Chapter Five:
Lou’s feet ached as she walked through the door of her house. Between all the dancing and then cleaning after the wedding she had been standing up for what seemed like an eternity. She plopped down on her bed and smiled. She didn’t care if her feet fell off. For the first time in a really long time she had enjoyed herself, and at a wedding no less. Mark had occupied her the entire evening. If they weren’t dancing then they were sitting at a table in a corner talking. From what she gathered he seemed like a really good guy. Hard-working, loved his mama, all the good stuff. She also learned that he actually didn’t live too far away from Ocilla. She wondered if he would be willing to make the drive to see her. “He probably won’t even call.” She thought. She didn’t want to get her hopes up. If she didn’t have any expectations then she wouldn’t be disappointed. She knew that wasn’t a very good attitude, but she had been in survival mode since her last relationship and all she knew how to do now was keep a wall up. She wasn’t ready to be hurt again. “Plus,” she thought to herself, “I’m a realist.” She really didn’t think he would call so there was no point playing out their phone conversation in her head.
Lou changed into her pajamas, climbed into bed and proceeded to dream about a thrilling phone conversation with Mark.
The next morning Lou strolled in five minutes late to church. Her feet were still sore from the night before and it had taken her extra long to get ready that morning. She slipped into a pew in the back and listened to the preacher as he gave his sermon. Unlike most everyone else in the state of Georgia she hadn’t grown up in church. Her parents would have called themselves Christians she guessed, but they never bothered with the whole church thing. They made a point to say how churches were only filled with hypocrites and that they didn’t want anything to do with that. The first time Lou had ever walked into a church had been when Cici invited her to a youth service when they were in high school. Her parents begrudgingly let her go and she had loved every minute of it. After that she started going regularly with Cici and her family. She was a faithful church attendee all through high school, but it wasn’t until she went off to college that she truly understood who Jesus was…well as much as a person can understand him. She remembered perfectly the first time he had become real to her. It was like all of a sudden she could see. She hadn’t even known that she was blind, but now she could see him. Things had changed after that. They hadn’t necessarily gotten better, as everyone always likes to promise, but they had changed. She had changed. That had been close to five years ago and she still felt the joy of that day as she sang today in her pew.
After the service ended she started on her way out to the car when she heard someone call her name behind her. When she turned around she saw Angela and the two people who had been with her all week. One of which was the man she had nearly killed the night before. She didn’t really want to see him, but it was too late now. She would have to endure the embarrassment.
“Hey Lou Ella!” called Angela.
“Hey,” she replied “how’s it going?”
“Super! I was just going to see if you wanted to go to lunch with us. I’ve been dying to take Will and Catherine to the Robins Nest and I thought you might want to join us. Your shop isn’t open today is it?”
“No, we’re closed on Sundays. I don’t know though I was going to…”
Angela cut her off before she could even finish giving her lame excuse. “Oh nonsense! I insist you come with us. Come on…you can ride with Will. We’ll meet you over there.”
Good grief! Angela wasn’t very nonchalant with her match making skills. Catherine and Angela walked off to their car and left her standing there with Will. She thought very seriously about telling him she had to go home to wash her hair, but then she decided she would just endure it. After all, she didn’t care about going to lunch with this guy, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings either.
Will was thoroughly embarrassed that Angela had forced Lou into going to lunch with them and even worse had forced her to ride with him. He had wondered why Angela insisted on driving separate from him and his sister that morning when they left for church. She claimed she had some errands to run after the service, but he now knew this had been her plan all along. So here he was. Alone in his car with Lou Ella. Her effect on him this morning was even stronger than it had been last night. It seemed to be growing every time he was around her.
“So how long are yall in town for?” She asked.
“We’re leaving tomorrow actually.”
“Oh, well I hope our little town hasn’t been too boring for you. I know it’s probably not where you wanted to spend your week.”
“No, not at first. But I’ve enjoyed myself. The more time I spend here the more I like you…it! I mean the more I like it.”
Why was he always such a fool around women? Here he was with a beautiful woman in his car and she was laughing at him.
Lou tired to keep from laughing too hard at Will. He was clearly uncomfortable and it seemed he had little control over the words that came out of his mouth. She assumed from his awkwardness that he hadn’t been forced into as many dates as she had. After all she was uncomfortable too, but she had learned to survive in awkward situations. Especially with the opposite sex. It seemed she lived in a state of awkward encounters with men. If one didn’t know better they might think she enjoyed being in uncomfortable situations. She laughed to herself again just thinking about all the times she had made a fool of herself. She had already built up a handful with this man and she had only known him a week.
“Are you laughing at me again?” Will asked with a smile.
“No” laughed Lou.
Maybe if she got him talking about himself he would be more comfortable. Her mother had always told her that men loved to talk about themselves.
“So how do you like living in Atlanta? Is that where you grew up?” She asked.
“No, I didn’t grow up there, but I like it well enough.”
“Talkative little thing isn’t he?” she thought to herself. At least they were finally at the restaurant. Now she could depend on Angela to talk through the entire meal and while that idea would generally nauseate her; today it would be a great comfort. Almost as soon as she and Will were seated his cell phone rang.
“Hello?” Will said into the phone. “What? Where are you going?”
Will was clearly agitated. She hoped everything was alright.
“Fine.” He said and flipped his phone closed.
“Everything alright?” She asked.
“It seems as if my sister and Angela have remembered that they have an important errand they must run and they won’t be joining us for lunch.” He replied.
Why was she not surprised?