Cupid Collections

26. Nate - 8: Wrong Name Game (CGD)

Everything was going so well. It had been fine. We had arrived at some semi-fancy restaurant and Lily and I were alone for our four month anniversary dinner. She didn’t want to celebrate such an occasion but I told her that ever milestone was important, even the little ones.

Everything really had been fine. Our conversation had been usual. We talked about each other’s days and some of our plans for later in the week.  Listening to Lily, I just smiled as she talked. I realized for the first time in a long time that I was actually happy. It was kind of hard not to be when someone radiating happiness was sitting across from you. Still, I never imagined that Lily would come back into my life and that she would be so active it in again. It was amazing the path life took people on sometimes.

“Are you listening?”

I shook my head slightly and glanced up into her eyes. “Of course, you were talking about the new type of paper they’ve created.”

“Yes! So my boss thinks it’s really going to cut down the destruction done to national forests. Honestly, I think we need to invest in wood free-paper…”

She continued while I slumped back into my thoughts. Our food had been long since cleared away at this point. The afternoon had slowly turned into the night. We simply sat with our drinks in front of us chatting lightly. It wasn’t an interesting subject but she had a way of putting passion into her words.

Lily’s talking came to a sudden stop. My attention returned to her with an expression of mild alarm. Was I supposed to respond now? She turned to look into her lap and seemed to contemplate saying something more. I was saved for a few more seconds of speaking.

“Don’t you think…” She trailed off unsure of herself. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“Don’t I think what?”

Lily bit her lip and gazed into my eyes before speaking. “Don’t you think that Peyton has been around us long enough?”

My confusion clearly showed on my face. “Of course not. She can stay for as long as she likes.”

“But she was just here to make sure the two of us ended up together and well… we’re together.” When I didn’t respond, Lily continued, “Isn’t it about time she left us to be by ourselves?”

A flash of anger shot through me. I did my best to take a deep breath and remain calm.

“I don’t think so. She stills needs to be around in case anything goes wrong.”

Lily’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Something is going to go wrong between us?”

I rolled my eyes at her tone. “We just don’t know. It’s just better if she’s here to be safe.”

“She hasn’t even done anything besides introduce us,” Lily argued.

“Look,” I began trying to keep my cool. “She has done a lot behind the scenes. She has done wonders in my life besides just get you and I together.”

Lily only seemed more skeptical. “It seems that you should just date her then.”

“What?” I gasped completely surprised. “I would never-”

“You’ve already kissed her,” Lily continued as if it were the simplest reasoning in the world. “Then she just wanted alone time with you. If you ask me, it seems that she has really overstayed her welcome.”

I sat up straighter in my chair narrowing my eyes at her. “You cannot say that!”

“I believe every word of it.”