Free Love Is a Battlefield by Annalisa Daughety Page A

he knew how to get there.
    She started pacing at seven. She could understand being a few minutes late. Thirty minutes was pushing it, though. And she was on her third episode of Friends. A marathon maybe.
    Now she had a huge knot in her stomach. Partly hunger, partly anxiety. Any excitement she’d been feeling was gone. Where was he? Maybe he’d been held up at work. Maybe his car wouldn’t start. Surely he would’ve had the decency to call and let her know. Maybe his phone battery was dead.
    Thirty more minutes later, she was still sitting on the couch going over possible scenarios in her head. Finally, she flipped through her caller ID and found his number. She wasn’t sure if it was his home number or cell number, but it was worth a try. When she had everything dialed but the last digit, she chickened out. She didn’t want to seem overeager. Play it cool, Kristy, she coached herself. Breezy.
    Finally, she turned the TV off. She’d just seen Ross and Rachel break up, get back together, then break up again, and her date was still a no-show. Maybe there’d been a car accident. A family emergency. Maybe he was carjacked. In this rural Tennessee town? Doubtful.
    It had been long enough to justify calling him for real. She picked up the phone and bravely let the call go all the way through. On the third ring, it connected.
    â€œHi, this is Robert. I’m unable to get to the phone right now. Leave a message at the sound of the tone and...” Frustrated, Kristy clicked the phone off.
    It was time to face the music. She’d obviously been stood up. Honestly, she’d never actually been stood up before. Unless you counted being left at the altar. But even Mark had the decency to show up on their first date.
    Did Robert decide I was ugly? Weird? I’ll bet it’s because I’m a Civil War buff.
    Before she could go through a mental checklist of all the reasons Robert probably didn’t want to date her, the phone rang. She jumped up to grab it. Surely it was him with an explanation.
    â€œHey, Kris.” not Robert. It was Ainsley. She settled back down onto the couch.
    â€œHi.” Kristy knew why she was calling and hated to tell her how wrong everyone had been with the whole “get back on the horse” theory.
    â€œSo ... how’d the date go? Oh wait, I just realized what time it is. He’s probably still there, isn’t he?”
    Kristy gazed out the window, wishing she had better news to tell. “No. He didn’t show.”
    â€œWhy not? is he sick?” Why were all of her friends such optimists when it came to love? she really needed to add another cynic to her group.
    â€œNo. He just didn’t show.” she reached over and smoothed Sam’s ear. “As in, he stood me up.” There. The proverbial cat was out of the bag.
    Silence.
    Then ... “There’s got to be a logical explanation. Are you sure you got the date right? Maybe he asked you out for Saturday night instead of Friday.” bless her heart. Kristy knew Ainsley was only trying to make her feel better. Unfortunately, implying that she couldn’t even get the day of the week right only made her feel worse.
    â€œI’m pretty sure he just changed his mind. I was a little surprised he called in the first place. He didn’t seem too interested in me when we met. And when he finally called, it was like he couldn’t wait to hang up.” no sense sugarcoating this one. “It’s okay. I have to work tomorrow anyway. And besides, you know I wasn’t ready for this.”
    After a lot of work, she finally convinced Ainsley she’d be fine. All she wanted to do was get out of her cute date outfit. Ever since she’d realized Robert wasn’t going to show, Kristy felt like her clothing somehow mocked her. She slipped off her sandals and padded down the hallway, Sam at her heels. She carefully hung up her date clothes and threw on a pair