And The Verdict Is?

When I told Mike that the girls were excited to meet him, he suggested we all go bowling. I was hesitant at first but decided it would be a really fun way to introduce him to my friends. We all met at the bowling alley and I was nervous from the second Mike and I got there. Zoey brought Wesley and Anna brought Theo. Molly didn’t bring Calvin because “we don’t go on dates”. I rolled my eyes and went to go get shoes for Mike and I.

When I came back, Mike had the girls in stitches with a story from one of his first fires and he was on a real roll all night. We got some drinks and snacks from the food bar and had a blast bowling. There was trash talk, laughter, and Wesley kicked everyone’s ass with a score of 268.

“You neglected to tell us you were a professional bowler, Wesley.” I said queuing up another game for all of us.

I looked around for Mike and saw that he was on his phone. He came back and looked hurried.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

He pulled me aside.

“Faith, I am so sorry. I have to go.”

“What? But we’ve only been here for an hour.”

“I know, there’s a big fire downtown and I’ve been called in for back-up. I have to go. I am so sorry. I promise I’ll make it up to you and your friends.”

“O-okay.” I said with a great deal of disappointment.

Mike said good-bye to everyone before leaving. It was hard for me not to pout the rest of the night.

“Oh, cheer up, Faith.” Anna said, “We get that he has a job.”

“Seriously. I love him.” Said Zoey.

“Hey now.” Wesley joked.

“You guys like him?” I said looking up from my soda and cheese sticks.

“He’s great. And he’s great for you.” Said Molly.

“The way he looks at you is adorable.” Zoey said stealing a cheese stick.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already falling in love with you.” Anna said.

“It’s a little early for that.” I said, “But I’m so happy you guys like him. I was really nervous you wouldn’t like him like you did with…”

I trailed off and things got awkward. I try to avoid referring to Sean directly as it’s a sore subject for all of us but Theo saved the awkward silence.

“Hey, should we get bumpers this time? Molly kind of needs them.”

“I do not!”

“Your high score was a 12.”

“I’ll go tell the shoe rental guy that we want some bumpers.” I said getting up.

“I’ll go get us some more food. Or maybe we should just grab some pizza after this game?” Wesley asked.

We voted for pizza after one more game and ended up going to a deep dish pizza place that is to die for. I am definitely bringing Mike there on our next date. Anna and Theo are having a barbeque on Labor Day and invited me to it. I’m going to see if Mike can come, too, it’ll give him more time to visit with my friends since tonight was cut short.