Greetings, readers!
I'm procrastinating writing an essay that's due tomorrow, so guess what that means ... chapter for you! ;)
I hope you enjoy, please review and tell me your thoughts! :)
"He's looking at you, Carra!" Alicia half squealed, half whispered into her friend's ear.
Carra shook her head at Alicia in exasperation. "If I listened to you, you'd have me thinking every male I encounter did nothing but stare at me!"
"Okay, don't listen. But you could miss out because you don't pay attention! Don't get mad at me for paying attention for you," returned Alicia sagely.
"How many times do I have to tell you, child, I am not looking for a boyfriend. That's the last thing I need to be concentrating on," said Carra determinedly.
"You can't punish yourself forever," Alicia whispered tentatively.
Carra turned to her friend, eyes flashing. "I'm not punishing myself, Alicia! I just need to concentrate on finishing my degree, so I can–"
"Ladies, could we have a word?"
The girls looked up to see Rob and Josh standing behind them. Alicia jumped up and threw her arms around Rob.
"Look at the big executive come back to visit all the little people!" she exclaimed.
Rob laughed. "Well, you know, I've gotta remember where I came from!" He turned his attention to Carra. "How are you these days?" he asked, his voice softening.
"I'm great! It's so good to see you," returned Carra, rising for her hug.
"Well, girls, let me introduce you to my friend, Josh Groban. Josh, this is Alicia Thierry and Carra James."
Greetings and handshakes were exchanged all around.
"Uh, 'Licia, would you come over here with me for just a second?" Rob asked mysteriously, pulling Alicia away and leaving Josh and Carra to stand at the piano alone. Carra felt her face growing hot and knew she was blushing. Would Rob never give up playing matchmaker for her?
"It appears we've been deserted," Josh said easily.
"I think I know what's going on here," Carra said with an embarrassed smile.
"Does Rob constantly try to set you up, too?" Josh asked, laughing when she nodded. "I thought that was just me! I guess I'm not as special as I thought I was."
This made Carra laugh. "Rob's a compulsive matchmaker. I don't think he can help it!"
"He mentioned he dated you while you were in college here together," Josh said slowly.
"Yeah, we did! But we'd always been more like brother and sister, even before that. I don't know whatever gave us the idea we should date!" Carra said.
"Well, I'd hate for all his trouble to go for nothing."
Carra looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Since he put forth the effort to get us to talk and all, I was wondering if you have any plans for lunch when we're done here?"
Carra looked at him thoughtfully. What the heck? she thought to herself. "No, I hadn't really thought that far ahead yet," she said.
Josh's chocolaty eyes lit up. Carra hadn't noticed before what a deep brown they were. "Well, I'd love to take you out for lunch, maybe get to know you a little better …?"
All of a sudden, Carra was a little afraid. Don't be an idiot, she thought. Has it been so long you've forgotten how to talk to a man?
"I'd love to have lunch with you."
"Hey you two, we're all going out to lunch!" Rob exclaimed, coming over and putting an arm around each of them.
"Oh? Who is 'we?'" asked Carra.
"Well the four of us of course! Me, Alicia, Josh, and you!" he said with a grin.
Carra glanced at Josh and saw him giving her the tiniest smile. Without knowing exactly why, she felt like laughing hysterically. So much for a quiet lunch!
Secretly though, Carra was actually somewhat relieved that Rob and Alicia would be along too. It had been so long since she'd been on a date, the mere thought frightened her a little. But of course this wasn't even supposed to be a date when it was just the two of us, she thought as she gathered her music back into her messenger bag. Why on earth would Josh Groban want to go on a date with me anyway? He probably just wanted to get a rise out of Rob, making him think his matchmaking was finally working!
"Ready to go?" Carra turned to see Josh standing behind her, a friendly smile on his face.
"All set!" she answered, smiling back. The foursome went outside to where Rob's car was parked, having decided to pile in with him for the ride to the restaurant they'd agreed on for lunch. Carra stopped at her own car to leave her bag and jacket, and then they were off.
Over steaming plates of spaghetti at a small Italian restaurant, the foursome talked mostly about the time Rob, Carra, and Alicia had shared as students pursuing their bachelor's degree in music. They told stories on each other amid much laughter, and Rob and Alicia managed to convey much about Carra to Josh without Carra realizing it, which had been their plan all along. They had been witness to the horrible ordeal Carra had experienced with her last boyfriend, almost two years ago, and both of them wanted to see her happy with someone again. Rob was firmly convinced that Josh was that someone, and Alicia was perfectly willing to go along with him, not immediately seeing anything to turn her against Josh.
On their way out Josh hung back a little bit, hoping Carra would follow his lead. His interest in her was piqued, and he now sincerely wanted to get to know her better. To his delight, she fell back to walk out beside him.
"I was wondering … would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" he asked, the words tumbling out in a rush. He had been getting up the courage to ask her out the whole time they'd been eating lunch.
Carra looked at him sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, Josh, but I can't," she said, genuinely sounding sorry.
"Oh, well, if you have other plans –"
"No, no, it's not like that! I just … I just have some work to do tonight. I'll see you tomorrow at rehearsal, okay?" She flashed him her beautiful smile again.
"Okay, yeah. See you tomorrow," he returned, trying not to look as disappointed as he felt.