Cam hated it when I tried to interruptourtime with meaningless nonsense, which of course didn’t apply when he was busy texting or playing a game on his phone.
Dom and I had spent the next two hours sitting like that, me on the floor in front of him while he played with my hair or rubbed my back. By the time he had gently nudged me to ask if I wanted to eat dinner with him, I had finished two more chapters. Definitely needing a break from staring at my screen, we made dinner together in my kitchen. Everything about the last two days felt more normal than it probably should have. Having just met him, there probably should be more awkwardness but all our conversations flowed naturally. It was like we had known each other for longer than we have.
By the end of Sunday afternoon, having fooled around inalmostevery room of my condo, I was a little sad when he had to go and pick up some things for work tomorrow. It wasn’t until he left, and I was straightening the living room up that I realized he never mentioned what he did for work.
I make a mental note to ask him whenever I see him next.
It’s now eight o’clock at night and Dom has been gone for two hours, it feels weird to miss having him around. Not liking the quiet of being here alone while also not liking that I’m already missing someone I just met, so I decided to send Paige a text asking her if she’s busy. It might be late, but she has always been up for impromptu sleepovers.
I’m straightening a throw blanket over the back of my couch when my phone starts ringing. Assuming it’s Paige, I answer without looking at the screen.
“Can you bring ice cream on your way over?” My dad’s chuckle has me stopping in my tracks.
“I mean, I hadn’t planned on coming into the city tonight but if you absolutely need it, sure.” His answer throws me off and causes me to stumble over my words in response.
“I uh, well I had assumed that um… I thought you were Paige calling me.” He half-heartedly laughs in response.
“I figured as much.”
“So… what’s up?” I fidget with the edge of the blanket.
“I was calling to see if you would like to have dinner tomorrow.” He pauses. “Or sometime this week to catch up.”
His invitation throws me off. I’ve only seen him once when I first got into the city. We’ve never had dinner, just the two of us, and while I’m beyond grateful for everything he’s doing to help me out with a place to live… I still feel awkward from this invitation.
“Umm…sure? Is everything okay?” Maybe he has bad news that should be told in person. It would be just my luck that he would get sick just as we reconnect.
His laugh has me hopeful that he’s healthy though.
“Everything is good. I have a team announcement tomorrow that I’m really pumped for, so I was thinking we could celebrate and catch up if you were free.”
That was definitely not something I had been expecting, and while I know this dinner will start off awkwardly, I can appreciate the effort he is putting in.
“Uh…sure. I mean, yes. We can go to dinner tomorrow.”
“Perfect!” He sounds genuinely shocked and excited. “Since I’ll be on this side of the city, I can meet you after I’m finished with the press announcement. Unless you had somewhere else you had in mind.”
“I don’t know any of the good places, so you tell me where and when to meet you.”
“Ok! I’ll text you the details in the morning. See you tomorrow.”
Hanging up the phone, unsure of how to feel about having dinner with my dad I focus on Paige’s response and filling her in as I head to my bedroom.
Paige:
Can’t come over :( Have to be at work for a meeting at 8am.
Me:
Ew.
Me:
Dad just invited me to dinner. Weird, right?
Paige:
Kinda? Is he dying?
