It Wasn't Like He Was Her Boyfriend

Owen continued babbling about his date as they walked out to the parking lot together. It was hard to avoid someone when you were going the same way. Jonah was stuck until he reached the sweet refuge of his car.

"Actually, I think that might be her over there," Owen said as he squinted the direction of the pharmaceutical lab to the left of their office building. "It looks like her and I heard she works in this area."

Jonah automatically followed his line of sight and his heart stopped when he noticed who his coworker was talking about. Eden had a blind date? With Owen? Why hadn't she said anything?!

There wasn't exactly a reason to…it wasn't like he was her boyfriend. She didn't have to report anything to him. But a pit settled in his stomach that he didn't like at all.

"I should say hi and introduce myself. We're about to go meet up somewhere anyway. Hey! Eden!" Owen yelled as he waved across the parking lot.

Was he crazy? Why would he flag someone down that he didn't even officially know? She would probably think he was some sort of stalker. Who would want to be summoned like that?

Eden turned at the sound of her name and Jonah immediately ducked down behind a nearby car, desperate to make his escape before she spotted him. This was a total nightmare. If she saw him…or worse, if Owen tried to get him to talk in front of her…

He had to get out of here. His car was ten away on this row; would he be able to make it there without being seen?

He very slowly and quietly began creeping his way around the cars so neither of them would notice him leave, feeling like a total idiot. This sort of sneaking was childish and being caught doing it would be almost as horrifying as having Eden see his face. Almost.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" Eden asked curiously as she approached where Owen was standing.

"Not yet. You're Eden McBride, right? We have a blind date tonight."

"Oh! So you're Owen. Nice to meet you. I knew you were a software developer but I didn't realize you worked here. What a small world."

Jonah continued creeping his way toward his car, praying that Owen would be distracted enough by Eden that he wouldn't notice he was gone. But, of course, he wasn't that lucky. He started looking around for the man that had been standing next to him a minute ago.

"Where did he go? He was here a second ago," Owen said dumbfounded.

Eden was confused. "Who was?"

"My coworker. Didn't you see him when I waved?"

"Only for a second. Maybe he left already."

Jonah was certainly trying to! He managed to make it to his car before he got busted. At least his car was parked at an angle that he was able to stand near the driver's side non-awkwardly with only the left half of his face showing.

"Hey, Jonah!" Owen yelled. "See you around!"

He waved before practically diving into the safety of his car and driving away, being sure not to pass them on his way out. That had been so close. Too close.

His heart raced halfway home before settling into a dull ache, remembering that the whole incident only happened because Eden had a date tonight. That was something he could never do with her.

Seeing her had been painful too. It had been weeks since he had gotten a glimpse of her face. And now when he saw her, it was with a politely detached or surprised expression rather than the smile he had come to know and love.

It was somewhat comforting to know she wouldn't smile so happily in front of total strangers but that didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't be by the end of the night. If she had fun on her date with Owen—why him of all people?—she might smile every bit as brightly as she did during their discussions back at Freddie's.

Running into Eden had dampened his spirits so he was little more than a zombie lying on the couch  by the time he got home. Troy found him like that when he got home from work hours later.

"Dude, your face is even blanker than usual. What's up?"

"Eden's on a date tonight," he said dully.

"Did she tell you that?!"

"No. My coworker did when he waved her down in the parking lot. I barely managed to get away in time. Apparently, they have mutual friends and he recognized her from the picture he had seen."

Troy mulled this over for a moment. "Hey, that's a good thing! If she told you about it herself that means she doesn't think of you as a man. Girls only talk about their dates to people they wouldn't date."

Jonah raised an eyebrow. "How on earth do you know that?"

"Trust me; I know a thing or two about the friendzone. Her not telling you about it means she sees you as a possibility. Besides, she totally likes you already so I doubt she'll even have fun. She probably couldn't think of a nice way to say no to the set up," he predicted optimistically.

His speculations didn't help much even though they might be true. From what Eden had said about her best friend, she seemed like the type that didn't take no for an answer. If she was involved, there was a good chance it went down the way Troy said.

But Jonah still felt rotten about it. He wanted to be out doing something fun with her on a Friday night but he couldn't even text her because she thought he was working as a dog mascot in a children's restaurant.

"Cheer up, dude. We can do something fun tomorrow when I'm off work, okay? Get your mind off of things," Troy offered.

"Define 'fun.'"

"We can go to the skatepark and get sushi or something. Whatever you want. Just stop moping or Easter dinner is going to be miserable for both of us."

Jonah cracked a smile. He was trying at least. "Alright. The skatepark and sushi it is. Thanks, Troy."

"No prob. I'm gonna so shower though; that suit reeks," he complained as he walked away.

No kidding. He had wondered more than once how his cousin could even stand being in that thing for so long. The life of a mascot was not as easy as people might think. It certainly had its downsides.