Twist of Love (3 page)

“Man. She is tough.” Blake said. He realized that it wouldn't be so simple to even get to know Josie. Blake's work was cut out for him.

8. Finally, a Date

It was a good evening for Josie. She had finished another grueling day of duty at the hospital. And as usual, she had barely gotten any sleep last night. She’d gotten 3 hours of sleep, which was the usual par for the course for Josie. But there was a flip side to all of this. She had managed to have a dreamless sleep. It was a big relief for Josie considering all the weird dreams she had been having.

Josie walked to her car. It was still early in the night and Josie was looking forward to some much needed rest at home.

'When I get home, I think I'm going to sleep for a whole day. Two days! Well, it's not like I've never done that before,' Josie thought.

She was about to take out her car keys and unlock her car. Then she saw the now very familiar figure walking towards her.

'Oh no. Please, not now. Not now. I just want to go home and get some rest,' Josie thought.

“Hey there! Done with your duty, I see?” Blake asked. He was smiling at Josie.

“How did you know I was done with my duty at this time?” Josie asked in bewilderment.

“That really nice receptionist told me.”

'Milla, I am so going to kill you. I swear...' Josie thought. She was fuming, irritated and very tired. But she still managed to force a smile. “Yes. Milla is a real treasure for the hospital.” Josie said, sourly.

“Look. You've got no work anymore. Your duty's done. So why don't you have dinner with me tonight?” Blake asked eagerly.

Josie rolled her eyes. Her annoyance was getting more and more obvious. She could not believe how persistent Blake could be.

“Look. I'm tired. I just want to go home. It's been a long shift at the hospital for me and...”

Blake laughed. It was a laugh, more out of tension than real humor.

“Come on. I don't bite.” He said.

“I know you don't. But I'm just tired. You would be too if you had to work for hours on end, with only 3 hours of sleep.”

“It must have been tough.”

“You don't know how tough it can be.” Josie said firmly. “So I just want to go home.”

“And I just want to have dinner.” Blake said, equally firmly. “Just dinner. Just once. Is that so bad?”

Josie kept silent. It was clear that Blake would not stop until he got some kind of favorable answer from her. She let out a deep sigh. “Fine. Just this one time.”

“Great!” Blake said in excitement. Blake was jumping for joy deep inside. He knew that he had gotten her to go on a date with him.

“Okay. But let's make it quick. I have to get some shuteye...” Josie said.

“Look, let's make a deal. If you end up having a great time with me, we'll go on another date. That's in exchange for the free meal I'm giving you, of course.” Blake said, winking at Josie playfully.

“Okay.” Josie let out a forced answer. 'I'll just tell him that I had an awful time with him tonight so that I don't have to go out with him again. Free meal for me.' Josie thought to herself.

Josie patted herself on the back. In her mind, she thought she was really smart.

“Alright! Come on, let's go. Let's take my car-”

“No. I mean... sorry. Let's take mine. I'm really tired and I wouldn't want to have to go back here just to get my car.” Josie said

“But I can drive you back here-”

“Okay, okay, let's take your car.” Josie said.

She gave in to Blake's request. Blake counted his blessings on this one. At least he had managed to finally get her on a date.

9. The Diner

“We're here.” Blake said as he pulled over at the local diner.

Josie blinked her eyes. She almost fell over in her seat. Here she was with Blake, who had done everything short of begging to get her on a date. And when she finally accepted, he took her to the local diner? It was a very strange choice.

“The local diner? I would've expected something... fancier. This could be our last date you know.” Josie said.

Blake laughed.

“What's wrong with the local diner? I love their pancakes here. And their bacon sandwiches here are a killer. I don't think there's a better place to eat in this part of town than this little diner,” he said.

“Well, I guess they do make good pancakes...” Josie said. Perhaps there was some merit to the choice.

Blake chuckled as he left the car and opened the door for Josie. As they opened the diner's doors, the chimes on top of it rang.

“Customers!” The waitress said.

“Heya, Megan.” Blake smiled at the lady.

“Good evenin', Mister Ingram! My, you brought a lovely guest with you tonight, didn't you?” Megan said, obviously talking about Josie.

Blake winked at Megan and smiled.

“So what'll you two lovebirds have this evening?” Megan asked.

“Excuse me?” Josie asked defensively. She was too tired for these little jokes right now. She just wanted to eat.

“Hey, hey... loosen up, Josie. She was just telling you a joke.” Blake said, smiling at Josie. Josie frowned. Megan playfully rolled her eyes.

“I'll have the usual, Meg, the double bacon cheesy delight.” Blake told Megan.

“And the lady?” Megan asked as she motioned her pen towards Josie.

“Whatever he's gonna have,” Josie said coldly.

Megan wrote the orders down on her notepad and barked orders at the grill crew.

“Something wrong?” Blake asked Josie.

“I'm fine.” Even though she obviously wasn't.

“C'mon, tell me...”

“Well, it's just that I've had almost no sleep in the past few days, no rest between shifts, patients demanding that I cure them instantly, my superior giving me a hard time, and all I really wanted was to just sleep all of it off. Instead, I'm here with you, eating something I probably don't like and-”

Blake frowned and looked down. “It's okay... I didn't know you were that stressed. I'll just take you home now.”

“No! No... I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean any of that. Look, I'm just really tired... I'm sorry. I don't want to leave yet.”

Josie felt different inside. She just wanted to go home. But she also didn't want Blake to feel bad. She was almost surprised at herself that she’d apologized to Blake.

“Oh... okay. Well, if you want to leave, just tell me. I don't want to force anything on you...” Blake said.

'That's not what you said 30 minutes ago.' Josie thought to herself.

There was a deafening silence that fell between them.

“So... tell me more about yourself.” Blake said, trying to break the silence.

“Well, what do you think I do? I cure people.” Josie said.

Blake forced out a laugh of tension. 'Even now she's still giving me a hard time...' Blake thought to himself. “Yeah, I know... but give me more details. Like, you know, what's it like inside the operating room? I heard it's a mess in there...”

“You could never imagine what it's like in the OR. Believe me... Seeing the loch ness monster is better than being in the OR.” Josie said jokingly.

They both laughed.

“Really? Sounds terrible... but the kids I teach aren't too charming either. There are a lot of smart kids, really nice and well behaved... but the feisty ones? They're a real pain in the ass.”

Josie chuckled. “Really? I've never experienced teaching so many kids at one time before...”

“Believe me, it's kind of a love hate thing. You love it when the kids are behaved, but look away for a second and it's like world war 3 in there.”

Josie couldn't help but giggle at Blake's remark. 'This guy must be patient if he can tolerate annoying kids... I certainly can't.' She thought to herself.

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by Megan's loud voice.

“Two double bacon cheesy delights. One for Mister Ingram and the other for his date.”

She placed the two plates beside them. The plate was filled with a steaming hot burger, with two patties stacked on one another, strips of bacon placed on top of the patties, and a generous helping of nacho cheese. The burger's enticing smell woke Josie up. It was as if she'd forgotten just how tired she was a few moments ago.

“Wow, this looks really good...” Josie said.

“Try it, it tastes much better than it looks.” Blake said.

“Don't mind if I do. I'm starving.”

Josie took a big bite of the juicy burger. Her taste buds met with the savory taste of the tender patty and the salty taste of the bacon mixing with the cheesy flavor of the nacho cheese. It was a flavor party in her mouth. She hadn't thought it would be this good. After all, this was just a small diner in a small part of town.

“This is great! Way better than the stuff they serve at the hospital...” Josie said while chewing up her burger.

Blake laughed. “Take it easy, you might choke yourself at the rate you're going!”

She didn't really hear him anymore. She just kept gobbling down the delicious burger in her hands. She hadn't even realized that she was really hungry until now.

After finishing her titan sized burger, Josie prepared her spiel so she could go home. The diner and the food was a nice thought by Blake, but she was still tired and wanted to hit the sack. “That was great... really good. Way better than what I had expected from a small diner...”

Blake smiled. “Told ya.”

“I really appreciate the thought and the food, but I gotta get back now... I'm still tired from work and-”

“The date isn't over yet,” Blake said, cutting her off.

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me, it isn't over yet. Just relax, okay? I want to take you somewhere that you're gonna enjoy. I'm sure of it.”

“Look, I'm really tired and-”

“Look, and I'm telling you, it's not many times you get these opportunities to try something new. So just come along, okay? Trust me, you'll love it.”

She was starting to get really annoyed at Blake. She didn't like him cutting her off so many times. But she was just too tired to even argue with him. And Blake obviously wasn't going to stop again until he heard a yes from her. Josie let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, fine. But let's make it quick. I'm really tired. You've got 20 minutes.”

“Great! Come on, let's go!” Blake left 30 dollars on the table and grabbed Josie's hand.

“Keep the change, Meg, we gotta jet!”

Megan laughed and waved her hand towards them both.

“That boy Blake is just a hit with the ladies,” she said.

“He's a natural.” A customer told Megan. They both laughed as Blake and Josie took off.

“So, just where are we supposed to go now?” Josie asked him as they entered the car.

“Some place I'm sure you'll enjoy. Don't worry about it, okay? Just relax and enjoy the ride.”

Something told Josie that this wasn't going to end well. 'Shoulda just told him I wanted to go home...' she thought to herself. Slowly, her vision started to fade. And in a few seconds, Blake saw Josie dozing off in the passenger seat. He smiled and started the car.

'This is going just as I planned,' thought Blake.

10. Arrows to the Heart

“We're here.” Blake said.

His voice startled Josie and woke her up.

“Huh..? What..? Where are we..?” Josie rubbed her eyes and looked around.

They were in some sort of deserted place with a large, rusty gate in front of them. She couldn't make out the sign because she was still sleepy from their ride.

“Where did you bring me?” Josie asked nervously.

“Relax! I'm not a rapist or anything.” Blake said jokingly.

“I'd be surprised if you weren't.”

'Ouch.' Blake thought.

“Well, let's go out and take a walk shall we?” Blake said, trying to calm Josie down.

“Not until you tell me where we are.”

Blake sighed and smiled.

“We're at the local hunting lodge.”

Blake tried not to show his impatience even though he was starting to get tired of Josie's cold and hard-to-get attitude.

“The hunting lodge? What are we doing here?”

“We're gonna go to the archery pitch. I'm gonna show you something I do in my free time. I'm sure you'll enjoy it,” he smiled.

It was hard to resist Blake's handsome smile. And Josie didn't really have anything to lose at this point. They were already here and he had told her where they were. So why not give it a shot, right?

“Fine.” Josie said. She stepped out of the car and looked up. The sign read “Hunting Lodge”.

'Guess he wasn't lying...' she thought.

“Hey, come on, Josie, over here!” Blake waved at Josie. She was too tired to run after him so she walked.

“Have you ever been here before?” Blake asked Josie, trying to make out a conversation.

“No, never been here before.” Josie said coldly.

It was obvious that she was still tired and probably uninterested in what Blake was going to show her.

They arrived at the archery pitch.

The lodge was old and dimly lit by two weak light bulbs hanging from the soft, wooden ceiling. The wooden planks were full of mold and moss. There were 3 bull’s eye target circles in front of the wooden planks. Josie didn't seem too excited after seeing the place.

'Alright Blake, it's go time. Do your thing.' Blake thought to himself.

“Blake! Been a while since you came back...” a stocky man with a thick beard suddenly appeared from nowhere. He was carrying a quiver full of arrows. With his arrows and quiver, he looked like someone from a medieval movie or a local mountain man. Either pick wasn't so charming or disarming.

“Been busy, Craig. The usual stuff. Gimme two bows and the usual set for both of them.”

“You got it.” The stocky man went inside a small shack beside the arrow range and came back with two bows and quivers full of arrows that came with them.

Josie was intimidated at the sight of the bows and arrows. She had never seen an actual bow before. She had always seen them in sword-and-sorcery movies, but never in real life. On top of that, she had no idea how to actually use one. She was worried that she was going to get herself hurt if she wasn't careful.