Out of Line

“Oh no… I think I forgot to tell him something. But he already said that falling in love was not an option, so I guess that’s the same thing with what I was thinking earlier? I mean, not falling in love means that feelings should and will never get involved because he deemed it so? I think it’s the same thing with a different name for it, yes. So I guess that’s settled now, I just need to do one last thing, I should really get out of here.” Annika thought to herself as she felt like people were still watching her and could hear her every single thought.

The anxiety started to creep up on her again, she didn’t know what she was supposed to do to make everything stop. But this isn’t normal for Annika, she hasn’t experienced any anxiety before meeting Kurt. She felt like he did something to her to make her feel like she always has to worry about everything. “Yup, this is just a phase and this will pass in a few days hopefully. I can’t live like this, it’s too exhausting always thinking about something, and then the next and then the next again. If this would be an everyday occurrence, then life wouldn’t be worth living at all.” She thought to herself as she worried about her mind and mental state getting worse as each moment passed by.  

As she left the bar, her phone rang. As she opened it and looked at the caller’s name, she was surprised to see Kurt calling her again. Her grumpy attitude suddenly changed and became more cheery. “Hey Kurt! Why are you calling so soon? I was just about to get home to change, do you need something?” Everything she was thinking about earlier suddenly vanished as it was replaced with joy and a smile on her face, Annika was just running away from her thoughts at this point since she would rather bury it deep inside her and not let it out rather than face it so that she could finally go and move on from whatever she was facing. 

Although she was faking her voice at the moment since she was still furious at him for what he said earlier, she genuinely asked him why he was calling again in a cheery tone of voice. Annika forgot everything she said about him earlier since in her mind at the moment, all she was thinking about was being on that date with him despite the fact that she was just talking ill about him earlier. It’s as if she was hypnotized the moment she answered the phone. 

Kurt just chuckled on the other side of the phone. “Okay, okay, I almost forgot to mention, I want to arrange the dress that you’re going to wear. Not that I don’t trust you or anything, but you see, my mom is well… Let’s say, she’s not the most likable person in the entire world, unlike me of course. Unlike me, she can be so unforgiving if you wear something she doesn’t like…” He said on the phone with a nervous tone of voice.

This made Annika much more confident about what she’s going to wear later on their date because she was already thinking that if she is able to impress Kurt’s mother just by herself with no help whatsoever from anyone else, then she knows that she really is gorgeous if she really wanted to be so. 

“I don’t care if she’s picky or not the most likable person in the world, if I’m able to impress her with the dress I chose, then it’s safe to say that I’ll be more than enough to pass your mother’s test.” Annika thought to herself. 

But that’s not all she was thinking about. she felt a little insulted by what he said to her over the phone. “What do you mean if I wear something she doesn't like? Let me just get one thing clear here Kurt, I’m not going to be there to impress your mom. I’m going to be there for our date, that’s all…” She said in a serious tone of voice. 

Annika was in between impressing Kurt’s mom to the point that she doesn’t have to do anything to get her attention and not impressing Kurt’s mom because their deal was to enter into a fake relationship in order to deceive his mother that he is in a relationship in order for her to leave him alone. 

Kurt felt like she was wrong because he knows his mother more than anyone else in the entire world. “No, you are not going because of our date. You seem to have forgotten the entire purpose of our little deal, I wanted you to be my pretend girlfriend to get my mother off of my back. Now I can’t exactly do that if she doesn’t like you can I? If you can do that, then I’m sure that everything will work out in the end because by that time, she would’ve already loved you as a family, so don’t be too stubborn about this and just do what I tell you to do.” He said as fast as he could, he sounded a little ticked. 

“Argh, why do you have to be so strict about these kinds of things? I just want to wear what I have at the moment, I don’t want to go out and buy new things if I don’t have to, okay?” Annika said in a frustrated tone of voice as the two couldn’t agree to what they’re going to do on their date and what she was going to wear that night. 

Kurt on the other hand just tried to be as understanding as he could since he didn't want to annoy Annika on their first date together because it was the date that she was going to be introduced to his mother. He knew that everything had to be perfect in order for her to be accepted by his mother. Even the smallest things should be perfect because he doesn't want anything to fail, since Annika was the first woman he found that actually felt unique to him and didn’t feel like any normal girl. 

“I know I sound like a jerk right now who only wants everything to go perfect, but that’s what I am at the moment. This is the first time she’s going to be meeting you so everything has to be as perfect as possible to make sure that the chances of you being rejected are slim to none.” He said in an enthusiastic tone of voice. “Fine, if you really feel like you can handle it, then go. Choose what you’re going to wear tonight, I’ll come and pick you up at your house in half an hour or so. Just text me the address and I’ll be there.” He added as he finally hung up the call between him and her. 

The moment they were done talking, she finally went and walked back home. But on her way home, she felt like she was being undermined by Kurt when he offered to do everything earlier. “He thinks that he can just dress me up the way he wants? He thinks that he can just make me feel the way he wants? Make me move the way he wants? I’m very sure he’s already breaking our agreement and our terms. I knew he wouldn’t keep his work. If he tries something like that again in the future, I’ll make sure to leave him on the spot the moment I feel threatened by him. 

As she finally made her way back home, she almost cleared out her entire closet full of clothes, but not a single good dress was in sight. “No, no, no… None of this is going to work, wait. Why am I stressing myself out about this? I should be relaxing and doing what I want, not what he told me to do…” She thought to herself as she kept on checking out her closet to see if there was something she could still wear that would be enough for the night. “Oh why am I having these thoughts right now? Do you seriously want to impress her? Do you seriously want to impress Kurt’s mother even though you know nothing about her and have any relationship with her whatsoever? Oh why am I thinking about this right now?” She thought to herself as she felt like she was going to be sick about Kurt’s mother for the entire evening. 

After almost half an hour had finally passed, she was able to make do with what she had at the moment. She wore the clothes she thought were the best fit for her and the occasion for the night. “Well… This is not my best appearance but, this isn’t my worst either… I guess this’ll just have to make do if I’m still looking forward to meeting his mom in person.” She thought to herself as she felt confident in what she was wearing.