“I’ve only been with two guys before. I don’t have the most experience in the world either. Oh, no. What if our sex is terrible? Two people just bumping uglies without a clue what they’re doing!” I wailed, envisioning rotten, awkward sex with Henry.
“I’m sorry, what? Bumping uglies? Where the hell did you get that crass expression?” Lila asked, wrinkling her nose at me.
“I don’t know. Probably a movie or something. But, guys, this is awful!” I shrieked.
“Calm down. For all we know, he is not a virgin and is really a man whore. Maybe he has herpes and had a flare-up and was doing the respectable thing by not passing them to you.”
The three of us stared at Carmen. “What?” she said. “You never know these days.”
I sighed. “Well, we’ve gone from he’s gay to he’s a virgin to he has herpes. I would say we’re no closer to figure out his deal.”
“Are you going to see him again?” Emma asked me.
“I don’t know. We didn’t plan anything last night. And I certainly don’t want to make the first move. I guess I’ll just wait and see if he texts me today,” I said, my outlook feeling glum. “What if he doesn’t? What if he’s just done with me?”
Lila slung her arm around me. “Don’t think that way. He’s a nice guy, Alex. I have that vibe from him. You’ll get this all figured out. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
“Thanks. Thanks for waking up, too,” I said to Carmen and Emma. They had both passed out in our room last night, and when Lila and I had woken them up this morning to discuss my issue, there were only minor complaints from them both.
“You’re very welcome. Now, I’m going to go back to sleep in my own comfy bed. Alex, do you plan on getting called into work again today?” Carmen asked, standing and helping Emma to her feet.
“I fucking hope not,” I said, then saw the startled expression on my friends’ faces. “Sorry. Violence unnecessary. No. I hope not to get called in. I want to try to catch a few more hours of sleep, go to late mass, and I have so much homework to get caught up on. I can’t afford to miss some of these assignments.”
“Well, maybe we could all do lunch together somewhere. Get Hannah to come along as well. We’ll go once you guys get back from church. Just have a nice girls date. We haven’t had one in a while,” Emma said, and we all agreed to the plan. I considered briefly turning my cell phones off so Blissful couldn’t reach me with any problems, but I knew I would just get into more trouble that way. Better to leave them on and just hope and pray that there were no emergencies.
I said good-bye to the girls then made my weekly Sunday phone call to my sister, and was able to talk to all three of my nieces as well. The one time where I was hoping for a super quick phone call with only Alicia had to be the time all the girls wanted to chat. But I knew it was terrible to complain about being able to talk to them, so I forced a smile and kept my eyelids open while hearing about their school, friends, and all the new books Candace wanted to check out from the library. After almost an hour of phone time, I was finally able to hang up and think about sleep.
After wiping off my makeup and changing into suitable pajamas I crawled into my bed, carefully setting both my Blissful phone and personal phone on my nightstand. I wanted to be available if Henry called. Not so much if Blissful summoned.
Chapter 14
“Lila Medlin, here for my facial.”
“Hello, ma’am. Have you been to Blissful before?”
“Nope. And I hear it’s awful!”
Lila and I cracked up as I checked in her on the computer system. “Gee, thanks. Keep boosting my already fragile ego, why don’t you?” I said, trying to make light of my situation.
“Still no word from Henry?”
“Nada. It’s been three days. Do you think it’s over?”
Lila drummed her fingertips on the glass counter. I noticed she needed a manicure as well and made a mental note to schedule her for one. “I don’t know, Alex. I really thought he was into you. We all did. It’s just so bizarre.”
“Bizarre. Good word.” I pushed a clipboard her way. “Fill out the form please, so Allie