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Sorry, honey, not that mine was made of gold or anything, but if he was ever to pick one, I’d hope it would be me.
I feared she was one step away from drugging his drink and raping him to prove her point. The crazy wasthattangible in her eyes.
"Hey, Lenn. I'm sorry, okay? I'm just surprised. That’s all. I didn’t mean to be a jerk. We usually do these things together. And after everything that happened with your pen pal, I just thought you were done with trusting the internet. Okay?"
I could hear the hurt in his voice, and I instantly felt horrible. I had hidden it from him on purpose. The pen pal being the biggest reason, another pain I didn't want to relive. Sighing, I looked up at him. He was giving me his kicked puppy dog look, and I caved. How could you resistthatlook?
"I know. I know. I just thought, I don’t know,” I paused, shrugging my shoulders, “maybe if no one knew my date ended in a disaster, then maybe it wouldn't hurt as bad."
His face fell, a look of guilt crossing it for a brief second before this trademark smile returned. "I get it, Lenn. I do. You can tell me, though. I promise not to make fun. You know, for at least a whole hour." Simon laughed, not even able to keep a straight face, and I threw my pen at him.
"Ha, Ha. Why am I friends with you again?"
"Because you love me."
"Yeah, I do. I love you, Si."
I tried to hide my true feelings, but I could've sworn a look of lust flitted in his eyes at my words. Simon had been all over the place today, sending me weird signals. I didn't know how to deal with it.
"I have an idea," he started. "Let's grab Chinese for dinner and have a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills marathon. Just the two of us."
And this was why having a gay best friend was the best. Smiling, I nodded, scared to let my emotions leak through my voice.
"Your ends could use a touch up too. You want to pop over to my chair before we head home?"
Picking up the turquoise ends of my hair, I looked at them critically before realizing he was right. Simon was a magician and the curator of my look. He did my hair for free in exchange for having carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with it. When he'd suggested doing a turquoise ombre look, I’d thought he’d finally lost it, but it had become my favorite. My hair was naturally dark and wavy, but he managed to make me look cuter than I felt most days.
Good hair was the best confidence booster.
Nodding, I checked the time and realized I had about two hours left. There hadn't been too many piercings today, making it slow. I filled the time doing odd jobs around the shop, keeping the schedule, and answering the phones when I wasn't stabbing people. When I had all that done, then I read, drew, or played on my phone. As much of a fartknocker Slade was, at times, with other things, he didn't micromanage. Whether it was to avoid me or not, I didn’t care to explore.
"Yeah, sounds perfect. Hopefully, Crystal will be gone by then too."
We both grimaced at her name. While shelovedSimon, she hated me for being his best friend, and in the moments she was lucid in her crazy obsession and believed he was gay, blamed me for it. It was ludicrous, but not a thought I hadn’t had myself. Being reminded of it by her put me in a sour mood. She was a brand of crazy I didn’t have the patience for today.
"Okay, babe. I'll see you then."
Simon smiled, kissing my cheek before walking toward the back exit. I spun around again and leaned against the counter as I watched him walk away. I hated how it felt like he took a piece of me with him each time he left, and I feared at some point, he wouldn’t return it to me.
Once he was out the door, I twirled around again and stared at my bag like it might bite me. Biting my lip, I pulled out my phone and clicked the app open. I stared at the picture of the guy with brown hair, brown eyes, and a kind smile. He appeared reasonably sane and at least had a job, even if it was washing windows.
Deciding not to overthink it, I typed in a message and hit send.
Noxbooks:I'd love to. How about tomorrow night at Rookies we grab drinks?
TimSqueegeeClean: Right on. Sounds like a solid idea. 7 pm?
Noxbooks:Sure. I'll see you there.
TimSqueegeeClean:It’s going to be lit, babe!
Sighing, I didn't feel as elated as I'd expected at the prospect of dating. Forcing myself to think positive, I sent happy vibes out into the world that it would go well.
If online dating was a bust, I was becoming a nun.
Fixing my hair,I twisted one more piece and placed a bobby pin. The color popped after Si had touched it up, and I was in love with the vibrance. I might not be able to style it as well as Simon, but over the years, I'd taught myself some tricks. YouTube and reality shows counted as formal classes in my book.
Tonight, I'd chosen to go with a twisty braid bun that pulled most of it off my neck. It was humid today and having my hair down guaranteed sweat would be rolling down my boobs in under two minutes flat.
