Day 76

“I don’t mean to come off as rude but.. what the hell made you decide to ask me out to lunch?” I said shivering a bit as a sick chill danced up my spine. I pushed my legs together underneath the table and tried to calm my nerves but nothing was working. Swirling around the straw in my water I could feel his hard stare from across the table. Looking me up and down he exhaled and checked his watch.

“I need a favor.” he grunted a bit sternly, letting his hands come together against the table. Fearing the worst I kept my vision low, examining his hands. They looked worn and strong as if he had been doing hard labor his entire life. “You’re a photographer right? Well… I was wondering if you’d be willing to take some pictures for me. A friend of mine is getting married and needs someone to take pictures of the event kind of short notice.”

“How short of a notice are we talking Marc?” I said roughly, my throat dry even though I had a drink right in front of my eyes.

“The day after tomorrow.”

“I’m booked the day after tomorrow.”

“Can’t reschedule then?”

“Uh, no I don’t think so.”

“You sure?” he said quickly flashing me a thick toothy grin. Tapping my foot hard against the floor I took my hands and nervously started to rub them against my knees, closing my eyes to count. Muttering under my breath I thought about getting up and running out of the restaurant but I didn’t want to look like a total retard. “You know you don’t have to if you don’t want too,” he smirked taking a bite of a fry. Flicking my attention to his eyes I smiled slightly having no idea why I did it. “You’re nervous… I don’t really want to make you nervous about it if you don’t wanna do it. Okay? So don’t worry about it. Forget I said anything.” he exhaled, grabbing the napkin in front of him.

I wanted to say something in protest but I couldn’t find the words at all. Looking up at him he gave me a fake smile and stood up, sliding the napkin over to me as he did so. “I’ll see you another time.” he exhaled, running his fingers through his thick brown hair. Leaving money for the bill he gave me a short nod and walked out, disappearing into a taxi. S**t. S**t. S**t. You fucked that up big time! What the hell is your problem?!

Taking the napkin I stared at the words scribbled onto the pale white fibers.

“Call me.” was written perfectly across the base of the white paper with a number resting next to it.