Girl Talk

"Oh, wow," Holly mumbled, her mouth full of pizza.  Her brown eyes were wide as I went over the whole Michael-losing-his-damn-mind story.  She shook her head, chewing thoughtfully.

"I mean, that's just crazy.  I've known Michael for ages and I've never, ever seen him lose his temper like that.  You guys must've been so freaked out.  Just...wow," she trailed off. "Anyway, I wanna hear more about this Eric guy you're seeing!  You said you spent the night with him...?"

I sighed, grabbing another slice of pizza.  It tasted heavenly, just the right amount of grease, cheese and pepperoni.  The crust was to die for.  I took a bite and shrugged, indicating there wasn't much to hear.

"Here's the thing.  He basically insisted I come sleep over, but that's exactly what we did.  Slept.  In the same bed.  That's it!  Like, he kissed me but made no moves at all.  I wore my cutest, most revealing tank top and short shorts, he was in his underwear.  I thought for sure we were going to have sex.  Nothing.  Nada.  He spooned me all night, we made out a little but that's it.  I don't get it.  I mean, it was really nice, I enjoyed it.  But it wasn't what I was expecting," I rambled on, feeling a well of disappointment.

Holly laughed, scrunching up her nose the way she always did when she found something amusing.  I was bewildered as to what she found so funny and made it known by pouting.

"So, let me get this straight.  You guys had an awesome date, no sex, lots of talking and connecting.  Then, your night was ruined by Michael and then you had a shitty day dealing with the aftermath.  Sounds more to me like he actually cares about you and doesn't see you as a sexual object.  You shouldn't be pouting, you should be happy!  I wanna meet him."

I loved Holly's optimism and enthusiasm, but I still felt achingly disappointed by my sleepover with Eric.  I thought for sure that steamy, all-night sex was on the agenda.  Sex would've been the ultimate stress reliever but he hadn't shown interest.  I still felt tingly and excited when we'd made out, but the passion was lacking.  It occurred to me that he'd never even had an erection.  Ugh.  Maybe I was over analyzing the situation.  Guys can't be expected to be raring to go 24/7.  If our next sleepover or date or what have you turned out the same way, then I could be concerned enough to ask him.  I realized I'd zoned out when I noticed Holly staring at me expectantly.

"Well?" she inquired.

"Sorry, Holly, I was thinking and not really listening.  What'd you ask?" I forced my mind to clear itself from thoughts of Eric so I could focus on our conversation.

"I asked if you're excited about next week!"

"Huh?"

"Next week.  Doesn't your promotion kick in on Monday?  And isn't your ultrasound on Wednesday?" she was eyeing me carefully.

"Oh, my god.  I completely spaced.  I've been doing that non-stop lately!  Yeah, I'm excited.  My schedule is switching to a mid-shift, noon til 8:30.  I think I'll like that.  Plus, getting away from the phones will be great.  I've trained on workforce management for a few shifts now and I think I'm gonna love it!  I'm actually kinda nervous about the ultrasound.  But finding out the gender is something I've really been looking forward to!"

"That's so awesome!  You'll call me as soon as you find out, right?  Have you thought about names?" Holly was positively beaming with excitement.  It was no secret that she had a case of baby fever and was now living vicariously through me.  Truth be told, I'd considered quite a few names.  I'd found myself gravitating towards names like Olivia, Natalia and Gianna for a girl.  Boy names were a little tougher for me.  Carter?  Gavin? None of them felt quite right, but I still had months to make up my mind.

I shared my name ideas and Holly gushed over each one.  She was always so cheerful and encouraging.  I'd say Holly was my most stable and reliable friend.  It made me sad how little we'd seen of each other the past few months.  For the rest of the night, I made it a point to focus on our time together.   Being around Holly put me in a better mood.  We laughed and chatted and gossiped for a few hours before I made my exit, promising to meet up again soon.

When I got home to Kate's apartment, I wasn't surprised to find her drunk and out of it.  It was pretty much a daily occurrence.  Although I was used to it by now, I still found it irksome.  Thankfully, the apartment complex had a cute, spacious 1.5 bedroom unit opening in three weeks.  It was designed to be a 1 bedroom with a small office area, hence the term 1.5 bedroom, but the space would make a perfect nursery.  I vastly preferred that setup over all of the 2 bedroom units at the other complexes I had looked into.  I could put up with three more weeks of Kate's drunken chatter.  I knew I was just hormonal and irritable.

The next month was looking to be busy and full of positive changes in my life.  If only I had known just what my future had in store.