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After circling the room several times with no sign of Franky, her sadness turned to annoyance. She checked her phone again, hoping for a missed message, only to notice the text she’d drafted earlier, asking where he was. Her thumb hovered over the send button as sadness enveloped her. Franky from last summer never would’ve left her hanging like this. He’d always been excited to spend time with her and never would’ve stood her up. She abruptly closed her phone with the message left unsent. She wanted the old Franky back.
TWENTY
Franky couldn’t recall any of his first dates ever going as well as this one was. Ivy was beautiful and brilliant, and while her intelligence intimidated him a little, it was nice to have a conversation with someone who understood the inner workings of his job. But getting to know more about who she was outside of work was what he really hoped for.
They had just ordered their meals when Franky’s phone chimed.
“Sorry. Thought I turned that off.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ivy replied. “Mine’s always on.”
Franky pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen, and his shoulders sank at the reminder message.
7:00 p.m. Schultz Christmas Party.
“Oh no.” He groaned.
“What is it?”
“I forgot about something, but I can take care of it later.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
Ivy remarked on the holiday decorations in the restaurant and talked about her family’s plans for Christmas in Connecticut, but Franky was barely paying attention. When their food arrived, he took a few small bites, but mostly pushed it around his plate. He kept picturing Skylar at the party, waiting for him to show. He could clearly envision her look of disappointment and the tears slipping down her cheeks because of him, and he felt like the lowest of the low.
“Francis?”
He looked over at Ivy as he came back to reality. “I’m sorry, what?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t mean to be distracted. That reminder on my phone earlier was for the Schultz Christmas Party tonight. I told my friend, Skylar, I’d go with her, and I completely forgot.”
Ivy raised her hand in the air to get the attention of their waiter.
“No, Ivy, it’s fine.”
“It’s okay. You should go make things right with your friend.”
“Really?”
“Of course. We can do this again another time.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” she said.
“I feel awful.”
“I’m not hurt or insulted, Francis. If I was, I would tell you. I’m not the kind of girl to hide how I feel.”
Franky liked that she was so forthright. It was a refreshing change from the type of girls he’d dated in the past, who never said what they were really thinking.
The waiter arrived, Franky handled the bill, and they headed out to his car.
Ivy pulled out her phone. “You go on ahead. I’ll call an Uber.”