Chapter 4
Three days after the embarrassing incident, Sophie texted me. [Alex's inviting us to dinner this weekend. You coming?]
I stared at the message, lost in thought.
What was his game?
Was this a setup?
Was he planning to embarrass me in person?
Or was he here to watch me crash and burn?
"Is Alex going to be there?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
"Obviously, he's the host. Why wouldn't he be there?" Sophie shot back.
"Well, then I'm not going."
"Emily!" Sophie sent over a bunch of voice messages. "Come on, are you out of your mind? This is your golden chance to apologize.
"That phone call was seriously awkward. Don't you want to clear things up in person? If you don't, are you planning to let him think you're a total weirdo whenever he thinks about you?"
I went quiet.
She kind of made sense.
"So... what am I supposed to say?" I asked.
"Say you thought I was the one who answered the phone that day, and you slipped up accidentally. Tell him you hope he doesn't mind," Sophie replied.
"That's it?"
"What else do you want to say?"
I clutched my phone, my heart skipping a beat.
What did I want to say?
I wanted to tell Alex I didn't mean for him to hear those things. I was so used to ranting to Sophie, and I swore I was not usually like this.
I wanted to tell him I was really hesitant when I bought that lingerie. I wasn't sure if it was too sexy, but it looked great, so I bought it anyway. Then I regretted it, so I asked Sophie for her opinion.
I wanted to tell him I actually cared a lot that he heard all that, because his opinion mattered to me.
I wanted to tell him I'd liked him since my junior year of college. It had been six whole years. I'd liked him so much, I barely knew who I was anymore.
But could I really say all that?
No way.
[Nothing,] I typed. [I was just asking.]
Sophie sent an eye-roll emoji. "Saturday at 6 PM, at my place. Don't be late."
Sophie's home was really Alex's place too.
They were locals. When their parents were around, they stayed in the old house, but since their folks were always off traveling abroad, most of the time Alex had the place to himself.
Sophie would sometimes swing by for a free meal.
We'd been there a few times before, and Sophie always dragged me along.
But this time, things were different.
This time, I was going there to make amends.
Saturday came, and I must've changed clothes five times, freaking out over every little detail.
In the end, I went with a turtleneck sweater, bundling myself up so tight you'd think I was hiding from the world.
Before leaving, I spent forever in front of the mirror, checking to make sure there wasn't a hint of my underwear showing. Only then did I finally breathe a little easier.
But the whole way there, I was still a nervous wreck.
My palms were sweating, my heart was racing, and my mind was spinning with a million different scenarios for how this meeting could go.
Was he going to bring up that day the moment I walked in?
Was he going to try to embarrass me on purpose?
Or maybe he didn't want to see me at all, and he was only doing this because of Sophie.
When I finally got to the door, I took a deep breath and rang the bell.
Sophie opened the door.
She shot me a look, her expression subtle. "Come on in."
I slipped off my shoes and stepped inside, and the first thing I saw was Alex sitting in the living room.
He was on the couch, remote in hand, idly flipping through channels.
When he heard me come in, he looked up.
It was like the look he gave me six years ago at the dorm entrance.
My heart skipped a beat, then started racing like crazy.