Chapter 8: Hottie Number 1 or 2

I stared at the note from Mike, suddenly realizing how complicated things had gotten. I had agreed to go on a date with Mike and Declan on the same day. Even though I was mad at Declan for not showing up, I believed he had a reasonable explanation and I wanted to give him a chance to explain.

That meant that I had to cancel on Mike; a task I wasn't looking forward to, especially after he had sent this note. I sighed in frustration. The excitement from my meeting/date with Declan was wearing off. I had to let Mike know today, but how?

"I know that face," Tracy said, coming up behind me.

I stared at her innocently. "What face?"

"Furrowed eyebrows, that 'woe is me' sigh? Spill!" Kevin chimed in, standing at the other side of my desk.

"I don't think I should," I said, unsure about sharing.

Tracy nudged my shoulder playfully. "Come on, Leah. We've traded so much gossip to feature in a sh*tty reality show."

"Office gossip," I corrected.

Kevin eyed me suspiciously. "And this isn't?"

It sort of was office gossip, but I knew that Kevin was anything from discreet, and Tracy was… well, Tracy. However, I needed help with the Mike situation, stat! Well, nobody has to know WHO I'm talking about.

I thought for a second, picking my words carefully. "Well, I have a situation."

"Okay?" they said at the same time.

I rolled my eyes at their obvious impatience, but continued anyway. "I agreed to go on a date with two different guys on the same day, and I need to find a subtle way to cancel on the first guy."

"Is that it?" Kevin propped a hand on his waist and continued. "That's your 'big situation'," he said, adding air quotes for effect.

Tracy smacked his arm. "What Kevin is trying to say is, we're ready to help."

"Why do you care so much about this other guy's feelings by the way?" Kevin asked.

"Because, he has been so sweet and that's the least he deserves," I said, remembering the way he had asked me out. Oh, Mike!

"Well, I don't think you should tell him. Instead, you should go on BOTH dates," Kevin answered with a satisfied smile. "That way, you don't lose out on anything. Trust me, I'd know."

Tracy smacked her forehead. "Oh G*d, he's about to tell the story."

Before I could ask Tracy what she meant, Kevin continued. "Two months ago, I had two dates on the same day, and I wasn't about to cancel out on anyone. So, I went for the first one, ate a bit, and laughed a little. An hour later, I told my date I wasn't feeling so well and rushed over to date number 2." He stared at me intensely. "No one suspected a thing."

Tracy rolled her eyes at Kevin, obviously finding that story as ridiculous as I did. Running across town to make it to my second date? That was definitely not my style.

"I think you should just tell him. You're both adults, I'm sure he would understand," Tracy offered.

Would he though? Mike seemed to be the calm and understanding type, but I wasn't sure how he was going to react if I canceled on him. And judging by that note, I'm sure he expected to have a good time tomorrow.

I was not looking forward to this.

"I need some air," I said and squeezed my way through Tracy and Kevin.

I walked to the break room thinking of possible ways to break it to him.

"Hi Mike, I'm sorry, but I can't go out with you tomorrow because the man I really want asked me out." I'm sure he'll love that one.

"Love what?"

I froze, my eyes focusing on Mike in the break room, standing by the coffee machine, sipping from the mug in his hand. Sh*t, I must've said that out loud.

"Oh, nothing, just mindless murmurings of a crazy girl," I laughed nervously, hoping he would drop it.

"Don't worry, I murmur all the time. This place drives me crazy too," he laughed, his brown eyes twinkling.

I groaned internally; this was going to be harder than I thought. We stood in awkward silence for a few minutes. Mike took long sips of his coffee while I fiddled with the coffee machine. I thought of what to say, a way to bring up tomorrow's arrangement, but for the first time in my 25 years on earth, I was speechless.

"So, you've been here for two weeks. How do you feel about that?" Mike said, finally breaking the silence.

"It's great," I nodded awkwardly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep," I responded, staring at the wall behind him.

Mike looked at me weirdly. "Anything interesting on that wall you seem to find so fascinating?"

"The colors are just so beautiful."

I had started sweating, this conversation was not going in the direction I wanted it to go.

He turned to look at the wall. "They are?"

"Uh-huh."

Mike stared at me like I was crazy. "Hmm, I guess I didn't notice before."

I could feel the sweat on my forehead dripping down. I swiped at it before Mike noticed, but I was too late because he grabbed a napkin and walked towards me.

"Are you alright? You look like you're about to pass out," he said, cleaning my forehead. "Are you coming down with something?"

A light bulb lit up in my head. That was it!! That was how I could let him down slowly, a classic tale of "It's not you, it's me."

Marcella would give me sh*t for what I was about to do, but I wasn't about to pass on a golden opportunity.

"Don't do it, Leah," the judgy voice of Marcella rang in my head. "You'll regret it."

Shutting her out, I turned to Mike. "I've been feeling a bit off all day," I added a little cough for effect.

Please forgive me God.

"I don't think I'll be able to make it tomorrow, I'm sorry," I said finally.

"Leah, that's completely fine, take care of yourself first. We can always reschedule."

Reschedule?

Mike took my hand. "Here, let me walk you to your desk."

As he walked me to my desk, guilt pent up inside of me and I couldn't help but ask myself: What had I just done?