Splice: Do you have time to meet for coffee today?
He watched the dots dancing.
Then they stopped. Restarted. And stopped.
If he were text-savvy, he’d know what that shit meant. But suddenly there were no more moving dots, and no reply came. Frowning, Splice waited, holding his phone like a teenage girl excited for a response.
Scoffing at what he was doing, he rolled to his feet and shoved the phone into a pocket.
“Later, bro,” he told Tomb, raising a hand to Devil working in the far bay. He took a stroll to his bike. He felt his phone buzz halfway to the car wash, but Splice had to wait twenty minutes to check it. He should be embarrassed for how fast he pulled out his phone, or for the sloppy way he grinned seeing Lisa’s name on the screen.
Lisa: I have a lot on my to-do list today.
He kind of expected that answer, and it didn’t discourage him.
Splice: I’ll call you sometime later.
Lisa: What for?
Splice grinned. He bet she was frowning at her phone right now. He liked the idea of keeping her guessing. So, he left the texting there for now.
Ten minutes later, as he walked through the car wash, making sure everyone was doing what they were paid to do, a new text arrived.
Lisa: Ryan?
Lisa: Why do you want to call me?
Splice: Because you want to talk to me.
Lisa:
It wasn’t a denial.
On Splice went with his day.
There was only one hiccup when he had to play the hard boss with one arrogant prick who wasn’t pulling his weight and harassing the female manager. He fired the guy on the spot and waited around until he left.
“Get hold of me if he comes around causing issues, yeah?” he informed the girl.
“Thanks, Splice. I didn’t wanna bother you with it.”
“It’s what I’m here for.” He told her and went to his next check-in.
Throughout the day, he sent Lisa random messages, and she responded to each one.
More text messages than he’d sent all fucking year. And here he was, sipping a black coffee in the diner, while he waited for his lunch to come out, trying to write something to make her send him those laughing faces again.
Splice: I’m having dinner over at Tomb and Nina’s later. Have you told Nina that you know me?
Lisa: .....
Lisa: Not yet. I wasn’t sure how to bring it up since I hadn’t mentioned it at their wedding.
Splice: I’ll let her know.
Lisa: Noooo, Ryan!
Splice: Are you ashamed to admit knowing me? I’m crushed as fuck. Is it because I can’t skateboard anymore?
