Bloom

Bloom Part 2

The next day, Clive grinned at me. "Ready for your lunch date with Whitney?"

"Why do you say it like that?" I pretend to have disdain, shaking my head.

He chuckled. "Don't be nervous. Be yourself."

"Nice tagline or slogan."

"You're right. You girls are going to get along great. I can feel it."

"Don't jinx it, Clive."

I could have taken the train, but Clive had a car take me to the restaurant I was meeting Whitney at. I listened to music to ease any nerves. I was working but I also wanted to go into this experience with an open mind and just be loose and carefree.

That all changed once I was running late. The traffic was horrid. Being late gives me anxiety in general.

There were several instances that I imagined myself jumping out of the cab and just getting myself there my damn self. But I stayed put.

I reached out to Whitney, letting her know of the traffic jam. I was about to alert Clive as well but got distracted when Whitney responded right away:

That sucks ):

I smiled and she hit me back.

I'm still like 5 minutes away. Maybe you'll beat me?

She used a smiley emoji with the tongue out.

I was calm now.

Whitney and I texted throughout the traffic.

I was 10 minutes late, but it was cool.

Surprisingly, she was waiting for me in the lobby, sitting down on the sectional bench connected to the walls, just on her phone, effortlessly looking like the model she was.

I wanted to sneak up on her, but she spotted me already, a playful look on her features. She slid her phone in her pocket and came up to me. "About damn time."

I laughed. "Come on..." The word "bruh" almost slipped from my lips but I didn't know Whitney well enough yet to know if she'd be okay with that.

"No, I know. I'm talking about them, not you."

"Who?" I looked around and then at Whitney, confused.

She looked at me with a straight face. "The traffic, V. The driver. All of it."

I blushed and avoided eye contact. "Right, yeah, I figured."

She laughed and swatted at me. "No you didn't."

I laughed as well, smiling at her. "Okay, well, I'm here now. Let's not waste any more time."

"Ooh, look at you," she commented, comically. Together we walked to our round table. We traded comments about the menu.

"Get what you want," I said.

She looked up at me, a little confused, and tickled. "I will, thanks."

I just smiled to myself and looked at the menu again too.

"You're getting what you want, right?" she asked, making me look at her again.

"Yeah, of course," I said patiently.

She nodded. "I'm just saying, you don't have to tell me twice to get what I want."

I chortled. "Well alrighty then. Salute, mama." My face quickly heated up and I cleared my throat, the sudden silence amplifying the awkwardness. "Um, forget I said that. But yeah, Columbia is paying for this meal."