The Last Thing She Wants (Chestnut Hills #1)

4

theo

Downtown was always busy on a Saturday night. Small businesses lined the sidewalk on both sides, toting goods from handmade candies to luxury lingerie. Each shop and restaurant had its own unique ambiance, and the eclectic sports memorabilia and Pennsylvania culture nods plastered all over Street 7’s walls were no different.

?Walking into the crowded sports bar, I nodded at the locals littered in every direction, some who even frequented on a weekly basis. Being Saturday night, the bar began to fill out early and a myriad of conversations clashed over the loud music.

?“Theo, over here!” Scanning the crowd, my eyes followed the sound of the voice of my best friend since middle school. Jake and I had bonded over our dislike for our algebra teacher after getting caught making funny faces at each other every time he walked past. A week in lunchtime detention together, and we were thick as thieves, wreaking havoc on the rest of our school years.

?A waitress approached to take our order as I slid into the seat across from Jake at the small table. For the sake of ease, and trusting our similar taste in beers, I ordered one of whatever Jake was having. Acknowledging his almost empty glass, I treated him to another as well.

?For the first time since arriving, I looked around and took in my surroundings. My attention slowly drifted back to my friend, who had his sight focused elsewhere. Following his gaze, I clocked him eyeing the waitress.

?“Not cool dude. Isn’t Penny going to be here soon?” I asked, bringing up Jake’s fiancé, who was due to show up any minute.

“What? No, man. I’m not interested. I was thinking about her for you.” He took the last sip of his beer. “She was totally checking you out. I’m trying to figure out how to get her number for you.”

The waitress was giving a friendly smile to another couple, a few tables over. I chuckled before looking away. “Not interested,” I stated matter-of-factly, Ellie’s face popping into my mind.

“Come on, it’s been like a month since the whole Sally-”

“-Celine.”

Jake dismissed my correction with the wave of his hand, “-whatever, Celine thing. You guys weren’t even serious.”

“No, we weren’t. But I just want to cool it for a minute, man. I’m tired of dating around, hoping something will stick.”

“Hoping what will stick? Should I come back?” A hand slid over Jake’s chest from behind him. Penny leaned in, giving Jake a kiss.

“Hey babe!” Jake's mood instantly became lighter. “I was just thinking of how to get Theo the waitress’s number. She was totally checking him out, and I was telling him it’s time to move on.”

Penny took a moment to look over at the woman Jake pointed out from across the crowded bar. The blonde curly haired woman was now headed our way with our freshly poured beers. “Totally, Theo. She’s gorgeous.” Penny wiggled her brows with a giggle .

The waitress approached the table, carefully setting our beers down. She seemed intensely focused on not spilling, just as I was intensely focused on not rolling my eyes too hard.

“Hi…Gloria,” my best friend sported a shit-eating grin, having made a show of reading her name tag. His arm was now around Penny, who had taken a seat next to him on one of the brown barstools. A clear sign they were together. Gloria gave him a welcoming smile at the gesture. “My buddy here is a little shy -ow,” I interrupted him with a swift kick to the shin under the table and a sharp warning look. He cleared his throat and repeated himself, ignoring my threat. “My buddy here is a little shy, and was wondering if you would be interested in grabbing a drink sometime?”

Quickly, I turned my head away, pretending to scratch behind my ear.

“Sure,” she smirked as I turned back to face her. Taking a pen from her back pocket, she wrote her number on her order pad, ripped the sheet, folded it in half, and held it out in my direction.

As much as I didn’t care for her number, even a little, I took the paper with a smile. Kindness was free, as my momma always said. Gloria took Penny’s order before turning away and retreating to the kitchen.

“What the hell, Jake?” I asked rather aggressively.

“She’s into you! I’m helping you out!”

“I don’t need your help.”

Jake scoffed. “Says the guy who is always sulking about wanting a relationship like me and Penny.” He gave Penny a squeeze across her shoulders as she lightly smacked him across the stomach with her arm.

“Jake, if he doesn’t want help, he doesn’t want help.” She offered me a supportive smile. “Besides, aren’t you talking to that girl from Dately? Sarah? ”

“Yeah, Sarah. We went for ice cream earlier today,” I thought back to my date earlier in the day. We had gone for ice cream after talking for a few days on Dately, the latest popular dating app. “She was nice.”

“See,” Penny looked at Jake and motioned towards me, “he got ice cream with Sarah.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and she was nice,” he emphasized with air quotes around the last word.

“Just…leave it.” I rubbed my face in frustration with a grunt. I didn’t want my friends’ help, or a dating app’s help, or my mother’s help. I just wanted a natural and true friendship and relationship. That wasn’t too much to ask for, right?

Sipping my beer, I couldn’t help but think about the brown-haired woman in my apartment building. There was an inexplicable pull, something I couldn’t shake, despite not even really knowing her.

“Do you believe in soul mates?” I asked. Wow, the single sip of beer clearly had gone to my head.

“Yes.”

“Nah, dude.”

With a gasp of disbelief, Penny turned to meet her fiancé face to face. “You don’t believe in soul mates?” her heightened voice teetered on yelling.

Unintentionally, I caused a disagreement between the happy couple. I was in for a fun night.

My phone vibrated with a text from across the bathroom while I brushed my teeth. Drinks with Jake and Penny took a turn with the soulmate discussion. Their disagreement led to a two-and-a-half-hour-long hangout with back and forth sly remarks about the topic.

Penny would scoff at Jake, commenting about his lucky jersey, asking how someone could believe in a lucky jersey but not soulmates. To be fair, his jersey was lucky–anytime he didn’t wear it while coaching a Squirrels game, the Chestnut Hills High School football team, they lost. Despite the crick in my neck from volleying my attention between the two, it was only further solidified for me that was what I wanted.

Sarah

It was really great to see you today

?After bonding over our love for plants, I asked Sarah, the woman I met through Dately, out for ice cream. I figured meeting for a casual treat was a safe bet, one I was glad I made. Not that our time together was awful, it was just bland and uneventful. She was nice; or, as Jake put it, “nice.”

?I was a sucker for a big smile. It was what first attracted me to her. Little did I know, she used that smile a little too much, laughing at everything I said. Literally, everything. After meeting at the center fountain downtown, we walked together to Loop & Scoop, chatting along the way. She asked me about my usual order, and being the clever fella I am, I told her I didn’t play flavorites.

Get it? Flavorites. A pretty solid pun in the world of sweet treats. Surely, I expected a small giggle of appreciation. What I got was a downright belly laugh. Clutching her side, she bent over, wiping at her eyes, hooting and hollering about how funny I was. I couldn’t say I disagreed, but her shriek of over the top laughter sent a baby down the street into a fit of tears.

?Walking back to the fountain, we soaked in the sunny weather and fresh ice cream cones, taking the chance to get to know each other more. Unable to focus on anything else, I just began counting the number of times she cackled. It was seven. At one point, after just having made a comment about the cones having a hint of cinnamon, and she slapped my arm with a loud “HA,” I realized she didn’t actually think I was funny.

?Things became slightly awkward after that when I grew silent, but somehow that still gave her the impression I wanted a kiss. I walked her back to her car and thanked her for spending time with me, and with no warning, she grabbed my face and pulled me in for a hard kiss. A hard kiss that somehow still felt like kissing wet cardboard. Then…you guessed it. She laughed. No, not a shy giggle. A downright laugh. Lips to lips, then laughter. That didn’t do much for my ego.

?I had to think of a way to cut things off easily.

Sarah

When do I get to see you again?

Theo

It was nice getting to meet you. I’m not sure when I’m available again.

?I lived by honesty being the best policy, but not everyone appreciated that. I was not good at this.

Sarah

Are you busy tonight?

Theo

Yeah

Sarah

Next weekend?

Theo

My buddy and I are going out.

Sarah

Okay

?Her curt response was warranted, but I couldn’t help the guilty feeling that rose. She was catching my drift, or she was getting angry with me. Either way, I knew I had to just let it rip.

Theo

I’m sorry. I just don’t see us going out again.

Sarah

Ok…

Can I ask why?

Theo

I just don’t think things really clicked between us.

Sarah

After one date? I don’t understand, but if that’s what you think. Who am I to change your mind?

?Leaving out the part where I thought I had feelings for someone else seemed like a smart move. I was fully aware of the craziness of saying that about someone I’d only just spoken a few words to, but I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling. Something internally kept pulling me to her. She was true north, and I was simply a magnet trying to find my way to her. Never having experienced anything like that before, I assumed that was what the soulmate click was.

?My mom and dad were all to blame for this fixation. Dad was always going on about their “meet-cute.” He’d sing about how he felt the sting of cupids bow the minute he looked into mom’s eyes, and naturally, her eyes would mist on cue. Behind the gross factor of seeing my parents constantly groping each other, I learned what it meant to be in love, care for one another, and have a family.

?That was all I ever wanted – to build a home like the one I grew up in. It was my first kiss with Clarissa Lowry in seventh grade that really set home for me that it was spark or bust. Despite what you’d expect when two young teens with mouths full of metal kissed, there was no spark. No spark meant it was a bust.

?Dad was a successful man in the traditional sense. Twenty-five years at the same company, having worked up the ranks from lineman to Vice President of Quality Management, proved lucrative, buying him and his family a beautiful colonial home in the Chestnut Hills suburb of Philadelphia.

?He had a loving wife and two beautiful children, me and my older sister, Thalia. Unfortunately, Edwin Emerson also had an anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infraction at the ripe age of fifty-two. When that felt like a mouthful to say, I’d just refer to it as its scary nickname, the “widow-maker heart attack.”

?I knew loving us was what dad deemed his most important and cherished job. I refused to allow myself to waste any more time on anything less than the same. The vibration of my phone still in my hand pulled me from my thoughts. I focused my eyes on the text message banner that popped up on my home screen and read.

Sarah

I thought the date went really well. If you felt there wasn’t a spark, that was on you. I waxed for our date. Now I’m out $75 and an hour of my life I wasted laughing at your stupid jokes.

Asshole

Honestly, that could have been worse.