Free Wait for Me in Vienna by Lana N. May

later, though, it rang. It was Daniel. Johanna’s heart pounded wildly.

    That evening, Clarissa decided to surprise Thomas with a candlelight dinner. She knew that she had to make amends in advance for going away, and she wanted to pamper her sweetheart. She bought a steak, salad ingredients, and potatoes. Although Clarissa wasn’t a gifted cook, she had no inhibitions about trying, and she certainly didn’t mind receiving compliments. If her cooking went wrong, she could always order in. And for dessert, there was always sex. She smiled as the cashier rang up her groceries.

    “Hi, Johanna! I was so happy when I saw your name on my phone! Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the call earlier because I was in an interview with an important real-estate manager,” Daniel said on the phone.
    Relief flooded over her. “Hi there, no problem.” Now, anyway.
    “Actually, I’ve been wanting to call you, but I’ve been super busy.”
    “No problem.” Johanna kicked herself for being so devoid of imagination when it came to small talk.
    After a short pause, Daniel asked, “So, how’s it going?”
    “I’m fine, I’m doing well. Actually, I got a new job today.”
    “Really? What kind of job?”
    “Next week, I’ll start as a kitchen assistant in a cooking school. It’s not a full-time job, but I think it’s a good start anyway.”
    “Yes, that doesn’t sound too bad.”
    Part-time assistant. Her excitement faded a bit as she pictured the unimpressive words in Daniel’s head.
    “We should go celebrate!” Johanna surprised herself with those words.
    “I love that idea. I’m leaving town tomorrow on an assignment, so maybe tonight, totally spontaneously?”
    Today was today; today meant that there were only seven hours left to hang out because it was already five o’clock.
    “Okay, yeah,” Johanna said succinctly, because she knew that if she thought about it for too long, she’d get scared and say no, and she really didn’t want to blow her chances with a guy she felt so attracted to.
    “Great. What do you want to do?”
    “I don’t know. What do you want to do?” Johanna had no idea what there was to do in Vienna in the evening, so she let him make the decision. She felt absolutely helpless, clueless, inexperienced, and frustratingly dependent when it came to dating.
    “We could go to dinner, that’s always a good option,” he said in a charming and congenial way.
    “Sure. No problem.”
    “Good. I know an exquisite, small Thai restaurant where we can meet at eight o’clock. I’ll text you the address, okay?”
    “All right. No problem!”
    “Perfect. See you soon, Johanna. I’m happy. I’m really looking forward to it.”
    “See you soon. No problem.” she said, then hung up.
    She replayed the entire conversation in her head, annoyed by her curt repetition of “no problem.” He said he was happy . . . Was he happy about seeing her or about eating Thai food? Was he even really happy? Definitely. But how happy was he? Was he really excited, filled with a romantic longing, or simply just a little bit happy, like, “Oh, I’m kind of happy, I guess, but we’ll see.” Saying you’re happy has a lot of different connotations. You have to make it completely clear what you’re really happy about.
    Johanna, on the other hand, was thrilled—so happy that she decided it really didn’t matter exactly how happy Daniel was. At the same time, though, she was nervous and uncertain, with a thousand thoughts running through her head: What should I wear? How should I do my hair? Will he try to kiss me tonight? If he does, will he be a good kisser? What if he doesn’t show up? She really didn’t know him at all. What if he intended to do something bad to her? The last thought unnerved her, but at the same time, she told herself that it was pretty improbable he was some kind of hardened criminal. She could Google his name quickly to make sure. But what would she Google? Daniel + handsome + business