Page 6 of A New Chapter

Chapter 4

Two days later, Emma and Zack sat across from each other at a table for two in Starbucks. Emma sipped on a strawberry banana smoothie (it sounded less boring than lemonade) while Zack nursed his no-frills dark roast coffee. A brownie sat on the table between them, but no one had taken a bite yet. There had been a bit of awkwardness at the counter when Zack had insisted on paying, but now they were seated, and Emma was struck by a whole new wave of discomfort.

She had debated cancelling this morning until she realized that she didn’t have Zack’s phone number. He had called the store the day before to confirm their coffee “date,” but she hadn’t written his number down from the caller ID. Emma squirmed in her chair and wished she were still at home in her pajamas, curled up on her couch with her nose in a book. She had no business being here with Zack. What did they have in common besides their connection to Phil? Oh, and the fact that they were both divorced, which was not a stellar thing to have in common. Zack had confessed that he knew she was divorced. Based on their history, he probably wanted to make it clear that he didn’t intend to hit on a married woman. Even so, the words this was a mistake kept repeating in Emma’s head until they threatened to spill out.

“So, Emma, you’re probably wondering why I asked you to meet me today,” Zack said.

Mr. Cool-as-a-cucumber didn’t look the least bit uncomfortable. He leaned back in his chair like he owned the place, without a hint of nervousness on his handsome face. “Well, I am a little curious,” she replied.

“I wanted to apologize to you for my behavior on the night of Phil’s wedding. I acted boorishly, and there was no excuse for it. I hope that you can forgive me.”

Boorishly? He knows the word boorishly? Impressive. “That was a long time ago, Zack. I think we’ve reached the statute of limitations on boorish behavior.”

Zack’s loud laughter filled the nearly empty shop. “Does that mean that you’re not holding a grudge?”

Hmm… how to answer? “It means that we all make mistakes and I accept your apology.”

“Just so we’re clear, I’m sorry for the way I acted, but not for what I said to you that night.”

Emma decided to play dumb. “I don’t recall. What did you say to me that night?”

“I told you that you were the most beautiful woman in the room, and that was the absolute truth.”

Emma’s mouth dropped open, and luckily, there wasn’t a bite of brownie inside, or it would have fallen out. She collected herself, leaned forward, and asked, “How can you say that with a straight face when your future wife was also in the room that night?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

Emma sat back in her seat and tried to process his statement. She wasn’t sure how to feel about this man. Was he just feeding her a line? What was his agenda? On one hand, he sounded sincere, but was he an expert at playing women? Well, he wasn’t going to play her—that was for sure!

“Why did you really ask me here today, Zack? Since we’re being truthful about everything…”

Zack slurped his coffee, leaned forward, and looked directly into her eyes. “I was hoping that we could start over, as friends. Other than my parents, you’re the only one I know in Clarkston, and I would like it if we could become friends.”

“Friends?” Emma asked incredulously.

“Yes, friends,” he repeated.

Emma could honestly say that she had never had a male friend. In high school, she’d tried to pass a couple guys off as friends, but she’d secretly had a crush on them. She wasn’t decided on the age-old question of whether or not men and women could just be friends. Perusing Zack’s face across the table confirmed her uncertainty. If only he were a little uglier…

“So, what’s your answer?”

“I suppose we could try it,” she replied skeptically, “but I think we need to define the term ‘friend’ first. Go ahead, what does it mean to you?”

Finally, she had put Zack on the spot. This was more like it!

“I feel like I’m on a game show and if I give the wrong answer, I’ll be sent home,” he teased.

Emma didn’t feel the least bit sorry for him. Oh no, if he wanted to be her friend, he would have to prove that he knew the meaning of the word.

“Ok, here goes. A friend is someone you can share coffee with, or strawberry smoothies as the case may be. If the two friends have certain things in common, say they both like sports, they could go to a game together. If one friend was having a particularly rough day and wanted to vent about something, they could call the other friend and talk about it. If…”

“Ok, ok, enough,” Emma said while attempting to keep a straight face. She had to give him credit for humoring her with such a thorough answer. The guy was a good sport!

“Now it’s your turn,” Zack said with a serious expression. “What would I have to do as your friend?”

Hmm… interesting choice of words. “Well, you summed it up nicely, but I have a minor correction to what you said about doing things together. Suppose one friend loved books and wanted to go to a book expo. The other friend may not share that interest; however, they would accompany said friend to the expo knowing that the favor may be reciprocated down the road.”

“So, if the other friend liked classic cars, they could conceivably ask said friend to a classic car show even though that might not be a shared interest?”

Emma could no longer contain her laughter. Her shoulders shook, and her face was probably crinkled up and bright pink as she burst out in giggles. “I’m glad to see that you understand the rules,” she managed once her laughter subsided.

“I think I can handle it. Any other rules that I should know about?”

“Just one. No hitting on each other due to drunkenness or desperation.” Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have gone there.

Zack’s face fell. “I promise that won’t happen again.”

“Zack, I didn’t mean to… Let’s just put the past behind us and move forward, ok?” She held up her smoothie. “How about a toast? To a new chapter.”

He raised his coffee cup and clinked it against her glass. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” he said, quoting from Casablanca.

Wow, a man who knew the word boorish and could quote from Casablanca. Little did Zack know that he had earned two gold stars on his report card already!