Waiting

For the first time in a long time. Eve had shared a meal with a member of the opposite sex, and she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. She would be the first to admit that she had not really held much hope for her little meeting with the man in black, one Eric Fisher. 

But after their interaction at the diner, she had been pleasantly surprised by him. Not only was he easy on the eyes, again those freckles. He listened attentively to her opinions, and he also seemed to enjoy listening to her talk about her work. She knew quite a few people who found her passion for what she did to be boring. It had been nice to spend time with someone other than Stella who listened to her rambling. But that said, Eve had to admit that she was upset with the way that things had ended.

She had thought that they would be able to discuss more on their plan to pretend to date. But instead the work that she loved so much, had gotten in the way. One of her favorite clients, Mrs Hurst, had called.

"Eve it's an emergency. I need you to whip up something for me. It is fora get together that I am having later this afternoon. It needs to be something unique, otherwise the ladies will never let me live it down. Can you please help me Eve?" Mrs Hurst had practically been crying over the phone. There had been no way for her to refuse such a long standing and well paying client so Eve had said yes.

Ending her meeting with Eric and rushing off to go and come up with something that would leave her client's, guests, wowed and hopefully bring her more customers in the future had been hard, but she'd done it. That had been days ago now, and Eve had just finished with the project that very day, which also happed to be the day of their meet up. Unlike the mad dash she'd been in to complete it before, she had worked on it at a leisurely pace. Taking the time to enjoy what she was creating. All thanks to the texting session that she'd had with Eric.

The project had ended up being a sculpture made from mirrors and wood. It should not have worked but she'd added a bit of colour to the wooden frames using spray paint. It had been unique enough for Mrs. Hurst, and Eve had left the rest up to her. The woman had a way with words. She'd had no problem convincing her friends that she had actually sourced the thing weeks before

"I had it custom made with just our little event in mind. I've been keeping it under wraps just so I could surprise you all. It's called...'Inner reflections" That had been the story that Mrs Hurst had gone with that morning when Eve had brought the piece in. All of her friends looking on in envy, and then pulling Eve to the side, asking that she make them unique pieces of their own.

Sometimes it was just too easy to make money from bored, rich, socialites. But the delivery had been hours before. Now Eve was alone in her house, not really sure what to do with herself. 

She still had a bit of time to burn before she was to go to Chardays and meet Eric, and she had no idea how to fill it.

Eve briefly thought of starting on the orders that she had gotten that day, but she decided against it. She was tired, not only that, she did not want to risk getting into a creative flow, and then having to stop so that she could go meet up with Eric. 

She often struggled to get back on track if she got distracted by something, so starting a project she could not devote her all to was out.

Calling Stella for a chat was also an option. But Eve decided that would be a very bad idea. Later in the evening, she was going to get dressed, then go out to meet a man so that the two of them could fine tune their lie.

A lie that Eve would be selling to Stella. If she saw her friend before going to meet up with Eric. She might mess up and say something that would give her away. So Stella was definitely out.

Which left Eve with only one option...staying home. Rather than staying cooped up indoors, and worrying. She decided to go to her backyard and worry.

The change in scenery helped a bit. But not because she was staring at something lovely, but because there was nothing to look at.

Despite all of the creativity that just seemed to ooze out of her pores, Eve did not have a green thumb.

The sorry pile of dirt that served as her backyard did not do much to lift her spirits. But staring at the depressing scenery helped take her mind off the wait. 

There was no need to be nervous. She was going to Chardays to meet Eric. The two of them were going to plan the perfect date to fool their loved ones. Then they would have their date, and after the date, they would go their separate ways. No longer having to worry about being set upon awful blind dates.

Easy-peasy. There was really nothing to it. Eve could do that. Not only could she plan a fake date. She could also go on a date with a man, no emotions, no romance. 

She had been doing that for weeks with the blind dates. Eric Fisher would be no different. If anything, he would be the easiest date to go on, because both of them already knew what to expect. Nothing could go wrong, especially since their meeting at Chardays would make their fake date practically bulletproof. 

Everything would be fine.

But even as Eve thought that, part of her felt like she was lying to herself. She very deliberately chose not to listen to that side of herself.