Meet Cute

Chapter 4

After my date with Chris, I wasn't really sure where to go from there. Of course, he was absolutely wonderful and charming, not to mention good looking, but the fact that he was so famous was suddenly very frightening. It's not like that fact changed who he was as a person, I mean you could hardly tell the man was a celebrity by the way he carried himself. I didn't want it to, but it freaked me out.

Estelle thought I was a complete fucking idiot. "Why on earth would him being famous be such a dealbreaker? That makes him even more of a total package." It had been two days since the date and she still couldn't get over it. 

"How is dating a famous person a positive for you?" I asked her through a mouthful of Chinese food as we sat on the couch watching tv. "Please enlighten me."

"Oh come on! You'd be famous almost instantly without even trying or being remotely talented in any way." She paused the tv, clearly wanting to have a complete discussion on the topic. 

"I guess I understand what you mean, but I would want to be recognized for my own personal talents after all that's what I've been trying to do for the past four years. I don't want to be recognized just because I'm attached to someone successful."

Estelle sighed and set down her fork to look directly at me. "I understand where you're coming from and I know how much work you've put into your writing these past years, but I really don't get why you are so hung up on this. I mean, clearly he really likes you and I'm pretty sure you feel the same way so why is this an issue?"

I thought to myself for a while, mindlessly twirling my lo mein with my chopsticks before I answered her. "Honestly, I don't know why it feels like such a big deal. He's still an insanely wonderful person I just don't know if I'd be able to handle being in a spotlight like that." We both went quiet for a while. "Don't you think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here? I mean, we've only been on one date, two days ago, and he still hasn't texted me back."

"He's a dumb boy, he's probably just following the three-day rule."

I groaned and threw myself back on the couch. "I hate that stupid fucking three-day rule. Why do men think that it's going to make any real impact."

"Well, why haven't you texted him first then." She gave me a pointed look while she downed a piece of Mongolian beef. 

"What about this conversation makes you think I'm even close to being in the state of mind to even consider doing that?"

"All I'm saying is you won't really know how you feel about it until you try. So either he texts first or you do. Either way, you'll only find out how it's gonna go if you give it a shot." Before I could respond she turned back to the tv and this topic of conversation was officially closed. She was right though. Even though Chris and I were nowhere near a relationship at that point if that were ever an option the only way to know how I would handle it was to try.

*****

The next day at work I decided to use my break as time to mull over whether or not I would make the next move. I sat at one of the tables towards the back of the cafe with my mug and a notebook listing the pros and cons of taking the plunge. What can I say, I like to weigh my options. 

PROS: he's so attractive it's almost painful, CUTEST.LAUGH.EVER., smart as hell, is actually a genuinely good person

CONS: the whole famous thing (i.e. lots of paparazzi, people recognizing me random places, his fans vehemently hating me)

The pros were honestly more plentiful and better than the cons, but it was that one con that continued to plague me. I stared at the open page, attempting to come up with anything else that could possibly be a reason for me not jumping into this until someone sat down across from me. I jumped a little from the unexpected company and shut my notebook so fast when I realized it was Chris with me at the table. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He chuckled.