Ace of Hearts - All We Are Series [NaNoWriMo 2014] [#JustWriteIt]

Chapter Seventeen [Edited]

Daniel and I decided to go out on a date in two weeks’ time, giving me plenty of time to self-doubt and worry. Thankfully, Margaret kept me busy by bopping into my office every now and then and voicing words of encouragement.

“He’s going to love you!” She said excitedly, my own personal cheerleader. I laughed at her enthusiasm, but I was secretly incredibly grateful for such supportive friends.

Work also had a lot going on, with a lot of research on the new substance and some further testing on old ones. New bottles were being created for some of our lines, so we were working closely with some mechanical engineers and the design and advertising departments. Each product had been narrowed down to two options, and we were doing detailed cost-benefit analyses of all the different options, which was quite a lot as we had many products. It also meant a never-ending stream of reports and meetings with higher-ups as we tried to secure a little more funding for production. The big bosses kept changing the specifications, much to our frustration.

However, Saturday morning yoga was still a highlight. I went with Shelly and usually saw Daniel there, though we didn’t stop to chat more than the general greeting and quick catch-up. I wanted to go to the gym more regularly, but my hours were being pushed back later and later as work took up more and more of my time. It was exhausting, but it was rewarding to finish a project.

Plus, once this was done, maybe we’d get a little bit of breathing room before some other new project was created or old lines analyzed to decide on which one was to be tossed out.

Before I knew it, January 24th was creeping up on me. It was around nine in the morning, and I had just woken up, when I realized what the day was: mine and Daniel’s first date. I was caught between running around my apartment like a mad woman or sitting in bed tearing my hair out, wondering why I decided to go on a date in the first place. I forced myself to take a deep breath and get out of bed.

‘Shower,’ I decided. ‘That should help me calm down.’

I sat in the shower for nearly an hour, the warm water cascading down on me, relaxing me and massaging my muscles. When I finally stepped out into the freezing air of my apartment, I was much calmer.

‘Right. That’s a step in the right direction, Anaya. Food is next.’

After changing into some jeans and a t-shirt, I made myself some eggs and coffee. I sat at my table, eating them and looking up an e-book on my phone, reading to make sure I didn’t stress myself out again.

As I finished breakfast and put away my dishes, I noticed that it was about 10:30 am, and I still had about an hour and a half before Daniel was coming to pick me up.

‘Oh, god, what am I going to wear?’ I thought, instantly tensing up a bit.

‘No, not good. Anaya. Relax. You will be fine. What did you wear for your other first dates?’

‘Let’s see, wore a t-shirt for one, a dress for another, and a nice shirt and slacks for a third. Great, that’s a mix of everything. How about a nice shirt and jeans? That seems like a good mix. I can dress it up with a nice necklace, maybe paint my nails…’

I looked at myself in the mirror, deciding to keep my jeans but change my shirt. Going through my closet, I looked at some nicer shirts, which wasn’t too difficult to decide as I only had a few nice shirts. My general closet was composed of t-shirts and work clothes.

‘I’m going to have to get some more casual shirts so I have something to wear on dates. Margaret would be appalled by my lack of fashion sense,’ I thought to myself, realizing that would mean another shopping trip with Margaret and Shelly.