‘This is awfully awkward’ you state inwardly.

It’s been ten minutes and neither of you have said a thing, you nervously push your food around with a fork. You clear your throat, “I didn’t know exactly what you’d want, but this was all I had for two people to eat…” No response.

After both plates were clear, you pick them up and start to clean the dishes, then your phone rings. You answer it and look over to Mark, who is casually standing by your desk. You place it on speaker phone and resume cleaning.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Why didn’t you tell me when you were leaving?” A female voice replies.

“I didn’t have much time. I booked the soonest flight on accident and had so much packing to do, sorry, Elena.”

“Oh… where are you again?”

“Cincinnati, Ohio.” You say reluctantly. “You mean…”

“Stop” you interrupt her.

“Okay, geez… So, are you still gonna make a deviantart and upload…” You turn the water pressure up to drown her out “...Mar..plier..f..art?” You look over to Mark, who is sitting on the couch, flipping through something.

“Yeah, yeah” you reply, turning the sink off.

“Did you see he only uploaded one video today, wonder what’s up…”she casually says, “still got the hots fo-“

“Elena!” You quickly cut her off, pick up your phone and turn the speaker off. “What?” she asks, “It’s a real concern for a dear friend”

“Are you mocking me?” She giggles and you sigh, “I understand, but I’ve got company and have to go.”

You hang up and place the phone back in your pocket. You step over to the living room and glance over Mark’s shoulder. ‘What is that…? Is that my sketchbook?!’ You reach across the couch and go to snatch it from him, but he moves it out of your reach.

“Very nice artwork you got here,” he flips another page, and smirks, “what’s this one called?” he asks mockingly as he shows you a page with characters that roughly look like you and… him. Kissing. You madly blush, successfully snatching it away this time, and cover your face with the book.

He laughs and you hear movement, “I’m going to head back now, thanks for dinner.” You look over to him standing at the door, “See you around, I suppose.” He smiles, but it doesn’t seem… fitting to his words. You lower the sketchbook, watching him turn and leave, closing the door behind him. Looking down to your feet, your mouth curls into a frown, ‘I’m so stupid.’

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So my hand actually cramped writing these down and then typing them out. Gonna take a break until later tonight and milk out 6 more chapters :D

Best regards,

BellemueCat93