79"Emmy?"
"Huh?" she asked as she turned to Ben.
"I've been repeating the same question 3 times. Are you okay?" he asked, concern written all over his face as he looked at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine. Fine. Definitely fine. The complete definition of fine. Yep. Fine," she said, giving him what was suppose to be a reassuring smile.
Ben laughed. It was a good sound. Over the last week, Emmy learned she loved the way he laughed. But today, she was still thinking about Josh and last night. Every time she thought about it, she felt like hitting herself over the head with a shovel and burying herself 5 miles underground so she would never see Josh again. Luckily, this morning, he wasn't there when she woke up.
"Wow. That was completely reassuring," he said as he stole some of her chocolate chip cookie.
"Hey! That's mine!" she yelled, snapping out of her daze and grabbing at the cookie that was already halfway in his mouth.
"No it isn't," he said in between bites as he swatted her hands away. "I bought it for you with my money so technically, it's mine."
Emmy pouted. "You bought it for me."
"So? It's still mine," he smiled triumphantly.
"Fine then," and with the quick hands of a surgeon, she grabbed his double fudge brownie and stuffed her face.
"Ugh, you are so disgusting to watch," Ben said with a grimace as he looked at the fudge and chocolate covering her mouth.
"Yougah merp doisdigstin."
"Should I pretend like I understood that ladylike speech?" he asked sarcastically. Then he smiled as she tried to glare with her mouth full. She looked like a constipated monkey. A cute constipated monkey.
Emmy swallowed and continued to glare as she took a sip of her coffee.
"So anyways, what's wrong with you? All morning you were acting weird and dazed," he asked as he took a bite of his chocolate muffin. Today, Emmy picked all the food they ordered and everything had fudge or chocolate in it. She loved chocolate like it was the most wonderful thing in the world.
"Nothing," she said gloomily, now practically drowning herself in the coffee.
"Emmy, I feel hurt that you don't consider me your bff and tell me everything," he said with an adorable pout that made Emmy smile. Ben looked like a little puppy, begging for his treat.
"We're known each other for a week," she pointed out. "And bff? Are you some preteen girl in disguise or something?"
"Ouch. That hurt," he said with a smile.
She lightly punched him. "So what was the question you were asking me?'
"I wanted to know what you were doing tonight."
"Really?" she asked, brightening up with a smile.
"Yeah because we can hang out with some of the other doctors. I'm having a party at my apartment and you're invited," he said casually.
"Oh," she said disappointedly.
"Why did you expect me to ask you out on a big date?" he teased.
Now Emmy blushed red. "No. Of course not…" she said into her coffee.
Ben smiled triumphantly. "So can you make it tonight?"
"Tonight? Can't. Tonight's spaghetti night. Josh makes his famous spaghetti and if I'm not home, he'll be really angry," Emmy said. Just talking about it makes her drool.
"Josh? Whose Josh?" Ben asked suspiciously.
"My roommate. Why? Are you jealous?" she said with a smirk.
"Jealous? Of course I am!" he said. Emmy knew he was faking. Ben didn't get jealous.
"Why are you living with a guy?"
"Oh no reason at all…" she trailed off. Sensing she needed to change the subject, Ben did exactly as she wanted.
"Okay, so if me and a block of chocolate were going to be consumed by a dinosaur and you could only save one of us, who would it be?" he asked.
She thought seriously for a moment and actually considered the question, which made Ben want to fall on the floor, clutch his stomach and laugh nonstop. But he knew that would offend her so he didn't and waited with a serious face.
"How big is the block of chocolate?" she asked seriously.
That made Ben laugh.
"Hey, it wasn't funny," she said. "It was a serious question."
"If it were anyone but you, I wouldn't think it was a serious question."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Nothing. Okay, it's a block of chocolate that is my size. How's that?" he said with a smile.
After about a minute, Emmy finally came to a conclusion. "I would save you, I guess."
"Thank you. And may I ask why?" he said, lips quivering as he was holding back the laughter.
"Because if I saved you, you would buy me so much more chocolate and brownies and fudge and caramel and everything good," she said truthfully. Emmy knew the answer would make him laugh and laugh he did.
"Good to know I'm appreciated," he said sarcastically.
"But I like you for you too," Emmy said quickly, seeing the serious look on Ben's face.
"Just like me?" he asked with a pout.
"I really really like you?" she said hopefully.
Ben smiled and he hugged her across the table, taking Emmy by surprised as she squeaked.
"I really really like you too," he said, not letting her go.
A couple of hugs and three more chocolate chip cookies later, Emmy was sitting on her bed, pouring over her text books and chatting with Susie on the phone.
"So you got the invitations?" asked Susie.
"Yeah I did."
"Okay so it's all set up. Come to the country club. The bridesmaid dress will be there. You don't have to do any fittings because I gave them your size. So Jack and I will pick you up in Jack's truck cause we're visiting my folks in New Jersey anyways. My dad wants to have dinner with Jack, which really means he just wants to shoot him."
Emmy laughed. "Sounds like fun."
"Yeah tons," and Emmy could picture Susie rolling her eyes this very second. "So are you bringing Josh?"
"I don't know…" Emmy said as she bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up in high school.
"What do you mean? Aren't you like best friends or whatever? Did you guys have a fight?"
"Well… it wasn't exactly a fight, per say. It was just…"
"Oh my god! Did you guys kiss?" Susie shrieked.
"What?" Emmy shrieked back. "No, of course not!"
"Oh… then why are you all awkward and everything?"
"Okay I'll tell you but promise me you wont make any weird comments like Josh and I should kiss or start dating or whatever."
"Ugh fine I promise," Susie said with what Emmy would imagine as another roll of her eyes.
"Okay, so last night, Josh and I had a movie night and we watched a very scary movie that he picked and I kind of got very scared," Emmy said really fast.
"So I was practically on his lap for the whole entire night. And then we went to bed and I couldn't sleep because I kept on thinking there were monsters under my bed and in my closet so I ran into Josh's room. And well, he said I would sleep in his bed. But then I realized he didn't have a shirt on!"
"So?"
"What do you mean so?" Emmy asked, exasperated.
"You've seen him tons of times without shirts on. So have I. He goes around shirtless a lot," reasoned Susie.
"Yeah but this time, I was in bed with him. Isn't that odd?"
"Not especially. Remember that time when he came to visit and I came home to you guys sleeping on the couch and he didn't have a shirt on then either," Susie said.
"Yeah but I don't know. I guess its just weird now. I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's what you said last time. It might've just gotten me all weird and everything. Ugh I hate this. And then Ben is flirting nonstop and it's getting weird too with him. And he won't ask me out. I don't know why but he wont ask me out."
"I thought you said Ben liked you and asked you out the first day," Susie stated.
"He did… but now he isn't and I kind of wanted him to ask me out." Emmy said nervously. She liked Ben. She liked Ben a lot. But besides the constant flirting, he hasn't once even talked about asking her out and it was bothering her. Also, there were rumors that he was dating a nurse. And Emmy didn't like that at all.
"Do you like him?"
"Well duh. That's why I want him to ask me out. I get all tingly and happy when he's around. He makes me laugh and he teases me and hugs me. I love that," Emmy said as she started on her left foot. She was using her lime green nail polish. They were to match the dress she had that Josh loved.
"So why don't you just ask him out?" Susie reasoned.
"Because… it would make me sound very desperate. I mean first, I turn him down and now a week later, I'm asking him out? He'll think I'm a lunatic." Emmy added quickly, "And don't say I am."
"Well you are! Just ask the guy out. He clearly likes you or else he wouldn't be flirting with you all the time," Susie said.
"Ugh, stop being so smart."
The fact that Susie was always right and reasonable annoyed Emmy to no end. Susie was the perfect, sarcastic, sensible heroine Emmy could never be. All the stories out there are about these girls. The girls that don't like baking, aren't into make-up or anything like that, but still for some darn reason, look beautiful anyways and all the guys love them because they are original and have no makeup, and wouldn't be caught dead painting their nails. They would probably be off reading in a library or making guys fall in love with them without realizing it. Emmy sighed. She was so not that kind of person. She was probably the best friend of the main character of a story who was bubbly and happy and ridiculously lacking common sense and always tripping and being clumsy and gushing over every possible guy out there. And those main character girls are always sarcastic and witty and cynical and pessimistic. Seriously. Read any story out there. But now that she thought about it, Josh would be the perfect heroine in a romance novel.
"Stop sighing and sounding so depressed," Susie said.
"I just reached an epiphany. I can never be the main character of any romance novels. I'm so not that kind of person. I am so for the role of the evil cheerleader or the dumb blond."
"What are you talking about?" Susie asked, exasperated. "How the hell did you change the subject from Ben to being the main character of a romance novel? Emmy where the hell is that head of yours?"
"Sorry. Anyways, what do I do about Ben besides asking him out?" Emmy asked.
"Well you can try to make him jealous by flirting with another guy. I don't know if that'll work but that's how Jack finally asked me out. I flirted with one of his friends and he got so jealous that he kissed me that same night and told me I couldn't talk to any one of his male friends anymore."
"So I should try to make him jealous?" Emmy asked.
"Yeah. Like is anyone around your work place that you can flirt with?"
"No. And Ben isn't the jealous type. Josh is more the jealous type. He got jealous of you when I said you were one of my best friends," Emmy said with a chuckle as she remembered when Josh called Susie the devil that stole the soul of their friendship.
"Well try it out. Who knows? It might work. Okay, I got to go. I'm cooking Jack dinner."
"Okay see you in a week at the wedding," Emmy said. To bring Josh or to bring Ben? That is the question.
Josh had the worst day in the world. First of all, last night was just hell. Emmy in his bed in just a tank top and pajama bottoms made his breath catch but her slender fingers wrapped around him just made him forget how to breathe. For the two minutes that she was wrapped around him, Josh froze and didn't think he breathed at all. All he heard was the thumping of his heart and he hoped to whatever gods out there that she didn't hear it. It certainly woke him up. And then, as soon as it came, it disappeared. She took her hands away and shifted all the way to the other side of the bed without a word.
Needless to say, he didn't get a wink of sleep that night. All he could think about was the fact that he wanted to touch her but he couldn't. She was barely two feet away from him but all he could think about was she. The way her skin feels. The color of her eyes and hair. He had counted sheep up to the millions and then proceeded to think about anything that would keep his mind off of Emmy. His grandmother, mice, the power rangers…literally anything under the world that had nothing to do with the fact that Emmy was a mere two feet next to him. He felt like his heart was going to explode. He needed to see a therapist about this. He had never felt like this ever. Maybe it was a disorder with his heart? Maybe he should see a cardiologist? Ugh he knew letting her live with him was absolutely the worst decision ever.
He woke up at dawn and took a long cold shower before he went to work. For the first time in three years, he went to work early.
And then throughout the day, he could not stop thinking about her. He mentally cursed himself about every five seconds.
That night, he didn't go home at eight as he usually did these days. He went out with a bunch of coworkers and for the first time since Emmy moved in, he ate out. When he realized this, he felt absolutely disgusted. Emmy was changing his life, the life he loved with an absolute passion. He used to eat out every night and now, he was home at eight on the dot and cooking her dinner? He used to party until dawn and now he was coming to work early? He used to sleep with every girl that looked hot above the age of eighteen and now he promised he wouldn't sleep with anyone until he dated? What the hell? Josh's bachelor life was literally over. He was living with a woman. Worse, it was like he was married to her and yet he couldn't even touch her. Who came up with these rules?
Neon lights and blaring music surrounded Josh as he went to get a drink at the bar. He checked out all the girls. Some were pretty. The one at the bar a couple of seats down was especially pretty. She had black silky hair and the most beautiful violet eyes. He had seen those eyes before.
"Hi," he said as he sipped his drink.
"Hi yourself," she said with a smile. She had been watching him all the way until he walked up to the bar.
"Elizabeth wasn't it?" he asked.
"Yes it was," she replied huskily. Who knew a kindergarten teacher could be husky? Then she raised an eyebrow and studied the way he looked in his black shirt and his jeans. Apparently she liked what she saw.
"James was it? Or Jason?" she asked as she moved a chair over.
Josh knew she was playing with him. She knew perfectly well what his name was.
Well two can play at that game. "I can be whomever you want," he replied. Cheesy but it got the job done as she started to smile.
"I think I want you to be Josh."
"Then Josh it is," he said as he raised a hand for her to shake.
Three drinks and half an hour later, they were grinding in the middle of the dance floor. Josh liked her. She was pretty, smart, witty and good with words. He couldn't believe she was a kindergarten teacher. She should be a model or a writer or whatever. She was smarter than most of the other girls Josh had dates with or danced with or slept with. The had spent at least ten minutes talking about politics. He could never talk with Emmy about politics. Emmy probably didn't even know who the Speaker of the House was.
And plus, Elizabeth was very hot.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked him as they stepped out of the dance floor and walked to one of the couches that lined the walls.
"I'm cursing your curves," he said with a smirk.
"I don't fall for lines you know," but she was smiling with pleasure.
"But you do fall for my witty one liners and my way with words." Then he added as an afterthought, "And definitely my hot body as well."
"You are so vain," she said with a giggle.
"That I think this song is about me?" Josh said without thinking.
"What?" Elizabeth said, puzzled. Suddenly, Josh realized he wasn't talking with Emmy.
"Oh nothing. It's just a song. You're so vain. Never mind," he said. It was Emmy's favorite song.
"Oh, I've never heard of it," she said.
"It's old. So when's your exhibit that Evan was talking about?" Josh said, quickly changing the subject. It was getting uncomfortable.
"This weekend. I think Evan has invited both you and your friend. Will I see you there?"
"That depends how close we get tonight," he said as he moved in and kissed her.
And she kissed him back.
Somehow, it was getting to be a better day.
A/N: yay! Thanks for all the reviews! I love you all! Review more and I might update faster...Do it now!