Afternoon Chat

“No, thank you. I’m good.” Maddy answers.

You and Maddy are now at Viv’s restaurant for lunch, waiting for Stella and Cassie to arrive after their volleyball practice. You just asked Maddy if she wanted to try anything else from the menu after she decided on just having a Bánh mì, leading to her answer.

You and Maddy have hung out for more than an hour now after your morning run. After Stella messaged you that they were almost finished with practice, you and Maddy made your way to Viv’s for lunch. The four of you agreed during the run to take Maddy to Viv’s, as Maddy was curious what the place was like after meeting Viv last night.

Most of your hour with Maddy was her talking about her thoughts on your book series back at your apartment. Like with Brooke the other day, you’re happy she’s talking about something she’s passionate about. Although, this time, it has an added layer of awkwardness for you since what she’s passionate about is something you’ve made. You’ve always been bad at taking compliments, so you mostly just smiled and nodded whenever she shared her complimentary thoughts on your works.

“The way Cassie and Stella teased you before our run, I thought you’d be feeling a lot worse after it, Mr. Craig. You seem to be holding up pretty well.” Maddy observes, after her latest gush of praise for your books has ended.

“Thanks, Maddy; but that was a really light run compared to what those girls usually do. They probably just used it as a warm-up for their volleyball practice.” You reply. “It seemed like a light run for you as well.” You observe.

“It was. I guess swimming helped with my cardio, so light jogs like that aren’t so bad. I do miss swimming in the lake though.” Maddy shares with you.

“You guys live near a lake?” You ask.

“Yeah. I grew up near a small lake town. Dad hated living here in the city with Grammy and Grandpa Rick when he was growing up. He was more of a ‘nature guy’, as he liked to put it. I can’t say I blame him. The air’s so fresh where I grew up since there are a lot of pine trees; and during winter, we can ice skate on the frozen lake.” Maddy shares with you.

You finally found a topic that you’re much more comfortable talking about with Maddy, so you dive in and ask more about her upbringing and childhood living in an area that wasn’t as densely populated as this city.

As Maddy told you more about herself, your phone vibrates and you apologize to Maddy for breaking her train of thought. It was another message from Stella, telling you their orders and also asking if it’s okay if they brought a friend with them for lunch. She obviously knew you were going to say yes, since part of the text already included their friend’s order. You replied it wouldn’t be a problem and called for your waiter afterwards to make your orders and inform him you’ll be adding another person to your table.

“Oh, who’s joining us Mr. Craig?” Maddy asks you.

“Stella only mentioned it was a friend. I didn’t ask for more details since it’s probably someone I don’t know anyway, or she would’ve mentioned who.” You answer her. Maddy just nods in understanding, and a pause occurs between the two of you. As the pause becomes longer, you notice she’s just staring at you. You smile awkwardly, and you guess it made her realize what she was doing and she immediately looks away.

Maddy looks around the restaurant for anything to focus on other than you, even looking at the ceiling. Her eyes finally find something, and she immediately becomes glued to the kitchen watching Viv and her staff work through the big glass windows.

“She seems so different when she’s at work, doesn’t she?” You observe to break the silence between you and Maddy.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Mr. Craig.” Maddy answers. You’re reminded that the Viv Maddy saw last night was incredibly tame to what you’ve been used to these past few days.

“Oh, right. She wasn’t as flirty last night as she usually is.” You say out loud, remembering Viv was actually pretty chill last night... outside of threatening to kill you, of course. Although, you admit to understanding her frustration last night.

“Trust me when I say this, once you see her party, you’ll know what I mean.” You tell her. Maddy smiles with excitement at that little tidbit, maybe taking it as an invitation to go out with you and the girls some time in the future.

“I’d love to see it someday! I haven’t been to many parties, in general; and the ones that I’ve been to have been with family.” Maddy shares with you, and you don’t have it in you to tell her that you don’t even consider family gatherings as a ‘party’ anymore. Especially when the last party you went to was with Viv.

“Well, I’d say we should hold off on you partying with Viv just yet. Unless you want to make out with her at some point in the night.” You say jokingly.

“What?” Maddy asks in surprise, making you explain to her Viv’s tendency to get girls to make out with her as a joke when they’ve had some to drink.

“Oh my! That seems so unethical!” Maddy reacts.

“You’re the second person to point that out to me.” You tell her with a chuckle, not defending Viv’s modus operandi.

“You don’t mind if she does that?” Maddy asks you.

“It didn’t initially, no. Stella called me out on that double standard though.” You say before chuckling. “I really don’t have a defense for it other than the idea of it was pretty hot in my caveman brain, as my girlfriends like to call it.” You joke, making Maddy laugh. “Seeing it in person was way hotter than what I could have imagined too.” you overshare, and Maddy’s eyes widen in shock.

“She did it in front of you?” Maddy asks.

“Yeah. I had a lot to drink by that point and so did Stella and Viv. Viv dared Stella to make out with her half-naked, and I can’t say I was complaining about it when it happened. I’m well aware I should be more concerned about somebody else taking advantage of my girlfriends, especially my own daughter, but I just don’t seem to when it’s Viv. Maybe because I know I’ll be dating her anyway… or maybe Stella’s just right about me liking the idea because she’s another hot girl.” You tell Maddy.

“Maybe you also knew she was a good person deep down, and you were giving her the benefit of the doubt?” Maddy suggests.

“Maybe.” you reply. Maddy is mostly right though. Tanya and Cassie vouched for her. Celeste and Viv also seem to have a deep friendship, and you trust your cousin to be as good of a judge of character as your girlfriends. It could also be because of that, that you never really considered the idea that Viv’s actions ever came from a malicious place.

You still need to talk to her about that though, if you and her dating is going to work. It’s not that you find her flirting bad, you really only want to talk to her about going about her naughtiness in a way that doesn’t need some form of manipulation.

Maddy looks back at Viv, spending a moment deep in thought, before looking back at you.

“You really like her, don’t you, Mr. Craig?” Maddy asks.

“I do. I like her. I’m not going to deny that.” You answer Maddy honestly, which brings a smile out of her once more. She continues to stare at Viv, thinking deeply about something.

“You and her seem to agree to be honest with your feelings.” Maddy shares with you. “Ms. Viv advised me about being honest with my feelings too.” Maddy adds.

“Oh? How’d that come about?” You ask her, afraid of where Maddy wanted to go with that statement. If it was what you were afraid of, then you’re not sure that now would be the right time for it. Her grandparents are still pretty much going to be in a tight spot with their son if you start dating Maddy, and you haven’t checked the app yet to see how to best address that. So you asked the question just to prolong having her confession come about sooner.

“Oh, um, Ms. Viv asked me if I had a crush on someone… and Ms. Tanya and Cassie started teasing Ms. Viv about her crush on you, saying she wasn’t one to tease me for having a crush on y—uhhh… for having a crush. Sorry. Brain fart.” Maddy says with an awkward chuckle.

Despite Viv’s advice, it seems Maddy is unsure about being honest with you just yet, catching herself at the last moment. You know what she was about to say. You’re not that dense. At least, not anymore. Okay, maybe it’s just a broken clock being right twice a day sort of thing.

In any case, a part of you does want to just let her say it and tell her there’s nothing wrong with having a crush. Especially after seeing her blush after almost confessing by accident. If you thought Cassie’s blushes were noticeable, Maddy’s are undeniable. Her pale skin is unable to mask it even by a little.

As much as you want to make her feel comfortable again, you’re not prepared for the consequences of her confession... and what your response to it might cause, if you allow it to happen now.

Thankfully, at least you hope it’s a good thing, someone came to interrupt your conversation.

“Adding another girlfriend to your harem, Jay?”