Anchor ⚓︎ Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

⚓︎ chapter two ⚓︎

One Month Later

Eleanor nervously walked down the street as the cold fall air hit her semi-bare legs.  She looked back down at her outfit choice, wondering if it was the right call for what felt like the millionth time that day.  It was simple but cute, a black knit sweater with a brown suede mini skirt and knee-high boots.

Blind dates always made her nervous because she had been on her fair share of disastrous dates.  But her best friend, Victoria, Torie for short, insisted on Eleanor giving her friend, Beck, a chance at least.  He was in the Air Force and Eleanor had never tried dating someone from another branch of the military. Hell, she had never dated anyone from any branch of the military for that matter.  According to Bradley, it was a bad idea but he never gave a solidified reason as to why.

Still, she decided to give it a chance.  She'd at least have some talking points if she brought up Bradley's military involvement. It had been a few years since she had a serious boyfriend because of her focus on work and bettering her skill in photography, but now she was ready to put herself back out there. And Torie figured it was a good idea to set her up with a friend from college.

Her phone began vibrating as she continued walking and checked to see Torie was calling, probably to make sure she had gotten to the restaurant okay.

"Hey, V," Eleanor spoke into the phone.

"Hey, El," she responded, "just making sure you're almost there, he keeps texting me about where you are, even though he literally has your number."

Eleanor couldn't help but laugh.  "Yeah, I'm just down the street and not dead in a ditch somewhere."

"Don't even say that!" Torie scolded, even though she knew Eleanor was kidding, "Who would be there for me the way you are if you died? You are not allowed to die without my permission." Her tone was teasing as she pretended to cry.

"I'll keep that in mind, V," Eleanor teased, " but I'm sure my brother would love to be there for you."

Torie must've been drinking something because from the other end of the phone, it sounded like she had spit out whatever it was she had been drinking.  Eleanor laughed loudly when she heard that, earning a few questionable glances from those walking by.

It seemed that the only people who couldn't see that Torie and Bradley liked each other were Torie and Bradley.  It had been going on ever since the girls had graduated high school.  Before that, Bradley had only ever seen Torie as a little sister. Torie had always had a crush on him, which she had divulged to Eleanor naturally, who knew she couldn't tell Bradley because it wasn't her place.

However after they graduated, Bradley had begun acting differently around Torie. It had gone from being a protective older brother type role to flirtatious exchanges whenever they saw each other.  He was only four years older than the girls, so Eleanor thought that his hesitation before was because of the age difference, but now, they were older. He had no excuse. Eleanor just wished the two would kiss and get together honestly.

"Have I struck the famous Victoria Sinclair silent?" Eleanor teased.

Torie sucked in a sharp breath.  "No," she said quickly, "I just saw-" she paused, "-a spider.  It freaked me out and that's why I spit out my drink."

"Torie, you're not scared of spiders," Eleanor reminded her, "that's why I call you to come and kill them when they are at my place." Torie didn't have to say it because they both knew that Eleanor knew.  "But seriously, when are you going to let yourself be happy and just admit how you feel about him, V?"

"We're not having this conversation again, Ellie belly," Torie scolded, "you go have fun tonight and text me the details when he proposes."