UNFAITHFUL AFFAIR

Chapter 4 ~ Miss Heartless

I stormed back into my apartment while I was busy trying to get a hold of Arial.

When she finally answered her phone, her breath sounded ragged and I couldn't help myself when I rolled my eyes. I swore she and Steve could get it on like they were bunnies.

"You're back home early. What happened?" Arial asked through the phone when she was finally being able to breathe somewhat normally again.

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened. It all started nice enough, you were right. He would indeed be a catch to whoever caught him, but throughout dinner, when he found out what I did for a living, he instantly became a stuttering and intimidated mess. This is why I don't just date, Ari. I can't shake off who I am or what I do, and I'm sick and tired of constantly intimidating everyone."

Finally, I was done with my rant and took a deep breath providing me with some welcome oxygen again.

"I just don't know what to do about this entire situation."

I kicked off my heels and dropped my bag on the couch before I walked into my kitchen to grab a bottle of wine from my fridge and poured myself a glass. I leaned against the counter and took a sip while Arial kept trying to reason with me.

"You've only had one bad date. Don't give up now. This is New York for crying out loud, there should be plenty of guys around here that you could date and that should be marriage material. Besides that, you wouldn't want your mom to meddle in this all, would you?"

I couldn't help but groan at her comment. And it seemed to be that Arial immediately knew what my groan meant.

"Please, don't tell me she meddled already?"

I brought my glass of wine to my lips and took another sip.

"Yes she did, she somehow managed to set me up with the son of one of her friends from her book club or something. She invited him to our monthly family dinner on Saturday, can you think of anything more awkward?"

Moving myself and my glass of wine over to my couch, I put the phone on speaker before I sat down and took my tablet from my coffee table to answer a few emails.

On the other side of the line, Arial let out a little giggle.

"I feel bad for you, but you got to admit your mom has got a great taste when it comes to men. I mean, have you looked at your father? He's a catch. Financial stability and ease on the eye, what else could you wish for?"

"I don't know. Maybe someone who's involved in his spouses and his children's lives? Not seeing them as pieces in a play? Being around in general? My father is nothing more than a cold-hearted workaholic. Anyways, thank you for setting up this date for me and Conrad but maybe next time - let's just hope there doesn't have to be a next time. You and Steve enjoy whatever you were doing before I interrupted, I've got some work to finish up. Can you cancel and reschedule all my appointments and meetings for tomorrow? I won't be in."

"Sure, no problem. Tell Chris I say hi, okay?"

With that our phone conversation ended and we both hung up the phone. It was my original plan to visit Chris tomorrow night, but ever since the awkward date I just had and my phone call with Arial, I figured to just take the day off and would visit him in the morning.

I finished getting through my emails for tonight and finished my glass of wine and decided to pour myself another glass and treat myself to a nice, long and hot bath. It was times like these I could truly relax after a long week of work.

With everything I did, I tried to make sure I wouldn't end up like my dad. To do that I tried to keep my office hours to a bare minimum and to make sure that even if I was busy, I would still try to have some time left for my friends, family and myself.