Those dots return, but this time the response is immediate.
Baby?
Nicknames and pet names should happen organically.
It did. I chose it.
Fine. You win this round, sir.
Her ‘sir’ does something to me. There’s a tease behind it which makes me want to poke at her some more, to push past the chatter to flirting. This isn’t like me, I don’t usually get flustered this easily, but she’s different. I can sense it.
I set my phone face down on the countertop, trying to rein in my thoughts. Penny has a way of stirring emotions I had long since thought were nothing more than embers.
Mango nudges my calf, coiling around my leg before staring out towards the front room, his gold eyes transfixed by the dying light of the sunset. The long shadows reduced to ghosts on the hardwood floor next to the bay window. He bounds off after the shifting shapes before sitting on the edge of the sill.
My phone chimes, vibrating against the counter.
Baby?
Is Mango okay?
The fact she thought to ask . . .
Mango meows, watching the slow trickle of people crossing in front of our house on their way to whatever lives they have when the day is over.
He’s good. Just soaking up the last bit of sunlight.
Oh there he is. I always wondered about him when I’d see him in the window.
If she can see me, she must be in her bedroom. If memory serves, it’s the only room on their floor to face the street.
I walk across the room and draw back the sheer curtains. Penny waves down at me, her phone in her other hand.
This position feels too vulnerable. I wave, then take a couple of steps back and continue observing her from the shadows. Her expression falls as soon as I’m out of view and a barb sticks directly between my ribs.
I can’t deny I’ve been drawn to Penny for months. Like a moth to a flame. Finally, being able to talk to her, to have a full conversation and see her smile, to hear her unguarded laughter, feels like a dream come true. This is already more than a simple crush.
How is this going to work?
The plan is to drive up to my parents’ house in Arbor Ridge the day before Christmas Eve and stay at least until after the family party to keep them off my back until next year.
That’ll be easy. If we’re gonna be convincing as boyfriend and girlfriend, we’re going to need a backstory of how we met.
You’re right. What do you have in mind?
Okay, so I’m getting greedy, but I need to see her again. I don’t want to spend these entire three weeks playing phone tag and potentially letting the woman of my dreams slip between my fingers. Oh, where didthatcome from?
We should meet up this weekend if you’re free and talk it out in person. In the tabletop world, we’d call it a session zero. It’ll be a chance to get our stories straight and go over boundaries just to make sure everyone is comfortable.
Penny stares at the text for a few moments, her fingers moving across the screen as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. The dots bounce on the screen in time with her efforts.
Do you mean like a test date?
It isn’t what she was typing. I wonder what she had been ready to send but decided against it.
Yes, a test date.
The phone vibrates in my hand immediately.
