A/N: Being struck down with the bad C-Virus - but hey, at least I resisted for two years succesfully - I have a lot of time on my hands thanks to very mild symptoms.
Also, I put a poll up on my profile to see what you guys want to see happening during the date. Part of me wants to screw it up a little. But fear not, there's also an option for 'nothing bad happens. Just a perfect date.'
Also, this might be maybe a filler chapter before we move onto the big date. But I also wanted to set a certain tone -and precaution on Steph's side to not just show up in good faith.
For about two days I thought about ways how to best tell my best friend.
It wasn't as if it was a big and bad secret, but somehow I knew telling Mary Lou would result in…complications and questions. A lot of questions. And maybe even expectations.
She had been excited about this whole thing right from the start and was technically also the reason for my excursion into the world of cover shots. If it hadn't been for her, I would never have run into Carlos in the first place, but...well, I had my reservations. I knew she meant no harm and would just be excited and giddy about… well, about everything. And I didn't blame her, but I wasn't entirely certain whether I needed that right now.
I still had my reservations about Carlos' intentions and knew my best friend then I might know myself and I knew she'd see everything with pink glasses on and wouldn't get my reservations and doubts. And it wasn't as if I had a lot of doubts or that they were strong, they simply were justified.
I was not really someone who had a lot of self-confidence issues. I know I was no Cindy Crawford or whichever top model you considered striking beautiful, but I was doing quite alright. Just… Carlos Manoso was above and beyond my standard of beautiful. He was the guy that should have some beach babe model-type by his side, running happily into the sunset with no worries and doubts whatsoever. He belonged on the cover of magazines - the gossip and fashion ones - and not necessarily just books. Not that there was anything wrong with it, just… it felt like it wasn't doing him the justice he deserved.
And while all that sounded like I was selling myself short, I really wasn't. I just didn't understand what a guy like him saw in a girl like me. Let's be honest though, wasn't that a valid thought that probably all of us would have had? So, please don't hold it against me for voicing valid and probably also normal thoughts. After all, we grow up in a society that tells us on covers 'Twenty ways to lose weight fast' or reports about the newest beauty crazes that everyone and their mother should try, criticizing public figures for adding weight or not looking their best for things as mundane and simple as a grocery shopping run or picking up their kids from school. Does anyone really wonder where doubts are coming from when you are subjected to that day in, day out, for years and years to no end? Of course, my mother and everyone in my family don't help either with statements like 'How will you ever find a husband looking like that?'
So, the pressure was on in a way and having a guy like Carlos Manoso, who ticked all the boxes for perfection by society's standards, was certainly not helping for now.
"That's ridiculous," Mary Lou more or less exclaimed, sounding slightly enraged. "I mean… I get your thoughts and doubts, but you can't blame him for any of it."
"I'm not blaming anyone," I tried arguing softly. "I am just trying to rest my case and make a valid point."
"You are being ridiculous," she replied, changing her narrative from the entire situation to me as a person.
„How would you know?" I asked, amused in return. "You don't even know him personally."
"Well… he doesn't seem like someone who'd be shallow and like…like that," she stated, and I smiled even more amused. "Please tell me you are not thinking of not going?" she asked before I could reply to her previous statement. Somehow, she sounded almost alarmed and pleading, as if I was canceling on her.
"I'm not," I said more or less instantly. When she looked even more alarmed, I figured she had gotten my statement wrong. "Canceling. I'm not canceling, I mean," I corrected myself and you could see her letting out a relieved breath. "I just… I wanted to voice at least a few doubts. I know you won't be able to take them away from me and make it all better, but I at least wanted you to not get all scream-y, giddy and giggly about something that might not go any further."
"Or it might," she went on and I rolled my eyes on the inside. It wasn't like I blamed her, but I also didn't need to buy into her excitement. That being said, it wasn't as if I wasn't excited myself, I just tried to curb my enthusiasm in order to avoid disappointment at a later stage.
When I didn't reply to her statement right away, she took that as her sign to carry the conversation on herself. "So… what has been planned?" she asked, looking at me with plenty of hope.
"I… um… well," I started, not sure how me stating I'd be going over to his place might go down with my best friend. It might send her into such a state that she'd start planning a wedding or find names for our children. "He tried making reservations for a place but all seemed booked up already so he… um…suggested we… or he could cook for me at his place," I finally stated and rushed through the last part of my answer. With a little of luck Mary Lou wouldn't catch all of my statement.
Turns out I wasn't lucky. Because got bugged-eyed even before I had finished.
"I… wait, what?" She asked, visibly confused and trying to order her thoughts and well as process what she had just heard. "Did… did you just say that he asked you to come to his place? And that he cooks for you?" she asked and I noticed she was prepping herself for a lengthy statement, which I needed to interrupt and cut short.
"Yes," I confirmed before she could go on. "And that's why I need your help a little," I prompted and saw her nod enthusiastically.
"Anything," she was quick in agreeing. "You need to go shopping? Maybe for something a little sexy and seducing?"
"I don't…. Wait, what? Why would you think I don't already have something in my closet, or that this was my intention in the first place?"
"I know your closet and jeans as well as t-shirts are a staple. Dresses and skirts? Not so much. And why wouldn't you want to look sexy and seducing?"
"Because I don't want to send a message that could be… misinterpreted."
"And what's wrong with that?" she asked confused which confused me since my best friend usually was a little more reserved and old-fashioned.
"While I certainly wouldn't turn him down, I don't want this to be the message right from the start. If things move that direction, alright. But I have no intention of showing up there, looking like this is the only reason why I'm there and it is just a quick hookup for me. I at least want to try to see if this could move somewhere other than a bedroom."
"Okay," Mary Lou replied, seeming like actually got what I was talking about. In a way, I suppose. "So, what do you need me for?" she asked a second later, getting back to my initial request.
"I… this is going to sound odd, but since this is a very different first date and you can never be too careful, I figured I could have you as my safeguard, calling me maybe an hour into the date and making sure that he didn't turn out to be a most wanted Axe murderer or that this date is going downhill very fast. If all fails, I guess I could always have you call me with some made up emergency just in case. Maybe we could arrange for some sort of safe word that you could pick up on in case I drop it. Something that would seem not too suspicious and also a word that you might not just drop easily and get confused with."
"Aren't you a little paranoid, maybe?" she asked cautiously, which confused me. She was usually the one who always wanted to have a failsafe - just in case. And now she was telling me that I was a little too paranoid? Oh, how the fates have shifted. I wasn't entirely certain, but wondered whether her lack of safety was maybe due to the fact of who my date was.
"I drive to a house of a guy I didn't know a few days ago for a date. That usually is the start of a murder scene. One that doesn't end well."
"I guess I get where you are coming from. But… he doesn't seem like that."
"Again, you don't even know him," I reminded her, amused. "All you see right now is… well, this hot guy that you seem to have a slight obsession with. You only see what you want to see. It's the same as if I was… I don't know, dating your favorite musician or actor. You would never think anything bad to come out of it either, because you don't want to see him that way. And I'm not saying he is a bad guy, quiet the opposite actually and he has been nothing but charming and a gentleman so far, but… the thing is, you never know because neither you nor me actually really know him. And if there is one thing we all learned and know by now is that you can't be too careful these days."
"Tell me, Steph, by how you are talking right now, why are you even agreeing to that date to begin with?" Mary Lou asked curiously. "I get what you are trying to say, but… the way you make it sound it surprises me that you are still going to go. Don't you think throwing caution a little to the wind would be such a bad idea? I'm not saying to not be careful to a certain degree, but… well…"
I let out a sigh, knowing what she meant. I was certain, I would be confused as well, were the sides reversed. On one hand I told her I was going on a date with a guy and on the other I sounded like I expected him to turn out to be a serial killer. Conflicted much?
"Let's just agree on you being my backup in case of something happening. That's all I'm asking. Nothing more, nothing less," I said, not caring that I was slightly pleading. I also knew that there was no way she would turn down my request, because she was my best friend and best friends always had each other's backs.
Mary Lou looked at my for a long moment, letting out a huff and nodded a moment later.
"What time did you agree on again?" she asked and I told her we agreed on something around 6:30. "You said he lives in Point Pleasant, right? Do you know how you'll get there?"
A part of me all of a sudden assumed she'd offer to drive me if I didn't come up with a suitable alternative, so I just shrugged. "Like most people get to their date. I'll get a cab. That way I won't have to worry about alcohol and that I need to drive home. And Point Pleasant is busy enough that I should have no issues flagging down a cab to get home should the sudden need arise. Seeing as he mentioned he has a beachfront property should make getting a cab even easier."
Mary Lou just nodded at my idea, seemed happy. "Here's what we're going to do. Text me when the cab drops you off at his place and about an hour after you text I'll call you to check in on you. All we now need is a codeword that you can drop casually to alarm me if something shouldn't be okay. Something that would seem normal enough to say but not make it usually into conversations between the two of us."
"Avocado," I just said, not even trying to hide that I already thought about it. "I hate Avocado's so there is no chance in hell I'd ever talk about them unless to complain."
"What if he serves you a salad with Avocados and you forget about our conversation and just want to complain?" Mary Lou asked and I just stared at her.
"How could I possibly forget about the reason for your call?" I asked amused, seeing her laugh a second later for a full minute.
"Well, you might not even pick up, after all, you might be… busy with other things."
"I am astonished and mortified with your assumptions of me and that evening," I replied, laughing.
"Maybe my assumptions are more directed at Carlos Manoso and his ability to test your resistance," she laughed right back and I wasn't sure whether she wasn't right. Looking at him and judging only by the bit of time I had actually spent with him I was certainly myself: He'd test my resistance, alright!5