The Response

I spent the rest of the weekend curled up in my queen bed with nothing but Netflix and frozen dinners. Even though the temperature in New York finally decided to creep into the high 40s, I was in the mood for a low-key night in, binge watching TV dramas (seriously, why is Scandal so addicting? Will Olivia and Fitz EVER BE TOGETHER??).

I woke up Sunday morning feeling refreshed. I opened up my text from Nick, which I had received a full 24 hours ago, and began to type my carefully thought out, super-detailed response.

Why?

I plugged my phone into its charger and scooted out the door to make it to yoga class at 10:30. I figured an hour and a half of downward dog would be the perfect buffer time before replying to whatever Nick’s reasoning for wanting to meet was. If he wanted to get me to sit down with him, it would take more than an “I miss you”.

When I walked in, I found Elena sitting cross-legged on her lululemon mat. I rolled out mine next to hers, grabbed a block and settled in to stretch letting my body adjust to the warmth of the room.

“Morning!” she chirped, unfolding her long legs and reaching for her toes. “Did you go out last night?”

“Nope, I spent a solid 14 hours with my bed and laptop. You?” I asked, laying down on my back.

“Just grabbed a drink with my roommate, then hit the sack early. I swear I was still hungover until 10 p.m.” she said. Elena lived with her college friend, Stacy. She was a sorority-girl type that I didn’t exactly warm to. I always felt like she was judging every aspect of my last-season outfit when I saw her. “Have you heard from MM?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows at me. I swatted her arm.

“His name is Bray,” I said, laughing. “And yes, in fact we have a date for Tuesday.” The instructor cut me off before I could go into more details, asking us to all enter childs pose. I leaned forward, placing my forehead on the mat and let all thoughts clear my mind for the remainder of the class.

After yoga, Elena and I swung by Juice Generation for a post-class treat. I kept instinctively reaching into my Kate Spade bag for my phone before remembering it was plugged into its charger twenty blocks away. All those articles about us millennials being addicted to technology really is accurate. I felt like one of my limbs was missing being away from my phone for this long. “I’ll have the Peanut Butter Split,” I said to the pimply high school kid working behind the counter. I handed over the eight bucks for the smoothy - almost as much as our yoga class! - and waited in line for it to be ready.

“Sooooo,” Elena began, looking at me expectantly.

“Yesssss,” I said cocking my head to the side back at her. I knew where she was going with this, but I wasn’t anxious to get there.

“Woman. Did you text Nick back?” She asked, mildly annoyed at me.

I sighed. “I did, well, drunk me did. On the way home Friday."

“And?” she inquired, clearly frustrated with having to ask follow-up questions.

“He wants to meet for drinks. I actually just replied to that question right before class, so no clue why he wants to go.” I heard my name yelled out by one of the workers, and saw the brown smoothy waiting with a giant “Danielle” scrawled across the plastic. I reached for it and took a long, appreciative sip. Worth every dollar.

“Are you going to go?” Elena asked as her own protein shake appeared on the counter.

“I don’t know,” I replied, pushing open the door to the street as a foursome of girls walked past us inside. “Depends on what he says I guess. I mean, it would be nice to be friendly again. I have no clue how he even is these days which just feels so weird.” Although the sun was out, the temperature had dipped back into the 30s and the air bit my nose as we started downtown. I spotted the subway station that would take me home, and turned to Elena.

“Well let me know what you decide,” Elena asked hugging me goodbye. I was thankful to be having this conversation with Elena instead of Ashley. Ash was pretty sour on Nick ever since the breakup, and this would be more of a battle than a conversation. Elena was good at standing by and letting people make their own decisions, either that or we just weren’t close enough yet for her to butt her nose in.

“I will,” I promised, reaching into my bag for my metrocard. 

When I got back to my apartment, I tried not to make a beeline for my phone. I took my time peeling off my sweaty yoga clothes and wrapping myself in a towel to shower before reaching for the device in question. My phone alerted me to the fact that I had six messages: one from my mom, three from Ash and two from Nick. I selected my Moms and Ashleys before finally opening Nicks.

I just want to catch up, promise his first message read. 

Then, an hour later, Come on Dani

I replied before I could chicken out

Fine. Thursday, 8:30 at Brickyard on 9th. 

I replied, choosing a bar near my house instead of his. Assuming, that is, that he still lived on the Lower East Side.

His response came almost instantly

See you then

I immediately began a mental inventory of my closet trying to pick out what to wear. One thing was certain, I needed to look good.