The Science of Growing Apart

24- Emmett

"So anyway, the dude was sleeping with the grandma for months," I finished my craziest story across from a very handsome man who looked absolutely enthralled by the twists and turns.

"That is an insane story," he said with a bright laugh that lit up the entire dim restaurant. When I agreed to go on a date Saturday night, I didn't really have high hopes. Emmett was very attractive and he had a few funny jokes when we were texting on Tinder, but my luck lately had been atrocious.

Not to mention the fact that my Casey dreams had ramped up yet again after him telling me last night that he would like to get married in the same way I would. My inappropriate dreams were getting so bad that I left a glass of water on my night stand every night because I knew I'd wake up in the middle of the night with a dry throat.

"I know, right?" I said to Emmett. "I wish all of my stories were that exciting, but I mostly just cover petty crimes right now."

"That is still so interesting," he said. "I'm a first grade teacher, so I have a boat load of funny stories, just the weird things that little kids say and do on a daily basis."

My phone, sitting on the corner of the table, lit up with a text from Casey. I ignored it, despite the itch in my fingers to open the message. This was the one scenario where I needed to prioritize something else above Casey. I could answer it later.

I was mostly paying attention to Emmett tell me the cutest stories about the dumb little kids in his class, but I was also starting to wonder about what that text could say. It was a Saturday night, surely Casey should be with Rebecca. Unless they haven't resolved their argument from yesterday.

"Should we order dessert?" Emmett asked me at the end of the meal.

I really liked Emmett, but the unread text on my phone stopped me from agreeing and I hated myself for it. "I'm actually so tired. It's been a long week." When I saw his face start to look disappointed, I added, "But I'll take a rain check?"

"What did you have in mind?" he asked me.

I swallowed hard and said, "I'll cook you dinner? And then I'll burn it, narrowly save myself from burning down my building, and we'll order take out. Sometime next week?"

"I'll get to meet Tulip?"

"If she allows it."

"Sounds good," he smiled at me, seemingly pleased with my offering. I felt relieved that I would get to see Emmett again, but also kind of guilty knowing that the only reason I wasn't getting dessert was because of Casey's text. How absolutely ridiculous of me.

Once I said goodbye to Emmett with a dramatically fake yawn to emphasize how tired I was, I finally checked my phone. The text just read CALL ME.

"Josie, can you get down here right now?" he answered the phone out of breath as I stopped on the sidewalk in front of the nice restaurant. From here, I could see Emmett get in his car in the parking lot and drive away.

"Where are you? What's wrong?" I asked with a lump starting to form in my throat and I knew I was justified in answering the text. It was an emergency, I did the right thing.

"Nothing is wrong. Everything is perfect. I'm at work, can you come?" he asked again and I realized his breathy voice wasn't panic, it was excitement. This was a non-emergency and I should call Emmett, have him turn around so that we could go get drinks somewhere. I can't sabotage something that could be good for something that is completely imaginary.

"Okay, sure. Send me the address." I didn't even think twice about it. I hadn't been in high school for six years and yet, the second I saw Casey, it was like I reverted to being sixteen again. Except now, even if I had feelings for him, I couldn't do anything about it. He was engaged. If he felt something for me back then, he moved on and I clearly needed to do the same. I thought I had, but I'd been thrown back in.