Back Again

Eric had not been expecting Evelyn to simply look at him and say that their meeting was done. He had truly come expecting her to agree in the end. Eric had known that he would be getting a bit of a lecture, but after that, he had really thought that she would give him a positive response. 

After all, she had been the one to come up with the plan about pretending to date. But it seemed that Evelyn's temperament was the same as her dress sense. It was vibrant and it shifted quickly.

She had told him that the fake date thing would not work, and he had been crushed. But then a few hours later he had gotten a call from her, asking him to meet with her. Now Eric found himself back at the diner that he had been at earlier.

This time, he was not the first to arrive, he found Evelyn waiting.

"Evelyn," He greeted as he took a seat, being sure to keep all emotion out of his voice.

He had no idea why she had called him back. It might have been to tell him that she was pressing harassment charges against him for all he knew. Or maybe she had come to tell him that she would kill him if he did not leave town. His ideas were far fetched but not impossible. Either way, he would only know what she wanted when she started talking.

"Hello again, Eric," She greeted, then she got straight to the point.

"Earlier, when you asked me to be your fake girlfriend, what made you think that I was still available?" Oh, Evelyn was not there to tell him off...she wanted some kind of closure. The problem with that was the fact that Eric had no idea how to answer her question without accidentally offending her.

Luckily for him, she was too impatient to wait for him to gather his thoughts.

"You just seemed to be laboring under the belief that I was as desperate as I was that night at the restaurant. Had you even considered for one moment Eric Fisher that I might have found someone? That I no longer needed you?" Her words were beginning to paint a picture in Eric's head, and it helped him not feel so nervous anymore.

Evelyn was unsure of herself. She had kept her hands under the table the entire time, but Eric was certain that if he were to see them, they would be trembling.

Could it be? Had she changed her mind? Not wanting to seem too eager, Eric just continued to look at her. 'If you have found somebody, why did you come here?' Eric wanted to ask, but he held himself back. He was in no position whatsoever to be snappy towards her. He had already given his sister a name. If he came with somebody who had a different name, it would be very suspicious. It had to be Evelyn. And this time, she had been the one to call, that meant that she too must be under a lot of pressure...they needed each other.

"I apologize for just assuming that because you came to meet me earlier, it meant that things would automatically fall into place for us. Why did you call me back?"

For the first time, Eve's mask of almost-rage slipped, and he saw the fear and desperation there.

"Does the offer still stand, the fake date one?" Eric could have leaned over and kissed her. She had no idea how much her words meant. Whatever had happened after their encounter, it had made her change her mind. She wanted in on the deal again.

It felt like being given a second chance at life. 

'Yes! Yes!....' He wanted to shout, but he held himself back.

Now that he knew she was at least swayed, Eric wanted nothing more than to get to the heart of the matter. To just hit her with the cold, hard facts. Going from point A, to point however many he needed to let her know how desperate he was. But looking over at Evelyn, he realized that such an approach would not work. She seemed to him to be the type of person who went with their emotions over logic. If she felt that something was not right, it would not matter if even the most sophisticated machines on Earth told her that it was the right decision. She would go with her feelings. So in order to reach her, he had to be emotional as well. And so even though he did not want to do that, Eric pulled back a tiny bit of the hard exterior that he presented to the world, letting some of his vulnerability shine through.

Picking up a sachet of sweetener from the middle of the table, he began toying with it. Deciding that keeping his hands busy, would make it easier for him to talk. 

"To be honest, I have not actually been going on those blind dates because I want to. My sister is worried about me, and she has been setting me up to go out with random strangers on Fridays?" He huffed a breath, as he flicked the sachet in his hands. His eyes tracking the movement of his finger, as he suddenly found himself unable to look her in the eyes.

"I promised her that I would go on ten dates, but I feel overwhelmed," He continued on despite the gasp from her side. 

"It is not just a matter of me meeting different people that is leaving me drained. I am just not feeling it. I do not wish to do this anymore. But the longer I stay single, I feel that I am worrying her more and more and that is the last thing that I want to happen,"

It was surprising how easily the words flowed from him once he began talking. But Eric had finally said them, and he was glad they were out there. The fact that he was tired was something that he had known all along but he'd never actually shared those feelings with anyone before. Evelyn would be his first, and most likely last.

If she decided to turn him down even after knowing why he needed her. Then that would be it for him. He could not keep going on dates, but he also could not disappoint his sister. He would need to come up with something that would make it so that Beth would not keep pushing him.

But short of jumping off a cliff and breaking several bones in his body. Eric had no idea what he would do if Evelyn still decided that she wanted nothing to do with him.

"My friend set me up to go on ten blind dates as well," Her voice was soft, and low but it had all of Eric's attention.

Could it be..."I think that you and I, by some coincidence, started our blind date drama at the very same time. That day, when I was in a red dress. Was it also your first time at Chardays?" He nodded without hesitation and he saw Evelyn's eyes light up, and he found himself adding what he remembered.

"Oh, you mean the day when you were wearing the red dress, and the star earrings, and you had your hair in that complicated bun.

He tried to use hand gestures to get her to remember her own outfit. Then he stopped, dropping them slowly. Feeling self-conscious when he realized that a few people were staring at him. But luckily for him, it seemed that his moment of awkwardness had shifted something in Evelyn's eyes, she no longer looked as guarded as she had before.

If anything, she was beaming at him, her smile incredibly bright all of a sudden. 

"What?" Eric asked, not sure what exactly it was that he had done to earn her sudden mood change. But she simply shook her head, her teeth on display.

"Nothing. It's just...I think you might be right, the two of us fake dating will be pretty awesome. Let's do it," Evelyn looked down briefly, when she raised her head, she had a big smile on her face, but her entire frame was just radiating anxiety and...guilt. The reason why became clear when she spoke up.

"Phew...I am so happy we've agreed to this. After I left earlier, I told my friend that I have a date named Eric...so it all works out right?"

...What?!