I lifted my mug and swallowed the last of my tea...and my pride.
Chapter 8
-Ian-
After my conversation with my dad, I’d planned on trying harder to find a girlfriend. Instead, I tried harder in the gym.
Firstly, work picked up and I had a brand new team to manage. I didn’t need the additional work of going out to bars or meetups, or carefully reading profiles and crafting messages to people through dating apps. I preferred the more organic approach anyway, as it was easier to tell if we had chemistry right off the bat.
Secondly, I figured that I could just meet someone at my climbing gym. There were a ton of fit, awesome women there. They were usually just there to climb, and not to talk, but occasionally, there were some looking to mingle. My current climbing partner, Lina, was one of them. Even though we didn’t talk about anything other than climbing (she was oddly evasive when I asked her about herself), it was a start. Girls knew other girls, right?
Thirdly, I was still a little bummed about Anna. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we could’ve been good together.
She’d been so full of opinions, emotions, feelings...life.
She was like a spicy curry, and everyone else was boiled potatoes.
If only she’d waited for me...I would have devoured her and licked her clean, then come back for seconds and thirds.
But she hadn’t, the closed-minded shrew.
Her loss.
So instead of actively hunting for a girlfriend, I climbed hard. There was no trouble, no frustration, that I couldn’t climb away. The raw physicality of climbing, the need to push myself and give 110% to my project…it consumed me so that there was nothing left to fuel the other emotions that fought for my attention, like fear about my parents or stress about work. Or loneliness.
Climbing was a form of meditation for me, and tonight’s session had been an especially good one. I’d found my flow and finally sent the green bouldering project that I’d been working on for the past two weeks. After so many attempts, so many failures...I was riding high on the feeling of success.
I’d just finished showering when I heard the familiar ding! of my phone, letting me know that I’d received a text message. I threw my towel onto the bed and glanced at the screen.
Hey Ian. This is Anna Tang, Cassie’s friend from college. From the wedding. I was wondering if you’d be free to meet up for coffee sometime this week? I’d like to talk to you.
I stared at the screen, unsure of how to respond. It had been almost a month since we’d last seen each other, and I was still kinda sore that she’d completely ghosted me. I considered ignoring her, or making her wait for a response...but really, what was the point of playing games? She wanted an answer, I wanted to know what was going on—always better to be direct.
I’m free tomorrow at 8am, I typed, hoping it wasn’t too early. Where should I meet you?
A moment later, she responded, The Doughnut Cathedral on 21st?
See you there, I typed back. I tossed my phone on top of the towel and sat down on the bed, reminiscing about how turned on she’d been that night, about the incredibly sexy sounds she’d made as I ate her out. I’d thought about that night countless times since then. Maybe she missed me. I smirked at the thought, however unlikely it was.
◆◆◆
I arrived a few minutes early and ordered a black coffee and two Boston cream donuts, one for there and one to go, the latter of which they playfully termed a to-gonut. I didn’t usually eat sweets, but Boston creams were nostalgic for me, my dad’s favorite. So I sat down in a corner table and waited, leisurely munching on a cream-filled donut.
Two minutes later, the door opened and Anna walked in. She was bundled up in a peacoat with a red scarf and matching red beanie. A short forest green skirt peeked out from beneath her coat, along with black stockings and knee-high black suede boots. She carried a plaid black and white purse, a large black bow on one side. Still as cute as ever.
“Hey! Thanks for coming—for meeting me here.” She approached and opened her arms for a hug. I hid my surprise and hugged her back, keeping it brief and casual.
“No problem. Hope it wasn’t too early. Morning is the only time that I can get any focused work done at the office, so I usually like to get in by 8:30.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I’m a morning person,” she replied, yawning.
My lips twitched. “Do you want something? Coffee?” I waved expansively at the counter.
“Oh, no thanks,” she sighed, staring wistfully at the menu.
“Ah...let me at least get you a coffee.” I took a step towards the counter, but she grabbed my arm.
“No no, I really don’t want anything.” She bit her lip and briefly scanned the display case of donuts before meeting my eyes. Did she want something or not?
“Okay. Well at least have this donut. I already bought it for you,” I lied, sitting back down and pushing the to-gonut across the table to her.
Her eyes sparkled. “Really? Well if you already bought it for me…” She picked up the donut and brought it to her lips, and I sat back to enjoy the no-doubt sexy spectacle of her eating a cream-filled donut, especially after that show at the Ethiopian restaurant in SF.
Anna did not disappoint. I watched in slow motion as she chomped into the donut, taking out a full third of it in one awe-inspiring shark bite. Her eyes closed in ecstasy as globs of cream exploded across her lips, her cheeks ballooning to accommodate the large volume of pastry. She chewed twice, once on the left and once on the right, before her tongue flicked out and around her mouth, smearing the messy cream all over her lips and pushing some
