loveline | cody bellinger

-eleven-

Cody was in the driver's seat, driving both of us to the nearest IHOP. 

"I love how every date we go on, we're eating," I turned to Cody, who was keeping his eyes on the road. 

"Food is an essential part of any date." 

"Oh, yeah. Of course." 

As we were nearing IHOP, we noticed that it was on the other side of the street.

"Oh, my God. We went the wrong way, Aub." 

"Oh, crap. Guess you'll have to parallel park." 

"Aub, you know I can't parallel park to save my life." 

"You can't be that bad. You must have improved." 

Cody pulled up near the curb where there was a space big enough for the car. He tried parallel parking but he couldn't quite get the car in straight. 

"Cody, get out. I'll do it." 

"I was wondering when you were gonna say that." 

Cody got out of the car and I crawled over the center console into the driver's seat. Cody walked over to the other side of the car and sat in the passenger's seat. 

I pulled the car back out and backed into the spot. I straightened the car and put the car in park. 

"There we go." 

"What the-" 

I took the cars out of the ignition and handed them to Cody. We got out of the car and walked up to the crosswalk. There were five seconds left on the signal, so Cody took my hand and we ran across the street. I held onto my purse with my other hand and ran with him.

When we reached the other side, I stopped to take a breath. I put my hands on my thighs and my back was hunched over, huffing and puffing. 

"I hate you so much right now," I told to Cody, out of breath. 

"Hell of a way to get breakfast, huh?" 

I stood up straight and adjusted my purse strap back on my shoulder.

"I feel like I'm dying," I told Cody. "My lungs." I took a breath. "Hurt," I said, grabbing the right side of my body with my left hand.

"Aub, we barely ran." 

"Yeah, I know."  

We continued walking to IHOP and we finally arrived after a couple of minutes. Cody opened the door for me and I walked through. I told the hostess at the front that we were a party of two. 

Cody and I took a seat at the front of the restaurant, waiting to be seated. 

"So, you know how my mom runs and owns a fashion company right?" I asked Cody. 

"Yeah." 

"Well, she's letting me join her staff team and I'll get to work alongside her." 

"Really? That's great!" 

"Yeah, but that also means we won't be able to see other as often since I'll be working." 

"I'm sure we'll find some time. Don't worry." 

Cody put his hand on my thigh and I put my hand over his, reassuring me that we'll be okay. 

"Aubrey?" The hostess called.

"Yeah, that's me," Cody and I stood up. 

We followed the hostess to our table and she placed the menus in front of us as we took our seat. Cody didn't pick his menu up because he already knew what he was going to get. I skimmed through the menu, opting for the french toast and hash browns. I set my menu down and focused my attention back on Cody.