Shawn smiled as he scrolled through his recent messages. Messages he shared with Sara.
It had been almost a year since the night they hooked up in Nia and Scott's basement. It had also been almost a year since Sara went home and got engaged to her boyfriend a few hours later. Sara had sent Shawn a message after adding him as a friend a week earlier.
Sara: Can you call me?
It took Shawn a few hours to reply that he would and then a couple more before he called the phone number Sara had sent immediately after.
"Hello?" Sara asked on the other end of the line. She sounded distracted.
"Hi Sara, this is Shawn. I was just calling like you asked but you sound busy..."
"No, no, no! Let me get somewhere quieter." Shawn looked out his apartment window nervously while he waited. A light rain seemed to match his mood. After what seemed like an hour, Sara brought the phone back to her ear.
"Sorry, I was on the stair climber at the gym. I assumed this was a spam call.
"Nope, just me," Shawn half grinned at hearing her voice again. Less nervous, he sat on a nearby chair. "You said you wanted me to call?"
"Right," she sighed. "Look Shawn, I want to tell you I'm sorry."
"Sara, you don't owe me..."
"I do," she cut him off. "I wasn't expecting to have this conversation in my gym or expecting you to find my Facebook and like my post." Her breathing started to return to normal.
"I thought you were cute so I went downstairs that night. Nia was talking you up every chance she got all weekend so I went and saw for myself."
Shawn chuckled at the thought of Nia and Scott conspiring to hook up their friends.
"Kenny and I hadn't seen each other in a month. We had a huge fight and I ended it. I hadn't heard from him at all until the day I came home. And you know what happened from there."
"I think it's great you two are engaged, I really do," he lied.
"Thank you, but I wasn't asking you to call so you could congratulate me. You seem like a really nice guy..." Sara's voice got lower. "...and you were fantastic. I was willing to actually see what would happen. But Kenny and I were together for over a year and..."
"And life happened," Shawn deadpanned.
"Yeah. It really did." Sara's voice trailed away. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to clear that up."
Shawn sighed as he stood back up. "Thank you. And I'm sorry too. I could have not liked your post and left it alone."
"Nope, you don't get to be sorry. This one is all me." They were both silent for a few seconds. "I'm going to go back in and finish my workout. Thanks for actually calling. It was good to hear from you."
"You too Sara. Take care."
Since then, there hadn't been any more phone calls. No more chance meetings when he dropped in on Nia and Scott. Twice.
However, Shawn did send a video to Sara, something he found funny, about two weeks after their call. She responded with a voice note that he almost made her choke on her lunch.
She responded at a later date with a picture of high school age Scott and Shawn hanging out next to one of their first cars.
Sara: Too fricking cute! 😂
Shawn responded with a voice note of his own, accusing her of being the Facebook stalker now.
This pattern continued until now, with one of them sending some video or picture and the other always taking a few seconds to respond by voice.
Which made breaking their pattern even more difficult, even if it was for a lousy question.
Shawn fell back on his hotel bed and took a deep breath. He pushed send.
Shawn: So I'm in town for an IT event tomorrow. I decided to drive in tonight, get a room, and drive home after it's over. I haven't been in this city since I was a kid and it's Valentine's Day... Any ideas where I could get dinner that's not all booked up?
He set his phone down, picked up the remote, and started flipping through channels before settling on an action movie he had seen a thousand times.
The dinging of his phone woke him up from the nap he hadn't planned on taking.
Sara: Why don't you order food to the room?
Shawn: Because I'm one of those weirdos that doesn't mind eating alone in restaurants.
Sara: Oh you are weird! Let me see what I can find.
A few minutes later, Sara shared a link to a restaurant called DaVinci's. Shawn opened it and saw a reservation in his name at 9 pm.
Shawn: You didn't have to make me a whole ass reservation.
Sara: Nothing I wouldn't do for any of my other friends. Hope you're not too hungry though...
Shawn glanced at the time: 5:47.
Shawn: I guess I better find something to do until then. Thank you!
After a shower and a Google search, Shawn realized DaVinci's was in the same lot as a large shopping center. Figuring he'd find enough to entertain him for another 2 and 1/2 hours, he set out.
But by 8:30, Shawn was gently making his way through the crowd of waiting diners to the hostess station at DaVinci's.
"Hi, I have a reservation for 9 but I've already been killing time for over an hour. Is there a spot at the bar until my table is ready?"
The host smiled and looked up Shawn's reservation. Once he was satisfied, he gestured over to the crowded bar. "Good luck," he called after him.
Thankfully, Shawn found the last seat next to the kitchen door vacant, right alongside a dining couple.
When the bartender came over, he ordered a Blue Moon and declined a menu, saying he would have a table ready soon. He drank his beer and people watched, eventually striking up a brief conversation with a different bartender about a sports story that flashed across the television.
The host approached and said his table was ready. Shawn finished his beer and followed him to the other side of the restaurant.
