The red strings (FrUK)

Chapter seven

"If you wanted to date practice, you could have at least picked a more private and nicer place. I would never let you go on a date like this. Just saying," Alfred smirked, nudging Kiku as he rolled his eyes. "Now then....tell me about yourself," Kiku asked, smiling and I felt my hands get sweaty. "Wow, That was forward.... uhh... I need time to think, don't look at me like that," I said nervously starting to fan myself. "Calm down, just say hobbies you like or favorite animals" Alfred looked at me worried. I nodded and tried to think. "Well, I really like cats," I said ...that was the only thing I said. They both nodded, concerned. "You are hopeless," Alfred said putting his forehead in his palm.

"Hey! I am trying!"I tried to defend myself. Even a pretend date makes me nervous. "Try again," Kiku laughed "well... I guess I like to embroider to calm me down." I said smiling and they both nodded in acceptance. "Now then, on a date, try not to fidget so much. It shows you are nervous" Kiku mentioned and I nodded. "How do you know so much about dating?" Alfred crossed his arms starting to pout at him. "I have some experience, believe it or not," Kiku shot at him making Alfred smile lovingly at him. "Maybe I should judge your skill sometime?" Alfred asked, and Kiku shook his head laughing. "Not a chance" he laughed looking back at me.

"Now then, try to always make eye contact too; it shows you are interested, also try not to give attitude like always" Kiku looked at me with a lifted brow. "You have a point" I laughed nodding my head. "Make sure to always keep the conversation going too" Alfred added. "How would I do that?" I asked, getting some good tips. "Just say anything that pops into your head! The first thing, and make a conversation out of that" Alfred smiled, and I nodded. That seems easy enough.

"So for now, you are starting off with a group thing, then you can move on to just the two of you," Alfred said handing me my phone. "You want me to call now?" I asked worriedly. "Duh! It ain't gonna call him for you" Alfred sassed laughing. I glared at him taking out Francis's number. "Here we go," I said dialing the number. "What if he does not answer?" I asked, and they shrugged their shoulders. "You hardly help" I started to sass.

"Hello?" Suddenly I heard his voice making me jump and almost drop my phone. "Hello?" He asked again. "Yes! Hi!" That was all I could say starting to freeze up. However, Alfred kicked me to hurry up. "Arthur! What a surprise" Francis chuckled lightly. "Yes! That is me, full of surprises" I laughed as Kiku and Alfred slapped their foreheads frustrated. Kiku moves his hand in a circular motion as if telling me to keep going.

"Well, I wanted to call and ask if you, uh, want to go out for drinks tonight? With some of my buddies of course, and you can bring people too" I asked laughing nervously. I am terrible at this. However, Kiku and Alfred still gave me a thumbs up. "Yes! That sounds lovely; I know some people to bring. Which place is it?" He asked through the phone. "At the Washington at eight pm," I answered. "Sounds great," he said excitedly, and we stayed on the phone. "I should hang up," I laughed. I looked to Alfred and Kiku, who looked so embarrassed to be my friends. "Yes...me too" Francis answered and we stayed on the phone still.
"Haha bye now."
"Oui, bye"
Silence.......
"Okay"
"Okay"
Silence.....
"Ok, bye for real this time."
"Yes, haha"
Silence.....
"Oh, bloody hell! Goodbye," I said hanging up frustrated. "Although that might have been the worst thing I have ever seen. It was extremely funny" Alfred tried to cover his laugh by drinking soda. "It was embarrassing," said Kiku looking away. "Alright! I get it. But he said he would be there tonight! With other people, that is a start" I smiled at how great I actually did.

~
Throughout the day I kept looking at the clock to turn to 7:30, so I could leave. "Dude! Calm down; you have been anxious all day. We are going to be there too," Alfred tried to reassure me as I started to fidget in my seat. "Yeah, we have ten minutes left; just take a breath" Kiku tried to get me to calm down. "Breath in," I breathed in with Kiku, "now breath out" we breathed out together. "Better?" He asked. "No," I said feeling nervous. "Try going to the bathroom, maybe that will help you calm down" Alfred suggested, and I nodded standing up from my seat. I just need to kill some time. Ten minutes to be exact.

Once I arrived at the restroom, I kept washing and drying my hands. Then wash my face then fix the way my hair looked. "Why are you acting this way," I told myself through the mirror angry. I tried to brush my hair to the side with my fingers, but it fluffed back to its normal messy attire. "You have got to be kidding," I thought to myself trying to get it to stay down with water. How am I supposed to get him to love me when I don't even know what I love about myself? I breathed out, frustrated at the situation, then looked to my pinky with the red string. I was absolutely stupid for getting drunk that night. I wish I could go back and stop myself, but I can't.

I dusted off my shoulder before trying to smile at myself through the window. "You look great...I think," I said, laughing out. I checked the time and saw two minutes left before I could clock out. I walked back to my department to my desk and started to pack up my things.

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Thanks for reading so far! I am so happy so many people like this book.