The Date Auction

Chapter 10: Lunch and Dinner

Jake and Helena were working out at the gym together, so I met both of them outside before we walked over to Brunch Crunch, the local restaurant where the waiters proved their devotion to late morning meals by working eighty hour weeks. A hollow-eyed woman brought out our first pitcher of mimosas before taking our orders and stumbling off.

"So... Jake," I began uncertainly, "I accidentally arranged another date with Blaise tonight."

"Mads, you know that's cool with me," he said, "Actually, uh, about Blaise. I thought maybe he and I should meet up. You know, get to know each other."

Beside us, Helena was texting furiously. I was secretly glad Jake's cool friend wasn't paying too close attendance. Jake checked his phone and downed his second mimosa in one gulp before continuing.

"I've, um, actually been thinking that Blaise seems, like, really cool. Like, I've been thinking about it a lot."

Gosh, I'd been thinking about it a lot too. My hand still tingled where I'd nearly held Blaise's last night. I remember how disappointed I'd been when we finally had to pull away. I'd felt an unusual longing when Driversby had dropped me off, while still thrilling on the thought of our date tomorrow. What might be our last date.

"-so, are you okay with it? The Blaise thing?" Jake finished whatever he'd been saying.

"I'm okay with everything with Blaise," I said, dreamily.

"Great! Great. Whew."

Our food arrived shortly thereafter. Helena's order was wrong, which happened fairly often at Brunch Crunch for some reason. But she didn't let it faze her. I got the feeling she was usually pretty cool like that. We fell into our food, waiting until we were mostly sated to talk.

"So, Helena, what do you do?" I asked.

"Kind of a... freelance problem solver. Lots of people in this town occasionally find themselves in situations that traditional means don't take good care of. I like to think of myself as their lifeline."

"Oh, cool." I said. I wondered if anything unusual would ever happen to me. Probably not.

"She's extremely good at her job," Jake said.

Two simultaneous obnoxious beeping sounds started. Jake and Helena checked their bags. Helena got her phone out first.

"Small one. You enjoy lunch. I'll get it." she said.

"You sure?" Jake asked.

"You enjoy lunch. I'll pay. After all, I'm not splitting the bounty." she said, before winking at Jake and running off. I couldn't believe it. A free lunch, and then a date with Blaise. Today really was my day!

Jake and I talked for a long while, enjoying the conversation, which we did a lot as people who dated each other and liked each other. We had so much in common.

With the exception of my mimosa-induced nap, the day dragged on. I decided to get on the computer and check to see if Professor Starlook had emailed me anything yet, but unfortunately my internet was down. Almost immediately after that, the power went out. Sigh. I tried to check my phone, but for some reason my normally excellent reception was gone. Oh well. I saw a few strange men outside dressed in camo. Opening my door, I yelled down "Do you guys have cell reception?" One of them drew a finger across his neck, indicating that his phone was dead too. I guess it could be a while. At least I had my books to pass the time. I picked up the latest Jane Austen book and dug in. I could really get lost in a book, so I was extremely surprised when a knock came at my door. It was Blaise.

"You didn't need to get out of the limo!" I said, alarmed to have inconvenienced him too much.

"I was worried," he said, "I needed to keep you safe."