Finish the Dishes

“I like you a lot Suzie, but right now I’m not in any shape to start a relationship. Can we please just finish the dishes?”

Suzie looked put out, “Sure Scott, just know I don’t give up easily.”

Suzie backed off and actually helped him with the dishes. He liked her a lot better when she wasn’t being aggressively forward. Amanda had been that way, and Scott had been so flattered by the attention he had jumped into a relationship without any thought about whether it was a good idea.

He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. Suzie was hot and fun, but Doug was his best friend, and he wasn’t going to do anything with Suzie without Doug’s blessing. Losing a friend over a short-term fling would be dumb.

When Doug came back from his call Suzie was drying the final dishes and Scott was putting them away.

“You two look like you are having fun.”

“Yeah,” Suzie replied, “your friend is a lot cooler than I remember him being.”

“What do you mean? I was always cool.”

Both Doug and Suzie laughed at that one.

“Says the guy who wouldn’t go out to the lake with us because of a Dr. Who marathon.”

“What?” Suzie questioned, “Tell me that’s not true.”

Scott just hung his head, there was no saving this now.

“Oh it’s true, and worse, you remember Dana Johnson?”

“Yeah, the theater girl the guys were crazy about.”

“She came along, Scott here had pretty much dragged her through Calculus and she was looking to pay him back. She pouted the whole weekend because he didn’t come.”

Suzie just stared at Scott, half-smiling, half in shock.

“Is that true, did you miss out on Truth or Dare and hot tub time with Dana Johnson?”

“I’ll never live that down, will I?”

“No.” They both said.

Scott tried to at least redirect the conversation.

“What ever happened to Dana, anyway?”

“You know she went to State, right? She apparently married some Lacrosse player and has a mommy Instagram thing going now.”

“Jennifer’s still around, right?”

“Yeah, she’s still at her dad’s shop, she got her certifications and I think she took over the garage. So if you go back she might be your boss.”

“That would be interesting.” Scott said, remembering the days when he worked at Bob’s Bikes and Auto Repair, back when Jennifer was still trying to convince her dad to let her work there.

Doug looked at his watch.

“We could try and get some people together and hang out tonight, if you want.”