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Chapter Ten: I Want A Do-Over


I went out that night again and evened up the score between Chris and I with a ditzy chick at a club. We'd gone back to her apartment and I snuck out after she fell asleep and texted Chris from the backseat of the cab on my way home. When the cab drove past Fresh Oasis, I glanced at the glow of the overnight security lights in the window, and wondered what Becky had thought when she came back from the kitchen and found I'd obeyed her commands. I wondered what she'd think of me now, riding home in a cab after using some random chick from a club to win the first pick for life prize from Chris.

The house was too big when I got home. I signed onto WOW and searched for Neryls only to discover she'd unfriended me. I sent her a new friend request but if she was online and received it, she didn't respond.

I consulted her schedule, glad that I'd kept it, and set my alarm for the next morning.

I was waiting outside of Fresh Oasis the next morning same as I'd done the day before. This time I was alone. Becky paused at the door, a black apron already tied around her this time, her badge already stuck to her chest. She hesitated, staring out the glass at me, then sighed, rolled her eyes, and unlocked the door. "What do you want?" she asked.

"A large blueberry smoothie," I answered.

She stepped outside and lowered the awning, then went in and I followed her. She stepped behind the counter. "Large, huh? You came to terms with the either/or ordering system?"

"Large just takes longer to drink," I replied.

She started making the drink and I tossed ten bucks onto the counter and walked over to a table and settled myself in. When she'd finished making the drink, she turned and hit some buttons on the register, then carried my change and the drink back to me. She put the drink down, but before she could drop the bills and coins I said, "Keep the change."

"What are you doing, exactly?" she asked. She didn't hesitate to pocket the money, though.

"Having a breakfast smoothie," I replied. I lifted the cup and took a long sip of blueberry goodness.

"You're like... stalking me," she muttered.

"I'm not stalking you," I replied.

"Are, too," she answered.

I shook my head.

"Then why are you here?"

"I want a do-over," I said. To be completely honest, I wasn't sure what I was doing there until the moment that the words had come out. It had been something that I'd done on a whim - almost without thinking, almost naturally - and I hadn't fully thought through where I was going with it. But now, with just four, I guess technically five, words, I was John Cusack with a boom box held aloft, In Your Eyes blaring across Ione Skye's backyard.

Becky blinked back surprise, "A do-over? What are you, a five year old playing Monopoly Junior?"

"You thought the rondevous was a date," I said, "So lemme show you a date."

"Bullshit." She turned and walked back behind the counter and I heard her dismantle the blender and toss it into a sink. She looked back at me. "You didn't think it was a date," she said, "Why the hell would you wanna make it a date now?"

"Because," I said, "I desperately wanna prove you wrong."

She raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

Becky disappeared again. Water ran. The blender banged around in the sink. I could only just see the back of her head as she worked. I leaned back in my chair, put my feet up on the chair opposite me. The door dinged and another person came in the shop with a handful of squealing monsterous children. Becky took their orders and made the smoothies and handed them over. A guy came in carrying an orange apron and wearing a Fresh Oasis hat. I recognized him as Johnny - the one I was supposed to order from on the rondevous day - and he nodded to Becky as he headed through the beaded curtain.

Once the family was all settled at a big table across the room from me, Becky came out from behind the counter and stood beside me. "When?"

"Tonight," I replied.

She chewed her lip. "...Where."

"It's a surprise. You can just meet me here."

Becky hesitated. "Are you a good driver?"

"What?"

"How many tickets have you been given in the past?" she asked.

"I dunno... why? What're you --"

"I'm trying to decide if you're driving or if I am. I think I am, if you don't even know how many tickets you've been given."

"Is this a yes?" I asked.

Becky took a deep breath. "I must be crazy."

"Crazy and gorgeous. You're just my kind of woman."

Becky shook her head and walked away, ducking behind the beaded curtain, her cheeks red.

I stood up and carried my blueberry smoothie out the door. If I invested my time wisely today, maybe I could take the lead from Chris before going out with Becky that night... I decided to hit the gym.

After all, there are always desperate ladies at the gym.

And after I found one of them and got my lead... then I could think up some crazy thing to do with Becky that night.