To spend a little more time together (and to work off some of that junk food), Chris and Jamie took a stroll around the block. Chris kept his sunglasses on the whole time, though he often faced Jamie directly when speaking to her.
Even now, they had plenty of things to talk about; Chris half-believed they could discuss the phone book page by page and the conversation would never get dull. He soon learned that he and Jamie had an amazing deal in common—they celebrated their birthdays in October (Jamie’s birthday was on Halloween), they were born and raised in Clarion, they’d failed algebra in school, they deplored heights, they adored tacos (“I don’t think I could get by without tacos or spaghetti,” Jamie said), their favorite color was silver, they worshipped the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Tim McGraw; they even had a younger sister named Kate.
Already, Chris felt like he had known Jamie for years, despite having only been with her in person three times. How could that be possible?
Don’t knock it, man. Just be grateful that at least one female on the planet sees you and talks to you like a normal, everyday person and doesn’t jump all over you.
When the day started getting dusky, Chris offered to accompany Jamie to her apartment. Of course, she couldn’t refuse him. When they reached her door, he held out his arms for another hug, and the girl was only too glad to receive his warm embrace. “Thank you, Chris,” she mumbled into his chest. “This has been so much fun.”
“I’m glad,” he replied softly as he held her. “I have to admit, this has been a real perk to my week, too.”
When he let her go and she stepped back, she hesitated for just a second before asking him, “I know you must have a lot going on, but would you like to come here sometime for dinner? No special reason,” she added quickly. “Just…you know…because.”
Chris also hesitated briefly, and said, “I don’t see why not. The way you’ve talked about Nat’s cooking does have me interested, and I think it’s only fair I give her culinary talents a try.” He also found himself saying, “I don’t see it happening anytime soon, though.”
“That’s fine. Just let me know when there’s a big enough gap in your schedule.”
Again, the girl’s thoughtfulness touched Chris more deeply than he would have believed possible. It also moved him to no small degree that she would invite him to an actual home-cooked meal, rather than have him go on a bender at some five-star restaurant. “When that happens,” he said, surprising himself with the word when, “tell Nat to include tacos on the menu.”
Jamie smiled and gave a little wink. “That’ll be the first thing on the menu, guaranteed!”
So many other words hovered on Chris’s tongue, but all he could get off his tongue was, “Well, goodnight, Jamie.”
“Goodnight, Chris. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome again. Tell Nat I said hi.”
“Will do. Take care.”
“You too.” Chris had to practically force his legs to move. He never looked back, though Jamie stayed on her step and watched him until he was out of sight.
“Hey, buddy, welcome home!” Justin said when Chris stepped through the door.
“We saved you some supper,” said Joey, who, for some odd reason, had a flowered dishtowel tucked into his belt.
Chris grimaced. Though it had been well over two hours, his stomach was still bloated from the Friendly’s indulgence. “Thanks, guys, but maybe I better wait and have it for breakfast.”
Joey stared at him in disbelief. “Meat loaf and three-cheese potatoes?”
Chris made a half-shrug. “Okay, then I’ll save it for a midnight snack.” He went to the refrigerator without another word, but only to retrieve a water bottle, and he leaned backward against the sink while he took a few swigs.
Presently, Justin asked him, “So, how did it go with Jamie?”
“Fine.”
“Just fine?” Joey inquired. “Is that all you have to say?”
“What is there to know? We met up at Friendly’s, had ice cream, went for a walk, and that was it.”
“You were gone for almost three hours,” said Justin.
Chris took another gulp before shooting back, “So what? I don’t demand a blow-by-blow account when you go out, do I?”
Justin frowned. “Okay, okay! No need to get so snippy. Sheesh.”
“No harm in asking an innocent question or two here and there,” Joey added, holding up both hands in mock surrender.
“Sorry,” said Chris, instantly regretting his snippiness. “Really, though, it went as well as anyone could expect.”
Justin gave a short nod, and Joey wiped his hands on his towel as he said, “Well, that’s good to hear.”
Right when Chris was opening his mouth to say more, his cell phone rang. When he fished it out of his black Levis and checked the caller ID, he groaned, “Oh, no.”
Joey remarked, “The old femme fatale’s come to call once again, huh?”
“None other.” Chris let it go into voicemail, as usual, but when the ringing finally stopped, he asked, unable to help sounding a bit desperate, “What am I gonna do, guys? I’ll bet you anything she’ll call again in five minutes.”
“I place my wager on less than five minutes,” Justin said.
Chris shook his head. “I don’t want to talk to her, but I also need to know what she’s up to, if she’s got any funny business going on.”
Joey had an idea. “If she does call again,” he told Justin, “you take the call.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the smoothest liar out of all of us. If anyone can talk to Allie without sounding too suspicious, you can.”
Justin’s face darkened. “Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?”
With a serene smile, Joey replied, “Both. It’s an insult-iment.”
“Well, hardy-har-har.”
“I suppose that’s our best option for the time being,” said Chris. “Just keep it casual when you talk to her, J. See if you can get any necessary info out of her without truly prying.”
“Pry without truly prying,” Justin muttered, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. “Yeah, sure. It’s so good to know I’m good for something not so good, for a change.”
Sure enough, Chris’s phone rang again less than five minutes later, and Justin held the thing out at arm’s length, as if he expected it to bite him. He closed his eyes, inhaled slowly, exhaled just as slowly, and pushed the designated button. “Hello, Chris Kirkpatrick’s live answering service. How may I help you this evening, sir or madam? Yes, Allie, I know it’s you. I think I’ve heard your voice enough times to be able to differentiate you from all other women.”
Joey covered his mouth to stifle a snicker, and even Chris had to smile at Justin’s clever put-down.
“No, you may not speak to Chris. Because he’s not here to be spoken to, that’s why. No, I don’t know where he’s gone. No, I don’t know when he’ll be back. How am I supposed to know? Look, Allie, I’m telling you in the plainest English possible. I—don’t—know—where—he—is. He often leaves his phone behind, and I’ve known him to take as long as five hours just to buy a lousy loaf of bread and quart of milk.”
Chris suppressed, with some difficulty, the urge to thump Justin for that last remark.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll be more than happy to convey a message. Yeah, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay, I get it. I get it! I said, I get it! All right, keep your socks on, I’ll tell him. Yeah, love you, too. Have a pleasant evening, Allie. Don’t do anything overly crazy. Bye.”
“Well?” Joey inquired when it was safe.
“She was calm,” said Justin, “to an extent. But anyone with half a brain could tell she wanted Chris, and she wanted him now.” He slapped the phone into his other palm for emphasis.
“And that’s it?” Chris asked doubtfully. “No threats? No more talk of harming herself, or doing anything foolish?”
“Nothing worse than you’d better talk to her soon if you knew what was good for you.”
“Oh, great. Now the girl’s got me worried on multiple levels.”
“She’s a sly one, all right,” Joey conceded.
“Well, at least we know she’s still here, in one piece,” said Justin as he handed Chris’s phone back to him. “No need to sound the alarm just yet.”
“Yeah,” said Chris as he returned his phone to his pocket, “at least the bomb hasn’t gone off yet, though the timer’s still a-tickin’.” Unable to help himself, he asked, “But did you really mean what you told her, Justin, about how I take five whole hours to shop for bread and milk?”
