“Always am, man. Hit me with it.”
“Why have you not reconnected with Anna yet? And don’t give me some shit about your schedule. You have a damn day off, for fuck’s sake. Why haven’t you called her?” I asked.
Drew sighed as he turned away from his computer.
“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t even think she’s into me anymore.”
“I know for a fact that’s not true,” I said. “Just this past Saturday, Anna went shopping with Hailey. They had an entire conversation about you.”
“Really? What’d she say?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you if you agree to something,” I said.
“Shit. What are you getting me into now?”
“Another double date,” I said. “You, me, Hailey, and Anna. It’ll take the pressure off reconnecting, and if something blossoms, then that’s awesome. If it doesn’t, then we’ll lay off. Both of us. For good.”
“Somehow, I doubt that, dude,” he said with a grin.
“You’re an idiot if you think she isn’t into you anymore. She just knows you’re a pursuer, and she thinks something’s wrong with her since you’re not, you know, pursuing.”
“Anna thinks I think something’s wrong with her?” he asked.
“She didn’t put it into so many words, but Hailey’s good at reading her sister. Anna’s not reaching out because she thinks you don’t like her enough anymore to reach out. Time to grow some balls, Drew.”
“We just got busy. That’s all that happened,” he said.
“Then it’s time to get unbusy again. Both of you are established. The two of you are throwing yourselves into work to distract from the loneliness of not spending time together. You might not realize it now, but that’s what’s happening to you both.”
“A double date?” he asked.
“Yep. All four of us at the same table,” I said.
I watched Drew mull it over before a small grin tugged across his face.
“I could be behind it. I’m in, man.”
“Good,” I said. “I know Hailey can get Anna on board with that answer. How does tonight sound? Since you’re off work.”
“Wait. Tonight?” he asked.
“It’s now or never,” I said.
“Fine. Tonight. Sure. But you gotta leave me alone so I can get this ordering done, dude.”
“Whatever you need. I’ll text you the details once Hailey talks to her sister,” I said. “See you tonight.”
“See ya, man.”
I walked out to my truck and sent Hailey a text message. There was this club downtown that was going to be having live music tonight. There would be plenty of food to eat and music to dance to. The club didn’t tolerate drunken behavior, so Hailey would be safe. It was the perfect double-date venue for a moment like this, because if things got awkward between Anna and Drew, there was always the music to fill the silence.
Hailey was ecstatic about the idea and said she would call Anna immediately.
I made the plans for everyone to get together, and at seven in the evening, we were all meeting outside the doors of the club. I was standing with Hailey, her hand seated in mine as Anna stood alongside us. Her eyes were darting around the waiting crowd, looking for Drew as I threw a knowing smirk down to Hailey.
This was going to go so much better than we had planned.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Drew said.