he tried to think about what he was going to do now that he realized he had feelings for her. He really hoped this wasn't going to make their friendship too awkward.
She looked up at him. He seemed to be deep in thought about something, but at least he wasn't staring at her again. Every time he stared at her, she would get this knot in her stomach. It wasn't a bad feeling, but she was worried about what it meant. She only hoped that her feelings for him wouldn't make their friendship too awkward.
The song ended, but he didn't want to let her go. However, the next song wasn't a song that they could slow dance to, so he reluctantly led her back to the table. "Do you want any dessert?" He offered.
"Oh no. No dessert for me. I'm fine." Lucy replied.
"Then why don't I pay the bill and we get out of here?" he suggested. Internally, he didn't want the night to end. But he knew that it had to or else he would end up kissing her—and he wasn't sure that was a good idea right now.
"Ok." She nodded. She hadn't expected him to pay for her dinner, but she decided not to fight him on this one. She was too concerned about the feelings that she was having. Leaving the restaurant now was a good idea because she knew that if they stayed too much longer she would end up kissing him. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but she wasn't sure she was ready to cross that line.
They walked out of the restaurant after paying the bill and headed to his jeep. "Thanks for coming to dinner with me."
"Well it was fun." Lucy smiled.
"Maybe we should do it again sometime." He suggested before opening the jeep door for her.
"Yes, definitely." She nodded, getting into the jeep.
He walked around the jeep and got inside. As he started up the engine and began to drive, he looked over at her. She had her eyes closed and it was obvious that she had fallen asleep. He quickly turned his attention back to driving. When he pulled up to her apartment building he looked over and saw that she was still sound asleep. He hated having to wake her up though. She looked so relaxed and peaceful. But he knew that he had to wake her up, so he gently shook her shoulder.
She immediately woke up, looking around at her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was being in the restaurant parking lot. Now she was in front of her apartment building. "Did I doze off?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "you did."
"Sorry."
"Don't be. Do you want me to walk you up?" He offered.
"That's ok." She smiled. "Dave's probably up there with Shelby. Who knows what kind of scene I'll be walking in to!"
He chuckled. "Then I guess I'll see you at work."
"Yeah. Thanks for dinner. It was nice." She contemplated kissing him on the cheek, but pulled away. "Goodnight Carter."
"Goodnight Luce." He winked, leaving once she got into her building.
Did he just wink at me? She was deep in thought about that as she opened up the apartment door and saw Shelby and Dave watching a movie together on the couch. "Hey."
"Hey." Shelby and Dave greeted.
"Goodnight." Lucy whispered, hoping to leave without Shelby asking her a bunch of questions.
"Lucy wait!" Shelby called out. "How was your date?"
Lucy turned around to face them. "It wasn't a date. It was just a friendly dinner."
"Where did you go?" Dave asked.
"Fly Me to the Moon." Lucy replied.
Dave and Shelby exchanged glances. They both knew that was a very romantic restaurant. "Did he pick you up?" he asked.
"Yes." Lucy wasn't sure why Dave was asking all these questions.
"Interesting." Dave sighed. "Did he pay for dinner?"
"Yes." Lucy exclaimed.
"Did you guys kiss?" Dave asked. He didn't really care one way or the other if they had kissed.
"No." She thought it was odd for him to ask her something like that.
"Ok." Dave nodded. "Did he bring you flowers?"
"No." She was looking at him strangely now. "Dave, why are you so interested in this?"
"Because I'm trying to help you decide whether it was a date. Up till now, it's a toss-up. But there is a tie-breaker." Dave explained.
"Well don't keep us in suspense!" Shelby exclaimed, lightly punching Dave's arm.
"Did he open doors for you?" Dave asked.
"What?" Lucy asked. "What are you talking about?"
"Did he open doors for you and let you go in first?" Dave asked again.
She didn't know what to say. If she told the truth, she knew that Dave and Shelby would try to convince her that it was really a date. She wanted to believe that it was, but what if it wasn't? What if Carter thought it was just a nice friendly dinner? She didn't want to invest too much hope in this whole date thing and then be disappointed. However, she knew that she couldn't lie to Shelby or she'd be able to tell that it was a lie. "Yes, he did." She finally whispered.
"There you have it!" Dave exclaimed. "It's most likely a date."
"No it wasn't!" Lucy protested.
"Whatever." Shelby shook her head. "Keep denying it, but we know the truth."
Then, as if on cue, Dave and Shelby started to sing together. "Carter and Lucy, sittin' in a tree...k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Lucy with a baby carriage!"
"That's really mature you guys!" Lucy glared at them angrily. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight Mrs. Carter!" Shelby yelled after her.
Lucy thought about turning around and telling them to stop it with the teasing, but realized that it would only make it worse. Besides, she wasn't too mad at them. She knew that they just wanted her to be happy and have someone special in her life. As she laid her head on her pillow, she somehow knew that Carter would infiltrate her dreams again—and this time she didn't mind.
A/N: Thank you very much for the kind reviews. Just wanted to let everyone reading know that this weekend is very busy for me, so I probably won't be updating until Monday at the earliest.