Call?

There was a loud, enraged yell, followed by a loud thump, and a liquid the color of blood spilled across a pristine white cloth. Another yell followed and more liquid dripped. There was more and more yelling and more thumps. 

Were anyone outside to listen in, they would think that someone was being murdered. But they could not have been further from the truth. Alone in her basement, one Evelyn Hale was hard work. 

Okay, that was a lie. If she were asked, she would have said that she was working, but in reality she was taking out her frustrations. She might have been struggling with painting from the heart. But sometimes when Eve was feeling overwhelmed by emotions, she was sometimes able to create with her favorite medium.

And at that very moment, she was full of pent-up emotions.

Months of not being inspired to paint and she was suddenly feeling very creative.

It had almost been an entire week since the disastrous serenading date that she had topped off by trying to ask a guy to fake date her, only to be turned down in the most brutally honest way that she had ever encountered.

Needless to say, Eve was still angry. And it was not just anger, she was also embarrassed as well. Had he really called her a liar? Somebody who was running away from her problems simply because she had come up with an alternative. Because she had dared to try something new. 

She sincerely hoped that he went on another blind date at Chardays, and that whoever they were, they had really bad breath and a tendency to spit whenever they talked. That was what she was hoping for Mr. Noble Eric and his honest self. Putting down the brush that she had been using to hit her canvas with, Evelyn stood. Heaving a few breaths, she finally gave up and just let out the scream that she had been suppressing.

Chest heaving, she stared at her latest creation. Her rage was reflected at her, varying shades of red, standing out.

Staring at it made her feel a little better. Her first true painting in months, and it was because some guy had made her angry...figures.

Leaving her work to dry, Eve stepped out of her work overalls, and wiped her paint covered hands before going to wash them. She made her way upstairs, and she picked up her phone from where she had left it in the living room. Turning it on, she was once again greeted with the picture that was also adding to her current stress, her date for the following evening. Stella had sent her the picture earlier that morning. It had also come with a message promising that he would be way better than her previous date. 

"He does not say much so there's no way that he will be singing to his ex in front of you," Stella had sworn but that had not helped Eve feel better at all. Instead it had made her even more worried. Her worry had not dissipated when she had gone through the man's social media only to find that he had a dozen cats. He also pictures of himself in multiple cat themed pajamas. 

His plates, curtains, and even table cloths had cats.

It was clear that to the man cats were everything, and while Eve was all for everybody being themselves. There were just some things that a person should not ignore. Though Michael could turn out to be a perfectly good guy, she was not too comfortable about a world where cats were in the forefront of everything. 

Just thinking about having to sit across from him while he coughed up furballs all over the place was making her heart race and not in a good way. She had to find a way to get out of that date. But how? She had absolutely no idea.

She was seriously contemplating calling in and telling Stella that she had diarrhea, but this time she would actually be sick. She had learned from the first date fake illness disaster.

Maybe she would drink milk that had gone bad, or perhaps take a laxative. That was how desperate she was. She could not make it through another blind date, but the force of nature that was her best friend would not understand that. Oh, this was going to be so bad.

Steeling herself, Eve decided to just bite the bullet and go through with it. She did not want to fight with her friend but if they argued, then so be it. She would rather that, than spend yet another weekend having a horrible time where she was both equally mortified and angry, some things were just not worth it. So it seemed she would have to disappoint Stella. Taking a deep breath, she went to dial her friend's number, but her phone began ringing. Eve nearly dropped it in shock but she managed to catch it before it hit the floor. The number flashing on the screen was not one she recognized . Hoping that it was not some scam, or some weird salesman trying to sell her their products over the phone she picked up. 

"Hello?" She answered hesitantly. There was silence from the other end, and she was not about to be stalked by some creep who just called to breathe over the phone. 

"Whoever it is, I'm hanging up," She said, and she meant it. 

"Don't!" The voice on the other end sounded desperate...but also vaguely familiar.

"Please, please don't hang up. We need to talk. It's Eric from Chardays...," Oh, she knew exactly who it was. He had made his thoughts very clear. So why was he calling?