WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 24

"So have you met her yet?"

"Nope."

Ashton frowned at his best friend's one-syllable reply. "Well, do you plan to?"

Calum sighed and rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. "Of course." But it had been days since she first got the job at that ice cream place, and still he had not made a move. This was the perfect opportunity to finally meet her in a non-creepy, non-stalkerish way, but suddenly he had the worst kind of cold feet.

"Dude. You know what? Get your ass out of here," Ashton commanded. He pointed to the door sternly. "Go meet the love of your life."

"She's not-"

"Go," Michael and Luke echoed simultaneously. Calum mumbled under his breath, something about being rude and a few choice swear words. But he decided they were right. He needed to confront this once and for all. Before he left he turned to his friends again. They all gave a thumbs up and small claps for him.

He made his way to the Ice Cream Palace with confidence, playing out a scene in his heads. First he was going to enter the shop. Keep his cool. Then, he was going to order...ice cream. Yeah, ice cream. On a cone. Chocolate ice cream on a cone. Calum smiled at his train of thought. Afterwards he was going to smile and be polite and before he leaves, he's going to ask for her name. Well, he already knew her name, but he was going for the classic, standard, non-creepy way to properly meet her.

The plan was terrific in his head.

But when he arrived at the door of the ice cream shop, it all melted away.

Suddenly he was terribly self-conscious. All kinds of awful (and some impossible) scenarios started flying through his head. He might fuck up. He might start stuttering like crazy. He might trip and fall to his death. He might wet himself. God forbid.

His heart hammered in his chest. He almost backed out then and there. He could do this any other day, why pressure himself? He took a step back, ready to leave, but-

His phone buzzed.

It all came back to him why he was doing this. It had been months since she accidentally came upon him, and in those months he had managed to care about her, a complete stranger. And now he had the chance to meet her-was he going to blow this off?

No, he decided. So before he could back out again he pushed the door open and welcomed the low breeze of the air conditioner and the sticky, sweet smell of ice cream.

He walked up to the counter, where a girl had her back turned, operating a hot fudge machine. His mouth suddenly went dry. His throat closed up, his heart started beating faster but at the same time, it felt like it stopped. Could this be-?

She turned around.

Calum's stomach dropped.

"Hi, what can I get you today?" she asked with a bright smile.

Calum almost wanted to laugh at loud. It wasn't her. It wasn't Leia.

He eyed the name tag on her uniform and found her name. "Uh, yes, Bea," he started, feeling more confident than he did five seconds ago. "Um, this might sound weird but do you have any other co-workers?"

Bea didn't miss a beat. "Well, we have Tom," she answered cautiously, tilting her head to the direction of a security guard sitting in one corner, reading the newspaper.

"I mean, uh, serving ice cream? Like you?" he tried again.

"Oh. No, not today. Why? Looking for someone?" she asked, suddenly smiling like she knew a secret.

Calum shook his head and returned the grin. He took his wallet out and glanced at the menu overhead. "No, nothing like that. I guess I'm gonna have rocky road, double scoop." Bea thanked him, and when he was served he immediately left the store.

He didn't go home yet. He sat on the curb outside, enjoying his ice cream. Suddenly he remembered the text Leia had sent earlier, right before he entered the shop. He was too busy giving a mental pep talk for himself to check.

from: leia :~)
my shift starts next monday though so im free all week

If only Calum had checked the message before he made an idiot out of himself.

a/n: hi sorry i havent updated in a while :~) BTW! my twitter acc is @michaelcult so hmu there if u want