A/N: Hey! Sorry for the long break! The last few weeks of the semester really kicked my butt *tear,tear*, but i made it! Anyway, here goes the next chapter. Let me know what y'all think! (Also, please excuse any grammar or spelling issues. I typed this chapter really quickly).
"I'm Fitzgerald Grant". Hmmm, why does that name sound so familiar? I paused and thought for a second.
BZZZ. BZZZ. I snapped out of my trance and noticed my phone was ringing, and it was LOUD. Like, unusually loud, as if I was supposed to be caught being nosey. I hurriedly swiped the answer button when I realized it was my best friend Abby calling. "Hello?", I answered, embarrassment evident on my face as Dr. Howard and the man, now known as Fitzgerald, looked up at me. I frantically started packing my things and left out of the lecture hall, not realizing that I dropped my school ID on the way out the door.
I walked quickly in the direction of my apartment, having walked to campus today since the weather was nice. It was mid-March so good weather was a blessing. I finally tuned back in to hear what Abby was saying. "Liv are you listening to me?" she questioned. "Uhhh, not really", I answered honestly. "Are you okay?", she asked concerned. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was trying to be nosey and then you called. You got me caught, loser!" I said, laughing. I'd started walking a little slower as I got farther from the lecture hall. I was focused on Abby, so I didn't hear the footsteps approaching behind me. "My bad girl, I just called to see if we were still on for tonight," she said laughing also. "Of course! You know we never miss a girl's night. Especially now that I only see you like once every 3 decades", I said. She had recently started an internship at a pharmaceutical research company that took up a good chunk of her time. That meant that girl's nights were few and far between. "First of all, it's every 2, so get it right" she said with the same humor. We talked for one more minute, concluding that Abby would bring the wine, and I would order our favorite Chinese food.
I hung up the phone with a smile on my face. "Hey, Olivia?" I heard behind me. I stopped walking. Literally paused where I was. It can't be, I thought. That voice sounded just like Fitzgerald's voice, but how in the world would he know my name. I turned around and looked into the most beautiful grayish-blue eyes that I'd ever seen. Y'all, he was even more gorgeous up close! He was like a freaking GQ model! I gave him a quick once over and answered, "Yes?". "Hi. I'm sorry if I scared you," he said with a slight smirk noticing my reddened cheeks. "No, you're good. I'm more scared of the fact that you know my name and I don't know you" I said with a nervous chuckle. "Oh yeah, that probably is weird huh?" he laughed. "I actually only knew your name because you dropped your school ID back in the lecture hall," he said as he extended his hand to give me my card. My eyes became twice as large as normal as I gasped in surprise. "Oh my gosh! I would've been so pissed if I'd gotten home and realized that that was gone. You're a life saver!" I said happily. I reached for the card and my fingers grazed his. It was like I had been electrocuted! I don't know what happened, but I quickly snatched my hand back. I tried to play it off, but he noticed. He didn't say anything though. Okay, just walk away. Don't make this awkward."Well, thanks again," I said looking down at the card. I tried my hardest to avoid eye contact. "No problem. I'm Fitz by the way," he said extending his hand for a handshake. Crap, here comes the awkward. I reached my hand out to shake his, and it was amazing! It was firm, but not too much. And his hand, gosh his hand was almost twice the size of mine. And they were so… manly. I looked down to see that his nails were neatly manicured. It was just sooo perfect. I know it seems like I'm fangirling, but if y'all would've seen him, you would understand. I just held on to his hand until he finally asked me if I was ok. I looked up at him realizing that I had been in that trance again. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm good. Just a long day so I'm pretty tired," I said, telling only a partial truth. He chuckled, "I definitely understand." He looked down at his feet for a second then back at me and said, "So I'm not sure if you heard but I'm new to town and uhhh, I was wondering if maybe you could uhhh…show me around? I mean only if you want to of course. I kind of heard you making plans on the phone, not that I was listening in or anything. I just wanted to make sure you were done talking so I wouldn't interrupt your conversation. Annnnnd now I'm rambling, and I think I should just be quiet". I couldn't help but to laugh at how cute he was. I was so happy to know that he was just as nervous as I was. "I'm sorry. I'll go now," he said after I paused for a second. He started to turn away, but I quickly grabbed his hand. "No, don't go. I would love to show you around!". He looked up surprised. "Really? That would be awesome!". "Yeah, I mean I've been in Cincinnati my whole life so it's only right, right?", I said with a laugh. "Right, right. Thanks so much. Sooo maybe we could do something tomorrow, or is that too soon? I mean, its all up to you" he questioned. I thought for a second.Tuesday…I don't think I have anything planned…yeah that works. "Yeah, tomorrow would be great! Let's meet at the library entrance at around…8ish". "Ok, that works for me! I…" he began to speak. I felt my phone vibrating and saw Abby's face come across my screen and remembered where I was supposed to be. "Oh shoot! This is my friend Abby calling. We're supposed to be having girl's night and she's probably at my door. I'm so sorry, I have to go. Here, give me your phone so I can save my number really quickly and then we can solidify plans later". He quickly handed me his phone and allowed me to punch in my number. I saved it under 'Liv' since he had 2 other Olivia's in his phone. "Here you go!", I said as I handed the phone back. "Bye!", I yelled as I practically ran off. I looked back to see him looking at his phone with a slight smirk on his face. Hmm,I thought with a smile.
I continued to walk quickly and called Abby back. She picked up almost instantly. "Liv, please tell me you haven't left the restaurant," she pleaded. "I actually haven't even gotten there yet," I told her honestly. "Ok good, I …wait. Why aren't you there? You were on your way when we talked and it only takes like 5 minutes to walk down the hill," she said questioningly. "I'll explain later, girl. What do you need?" I asked her, laughing. "Oh yeah, I was gonna ask if you could get an extra egg roll and an extra order of crab rangoons. I'll CashApp you the money". "No, I got it. Just use that money to grab some dove chocolate. You know we can't watch our movie tonight without it," I said semi-seriously. That was our thing; dove milk or dark chocolate squares and extra buttery popcorn. "Oooooh, you're right. I almost forgot our chocolate!" she said with a gasp. "I would've had to kill you! That is a big no-no." We continued our small talk until I got to the restaurant. I walked into the lot and noticed the lights off. Then I remembered it was Monday! "Abby?" I stopped her talking. "What?" she answered quickly. "It's Monday… China Food isn't open today", I said sadly. I was so distracted when we first talked that I forgot about their recent hour change. I was kind of pissed since I'd walked down the hill for no reason. "Seriously?" she asked shocked. "So serious," I responded shaking my head. I turned around and proceeded to walk back up the hill. "Do you have any other food you want?", I asked. "Hmmm, maybe b-dubs? I could go for some wings I guess", she said with a slight sigh. "I really am sorry Abbs. They just changed the hours like a month ago. I forgot since I usually only go when you're here" I said to her sadly. "It's ok! We can just go over the weekend or something. I requested Saturday and Sunday off, so we definitely have to do something anyway" she said. I took a minute to think about what I had to do over the weekend. "Of course! I may be getting my hair braided this weekend if hair Abby is available, but that will be around 7 am. She's supposed to text me later to confirm. Other than that, I think I'm free," I said with a smile. "Ok, we can talk more later when you get home", she replied. "OK! I should be home in like 5 minutes. I think I'm just gonna DoorDash the food because it would be silly to pass the house to go to b-dubs when I can just go home and have someone bring it to me," I said having had enough cardio for the day. "Sounds good!" she said and hung up.
After she got off the phone I looked down and noticed that I had 2 new texts from an unsaved number. The area code was unfamiliar, so I wasn't exactly sure, but I had a feeling that I knew who it was.
805-611-2224: Hey, this is Fitz =-)
805-611-2224: Thanks for agreeing to show me around tomorrow! Did you have any places in mind to go?
I smiled at the messages. I was actually very excited to go out with him
Me: Of course! It would be the least I could do after you returned my life to me, lol. Idk what I would've done without my card.
Me: And how do you feel about ramen?
I sent the message and waited for him to respond. While I waited, I saved his number in my phone under Fitzgerald. I didn't add any emojis or anything right away because that seemed like too much. I then went to the DoorDash app and ordered our favorite foods, getting plenty knowing that we tend to get hungry in the middle of the night. Just as I placed the order, my phone buzzed.
Fitzgerald: I love ramen actually
Me: Awesome! I know this really awesome ramen place! I know we talked about meeting on campus, but I could come pick you up at your place instead since the ramen place is like 20 min from campus.
Suddenly feeling too forward, I sent a second message.
Me: Or I can just send you the address and you can meet me there.
The little typing bubbles appeared almost immediately
Fitzgerald: If it isn't too much trouble a ride would be great. I'm kinda tired of driving, lol
Me: Lol, I understand completely. Just shoot me your addy and I'll see you tomorrow! Is 8 still good?
Fitzgerald: Sounds perfect, see ya then!
I realized that I had a huge smile on my face as I walked up to my door. I keyed into my place and leaned against the door, quickly straightening up when I heard Abby yell for me."Liv is that you?" she asked loudly before walking around the corner, nearly running into me. "Yes, it's me, goofy. Who else has keys besides you and me?" I asked back laughing. "Good point," she laughed. We both reached our arms out to squeeze one another. "I missed you, Red" I said lowly trying to avoid tears as I truly missed my best friend. "Missed you too, cupcake" she said, calling me the name that only she could. We embraced for about one more minute before she heard me sniffling. "Are you crying? Gosh you're such a baby", she said with fresh tears in her eyes. "Shut up!" I yelled as a removed myself and wiped my face.
We both laughed and started to catch up as I headed to my bedroom to put my bag away. "I'm honestly surprised that you haven't tipped over yet with that huge ass book bag. You're so tiny" she said laughing out loud. "Well all of this keeps me weighed down" I said smacking my butt at her. "You're right. Shorty got cake" she said, mocking one of the many stories I told her about guys catcalling on campus. We both laughed and sat down, her on my lounge chair and me on the foot of my bed. I slowly removed my socks and shoes and threw my head back moaning at how good it felt. "Ugh, I hate shoes," I groaned. "You're so weird," Abby laughed. We sat quietly for all of three seconds before Abby began to speak. "Sooo what's new homegirl?". I put my head down and tried not to smile. "Ooooh, you better spill now," she exclaimed after reading my expression. "There's nothing to spill yet, Abbs" I said laughing at her enthusiasm. "So, you're just smiling for no reason?" she questioned. I've always hated that my face speaks louder than my words. She was always able to read me so easily. "Well," I started to say, but the doorbell rang, effectively cutting me off. "Saved by the bell," I said running out of my room. "You're going to spill sooner or later!" Abby yelled from my room. I laughed as I walked to the door. I got the bags of food, which smelled heavenly, and gave the delivery guy a nice tip. Closing the door with my foot, I turned around and walked to the kitchen where Abby was taking out plates and silverware. "What is there to drink short stuff?" she asked. "I have water, green tea, sweet tea, ginger ale, and a few bottles of wine. I may have tequila in the cabinet above the fridge" I said. "Hmmm I think I'll do sweet tea. We can save the alcohol for later," she said with a wicked grin.
We made our plates and went into the living room. We agreed to turn on Friends since we'd seen them all and could talk without really missing anything. As we dug in, Abby started to speak again. "So, are you going to tell me what had you smiling before?" she questioned. I hesitated not wanting to say too much. "Well," I said and paused. "I met a cute guy today and we're going out tomorrow," I spat out quickly. Abby's eyes grew huge as she screamed. "OMG Cupcake! I'm so happy for you! You haven't been out with a guy since …" she stopped noticing me tense up. "Oh, my bad Liv. I'm just really happy for you," she said giving my hand a squeeze. "I'm happy too," I said softly. She squeezed my hand one more time before hooping up off the couch. "Oookay. I'm going to go grab wine and you can pick a movie for us to watch or to watch us," she said with a giggle making her way to the kitchen. I scrolled through the various movie apps before settling on Beyond the Lights. Abby soon came back into the room with a bottle, two glasses, and chocolate. "I love this movie!" she exclaimed after seeing the movie title on the screen. She sat the glasses down and I poured the wine. She grabbed the large fluffy blanket from the back of the couch before tucking herself into the corner and turning off the lamp. She opened the bag of chocolate and sat it between us. I turned off the lamp next to me and we played the movie. As we watched the screen, I ate chocolate and began to drift off thinking about all the ways tomorrow evening would play out. Soon enough we were both asleep.