Author's Chapter Notes:
Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas! Chapter 6 yay! Also it's somewhat shorter than my chapters have been recently.
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Since he did not use his lunch break to work, Luke arrived home an hour later than he originally planned. As he rode the elevator up to his floor, Luke went through his mail. Some items were bills, but most of it was junk.The last item in the bunch was completely different. It was a wedding invitation from one of his second cousins.
Luke shook his head, another one bites the dust, he thought to himself. Although in the back of his mind, he knew he did not truly feel that way. Dani was right. Luke wanted kids; he wanted to get married.
Entering his apartment, Luke put the invitation and the rest of his mail on the bar. His apartment was empty, and the decor looked like it came straight out of a catalogue (which it did).He was rarely home. Luke usually spent his time at the office or out of town on business. On the rare occasions he was not working, he spent time at Alex and Dani’s either babysitting or just hanging out. Some nights he and Alex went to a bar to play pool and throw darts like men do, and this night, was one of those nights.
The sun had gone down and the lights of the city shined through the windows. Luke was preparing for a night out with Alex and a few other friends. They were meeting at Lou’s, a favorite spot of theirs for shooting pool and throwing darts. After a quick shower, Luke made his way out to the bar.
As usual, Luke arrived later than his other friends. When he entered the bar, he saw Alex and their two other friends, Terrance and Kyle, standing at a table close to the dart board. Each member of the group already had a drink in front of them that was half-way gone.
“Sorry I’m late.” Luke said.
“Nothing new there,” Alex said taking a swig of his beer.
“We’re going to have to treat you like we treat women,” Kyle said slapping Luke on the back and handing him a drink, “we’ll tell you the wrong time so maybe you’ll arrive at the right time.”
Alex and Terrance both laughed while Luke smiled and shook his head.
“Whenever I arrive, it is the right time.” Luke explained. He took off his lite jacket and hung it on the hook near their table. “So, Terrance, Kyle how’s work going?”
“Really, we come to a bar to hang out, have fun and you want to talk about work?” Kyle asked.
“What would you rather talk about?”
“How about your latest challenge. Alex told us you ran into an old college friend a couple of weeks ago,” Terrance said.
“Yeah, did you hit that?” Kyle asked.
“You would be the one to ask that question,” said Luke as he popped a peanut into his mouth.
“Well, I have to hear about other women from you. You’re the only one of us left. Alex here is married and Terrance is as good as married, and I’ve become a one-woman man.” Kyle said.
“You! No way, when did this happen?” Luke asked.
“Well, if you ever had time to catch-up, you’d have found out. Remember I was telling you about Claire?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know you two were serious.”
“We have been for a few months now. We just decided to make it official, and I popped the question. So, one-woman man here.”
“Wow.” Luke said finishing the rest of his drink.
“I know, who would have thought Kyle would settle down before you Luke.” Terrance said.
“Leave the man alone. He’s been working harder lately. Luke doesn’t have time to do serious dating,” said Alex defending his friend.
“Yeah, he’s just waiting for fate to drop the perfect woman in his lap.”
“Literally.” Kyle added.
“Why you guys do me like that?” Luke asked. “Look the dartboard is free, let’s do less talking.”
“You never answered Kyle’s question.” Terrance pointed out.
“No, I have not ‘hit that.’ I’ve only run into her twice.”
“That’s more than enough time,” said Kyle.
“When did you see her again?” Alex asked.
“At lunch. I went to the deli and she was sitting by herself looking for a new apartment.” Luke explained. “Look are we going to throw darts, or sit here and analyze my interactions with an acquaintance from college?”
“Here, give me the darts I’ll play with you.” Terrance said.
Kyle and Alex stood back and watched the game of darts commence.
“So, Kyle have you set a date yet?” Alex asked.
“Not yet. I’m trying to convince her to fly off to Vegas and do it there. But you know women, they like to have some huge expensive event with every person they know or ever knew as guests.”
“That’s why Janet and I aren’t married, that and we don’t believe in the institution.”
“We’ll see how much longer that will last. I’m sure she will be asking for a ring soon.” Kyle said.
“Can we talk about something else, anything else really, other than marriage and girlfriends.” Luke asked annoyed.
“Why, ‘cause you don’t have one or because you’re not getting any?” Kyle asked.
Luke rolled his eyes.
After Terrance and Luke finished their game of darts, the four friends broke into teams and played pool. As the game heated up, the group began to draw a small crowd. Luke and Alex were currently in the lead. They stood waiting as Terrance tried to line up a shot.
It was obvious Luke’s mind had drifted off somewhere. Luke was in such a trance, he did not notice Alex watching him. He was thinking about Cassie and their conversation at lunch. He was not sure why he pushed her, or why he wanted to know what was bothering her. But there was something about Cassie that made him want to help her and to see her happy. And Luke wanted to be the one to make it happen, one way or another. He was sure that was the reason why fate allowed his and Cassie's paths to cross. At the same time, he was in denial about wanting to be more than friends with Cassie.
Kyle walked over to the duo, slapped Luke on the back and stood next to him. “You know that chick has been staring you down for the last twenty minutes,” he pointed out.
“Really,” Luke asked intrigued, “I didn’t notice.” He turned and looked at the tall scantily clad brunette. She waved and flashed a smile.
Any other night, Luke might have gone over and tried to flirt with the attractive stranger. But, as much as he was intrigued, he just was not interested in meeting her, or anyone for that matter. He was too preoccupied.
“You’re not going to go over there?” Terrance asked after he finished his shot.
Luke leaned over the table and sank the eight-ball, “No, not tonight.”
With the end of the game, Terrance and Kyle grabbed their jackets and headed out the door.
Alex walked out with Luke, “hey, what were you thinking back there?”
“I was thinking about lunch.”
“You were thinking about food?”
“No,what happened today at lunch.” Luke explained.
“Cassie.”
“Yeah, Cassie.”
Chapter End Notes:
So working on 7. Updates might/will slow down from here. Not much free time, but I'll do my best to do it regularly. Thanks for reading!