To Destroy a Raven

Chapter 4 - Warm Up (Henry)

Henry had been bummed, of course, but he wasn't worried when Sam ignored his call Thursday night. Or when she replied to his message Friday morning to say she was out of town for the weekend - mainly because she suggested they meet Monday for dinner. But when Monday rolled around and she canceled at the last minute for work, he heard a faint warning bell echo. She'd already had plans for Tuesday, so they rescheduled for Wednesday.

So there he sat on Wednesday afternoon, on a dining chair, in his kitchen, watching the phone on the table, and waiting for the clock to reach a time that would make it acceptable for him to leave for the restaurant she'd suggested. It was almost an hour away, but he wasn't about to complain.

"Will you please stop fidgeting, you're making me anxious," Patrick called from the sofa, his head still facing the television.

Henry glared at the side of his friend's head, mimicking his words with a mocking scowl.

"I can see that. I'm deaf, not blind," Patrick said, his eyes still on the history program about... Henry craned his neck to see the screen, Egyptian mummies. Patrick's eyes were scanning the subtitles, "you know," he said, waving a hand at the TV, "for a channel dedicated to earth's history, they really push the idea of aliens a lot."

Henry groaned, not wanting to get into another hours-long debate about aliens. His phone pinged and he jumped at the distraction, despite the apprehension he felt at the sight of Sam's contact. He took a deep breath and steeled himself before opening the message.

Hey, sorry to do this again, but sister emergency. Need to reschedule.

Henry loosed a sigh as disappointment flooded him, with a heavy dose of guilt following on its heels. He quickly typed out a response.

No worries at all, I hope she's alright. And no rush, we'll figure out dates later.

He looked up to find Patrick had finally looked over, eyeing him disdainfully. "Did she cancel again? Girls have that intuition thing, I swear. I bet she's picking up on the," he waved his hand in Henry's direction, "bad vibes."

"She had a family emergency, you prick," Henry said, trying to not let his own doubt surface. He stared down at the message, quietly searching for hidden meanings between the words. She specifically asked to reschedule. That was good right?

"If she didn't suggest a date, I'd say she's letting you down easy," Patrick responded happily, making Henry start when he realized he'd been speaking out loud.

"I told her not to rush on picking a date," Henry stated absently.

"How magnanimous of you."

"Dude, if you've got something to say, just spit it out."

Patrick met his eyes with undisguised reproach, "I don't think there's anything left for me to say. I've made my feelings quite clear on the matter. You made a shitty choice and you're doing a shitty thing and it's going to end in a real shitty situation for all of us. And maybe you should take this a sign that you are not an asshole and therefore should stop acting like one?"

Henry looked away, annoyed with the guilt his friend's words inspired. He'd known that making the bet was a risk, but he had the golden opportunity here to get everything he wanted. The girl, the job... the risk was high, but so was the reward.

Another ping broke his chain of thought.

It's all good, she's okay. I'm going to be slammed this weekend with work, but I'll be teaching a spin class tomorrow if you want to come. I know it's not exactly a date, but thought I'd offer.