Who We Could Be - Chelsea M. Cameron Page 0,66

of overkill.

I sent Tessa a picture and went back to my tea and searching for new apartments. There weren’t a whole lot of choices in my area, so I’d have to be vigilant and jump on anything that opened up.

I pulled up the draft of my online dating profile that I’d been fiddling with here and there. I’d decided to use the picture Tessa had taken at the beach, so now I had to figure out how to talk about myself, which was an impossible task.

What did I say? What would be interesting? My life was quiet and mundane. Who would want to sign up for this? I’d also only ever been with TJ, so I might as well have zero dating experience, since everything with TJ had just been going through the motions. Fuck, I didn’t even know how to kiss.

How am I supposed to date? I have no idea what I’m doing. I sent the message to Tessa.

You think I know what I’m doing? I know nothing. That was true. Neither of us had much experience.

I wish there was some sort of class I could attend or something. Dating practice.

She sent back a laughing emoji. OMG, can you imagine? That would be hilarious.

Why is this so hard? Is this easy for other people? The kitty started twitching in her sleep.

IDK, it’s really annoying. Hey, why don’t we go on a fake date? Practice on each other.

I thought about that idea for a minute. It wasn’t a bad one. I was comfortable with Tessa, so it wouldn’t be awkward, but I could get out some of my jitters.

I’m in. When?

GETTING DRESSED FOR a fake date was easier said than done. I wanted to treat this as real as possible, so I started with picking out an outfit.

“What do you think?” I asked the cat that was now officially mine. No one had come forward to claim her, so by default, I had a cat now.

I’d laid out five different dresses on my bed and was hoping Kitty would help me pick. That was what I’d been calling her, since Tessa was still working on her name and I’d promised she could name her.

Kitty jumped up on the bed, walked in a circle, and laid down on the dress that I’d just bought. It was simple, with a high neck and a skirt that went past my knees in a beautiful shade of emerald. I’d seen it in an online auction and it just happened to be my size, so I’d taken a risk and snapped it up.

“Good choice,” I said, and then I had to shoo the cat off the dress and go at it with a lint brush. Having cat hair all over everything was something I hadn’t anticipated when I’d thought about getting a pet. Oh well, it was a small price to pay for having such a sweet bundle of love in my life.

Kitty loved to follow me around and “talk” to me. I would respond back and we’d have little conversations. She slept in my bed right next to me, and every morning when I woke up, I’d find her there and waiting for me to fill her bowl. The two of us had settled into a routine and I almost couldn’t remember what it was like before I had her.

“Are you going to be good when I leave and go on a practice date?” I asked her.

She stretched out her front paws and closed her eyes. I hoped that was a yes. So far, no destruction, other than a few things she’d knocked over here and there. She really was a great cat.

I put my dress on and did my makeup and hair. For some reason, I wanted to take my time and really look amazing. I hadn’t dressed up like this in a while. Probably since we’d gone to Savannah. TJ had never been into going anywhere fancy and considered anything besides jeans or work pants “dressy” and refused to wear them. If I ever suggested going anywhere nice, he would just grunt and suggest a local chain, or a bar, or staying home. Or he’d cancel the date for an unspecified reason.

In hindsight, there were boxes full of red flags that I ignored because I was stubborn and I’d set my mind on having a husband. Thinking about how much time I’d wasted on him made me want to throw up, so I tried not to.

“Okay, no more maudlin thoughts,” I said