Take it All (Blinded by Love) (14 page)

“Just going to change into some pyjamas,” she stopped in the bathroom doorway and turned to Londyn who was sitting cross legged on her bed, “Tatum go home?”

Londyn shook her head, “No, she ran to the store for supplies,” she said, a small, weak smile spreading over her mouth.

“Supplies for what?” Lennox asked, tipping her head to the side, curiously.

“Well, we figured it would be a good night to pig out on junk food. So Tate ran to the store on a mission to find a big bag of gummie bears, those chocolate covered raisins you like, mini peanut butter cups, and of course, what would a night of vegging out be like without slushies,” Londyn said, grinning, knowing she had Lennox at gummie bears and she wouldn’t be able to deny a night of junk food and girl talk.

“You know just what I need, Lond,” she said, then turned into the bathroom and locked the door
.

Lennox stood baffled, staring at her reflection in the mirror, unable to rid her thoughts of Caleb. Not only did she feel dejected, but she looked it, too
. Her eyes began to burn while the lump in her throat screamed for release since the moment she disconnected from Caleb’s voicemail.

Being an emotional person, it was hard for Lennox to keep her feelings in check. She fought to not show her vulnerable side to her friends, and she hated crying in front of people, especially her parents. Anytime she needed to cry over something and they were near she’d hold it in until she could hide away in her room and let the dam break. Both Londyn and Tatum had seen her cry and vice versa, so she knew they’d be there for her and give her unlimited time crying on their shoulders; but crying over a guy, a guy who she didn’t even really know, seemed completely absurd. But standing there, looking at herself and watching as her eyes welled up with tears over being stood up by, of all people, Caleb, didn’t feel so absurd to her; she had never been stood up before, but she was pretty sure what she felt was of complete normalcy.

She had no idea what happened to Caleb, whether something had come up or not, but if he would have just called her, she would have understood. But he didn’t and his phone was off, and that didn’t help when she started to feel as if he had no interest in her whatsoever. For whatever reason, he was just leading her on instead of being up front with her. It didn’t make sense to her, she couldn’t wrap her head around why he asked her out in the first place; why he called her, after having had lost his phone for days only to explain, apologize, and make sure their date was still a go. It didn’t make sense to her, it was confusing, and she felt like an idiot for getting over excited thinking about what possibilities could come from their date, then spending the day gushing to Londyn and Tatum; she couldn’t help but feel as if she jinxed herself.

Lennox annoyingly swiped at the tears that had fallen over her eyes and down her cheek. She continued to do so as she changed out of her clothing and into her pyjama’s then washed her makeup off before checking her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were slightly puffy and her face was blotchy, a clear sign she had been crying and she knew Londyn and Tatum would know with one look. She turned the cold water on and splashed a few handfuls over her face then patted it dry with a towel, knowing well it wasn’t enough to cover her emotional episode.

Shrugging her shoulders then shaking her head at the ridiculousness of what had become her; she took a breath then headed back into the room. Tatum had returned and was in the middle of dumping a bag full of junk food on the bed when Lennox entered the room. Londyn was still sitting cross legged in the middle of her bed. Both sets of eyes, full of pity, found her simultaneously
.

“Awe, Lenny,” Tatum said, grabbing a plastic slush cup and walking towards her, holding the cup out for her to take, “the guys a jerk off. No one stands up our girl and makes her cry!”

Lennox took the cup in her free hand and shook her head, “Tatum, I’m fine,” she said, trying to sound reassuring only to have her voice crack a little at the end.

“Lennox…”

“No, Lond, I’m fine. Let’s just start a movie okay?”

Londyn nodded then looked at Tatum curiously, shrugging her shoulders. Tatum looked from her to Lennox and watched as she put her things into her overnight bag. Tatum knew she was downplaying (or down-playing) her feelings by disregarding her disappointment in Caleb and being stood -up, to which she found strange, since Lennox was always one for sharing. Deciding to give her this one time, she let out a deep breath then hopped on the bed next to Londyn and clicked on the television
.

Lennox slid on the bed on the opposite side of Londyn and got comfy on her back with the pillows propped up behind her. Tatum flipped through the stations looking for something to watch as Londyn reached forward and grabbed the box of chocolate covered raisins and passed them to Lennox. She looked at Londyn, a small forced smile on her lips and took the box. Londyn placed her hand on Lennox’s forearm and gave her a gentle squeeze as if to silently say it was going to be okay. Lennox nodded her head once then turned her attention to the movie Tatum had picked.

Watching the female on the screen run through the lake, kicking and splashing water around with her feet like she didn’t have a care in the world, wasn’t anything but captivating to Lennox. The camera switched angles to a male standing on the beach, watching her in awe, like he’d never seen anything or anyone so stunning before. Lennox missed what was said as she was solely focused on their stare, more importantly, the males stare on the love of his life. The way it lingered on her tenderly, shining with the utmost adoration was riveting but not without giving her a pang of jealously at having never been looked at like that.

A look like that would last a life time. One would never want to be, or need to be looked at by another being for as long as they lived after experiencing a look so full of love. Even a person standing a distance away would not just see it, but feel the warmth it radiated from the depths of that persons soul. Lennox, thinking how someone special enough to have that wouldn’t need anything else, began to fall asleep. As her eyes began to flutter shut and her mind started to turn off, a voice in the back of her head sounded, saying, ‘
Don’t worry, he’s going to call you, you have nothing to worry about.’
Her eyes then snapped open as the words sounded again, only this time a volume louder. She again found focus on the couple on the television, as she listened to the words and started to believe in them. Lennox wasn’t sure how or why she no longer felt sad or disappointed, but she also didn’t care, because all she felt was hope and anticipation in what the words said.

Lennox woke the next morning to the sound of her cell phone vibrating on the nightstand. Lifting her head, she turned her neck and looked over Londyn and Tatum to the clock on the other stand to see the red numbers; it was only seven thirty in the morning.

“Lenny, swear to God, you don’t answer that
fucking
phone, I’ll choke you,” Tatum mumbled into her pillow as she pulled the blankets closer to her chin.

Lennox knew Tatum wasn’t a morning person, neither was she or Londyn, but damn, Tatum was the worst of the three. She didn’t like to be woken until at least after ten thirty. Londyn on the other hand, was like Lennox and could care less when she woke
. “Tate,” she bit out, sleepily as she shuffled around till she was on her stomach, in the center of the bed, her next words being slightly muffled by the pillow, “Lennox, Dollface, do what she says, it’s been ringing for the last ten minutes.”

“Yeah, who the hell is calling you at seven thirty in the morning?” Tatum whined, turning her head and burying it deeper into her pillow.

Lennox groaned, throwing her arm out and feeling around on the table until she grasped her cell phone in her hand. Without looking, she pushed talk and put the phone to ear, and mumbled, “Hello.”

“Fuck, I woke you, didn’t I?”

Lennox’s eye snapped open at the sound of Caleb’s voice on the other end. “Caleb?” she asked, her voice spiking an octave higher than she liked, as she scrambled to a sitting position.

“Sorry for waking you, Lox,” he said, pausing as he blew his breath of smoke out, “I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t important.”

Lennox looked over to see she had both Londyn and Tatum’s full, undivided attention, as they also shot to a sitting position. “Okay...?” Lennox asked, unsure of what he meant as his voice sounded serious.

“First, about last night.”

“Okay, yeah, what happened?”

“I’m trying to quit smoking, and the medication I just started taking the other day has a side effect of drowsiness and I took one in the afternoon, not knowing what it’d do, and then next thing I knew it was five in the morning.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, still feeling unsure and extremely confused, then looking at her friends who were looking back at her eagerly and curiously, wanting to know what he said. She nodded her head and raised her pointer finger, telling them to give her a minute.

“I’m so sorry, Lennox, I... I wanna make it up to you. What’re you doing, right now?”

Still looking at her friends, her expression turned confused at his question and she said, “Um... right this second, I’m at Londyn’s house, still in bed since I
just
woke up.”

“Can you be ready to go in say, half hour?”

“For what exactly?” she asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

“I kinda owe you a date. So, I was thinking we could, I don’t know, spend the day together; just you and me,” he said, and she could hear the hopefulness in his voice at wanting her to say yes.

She could tell him she’s not interested and hang up, but that would be a lie. So, without thinking, she tossed back the covers and jumped out of the bed; stunning both girls. “What the hell?” they both said at the same time.

“Okay,” she said, scrambling to her bag and pulling out her jeans and a top, then turned frantically to Londyn and Tatum, “I can be ready in thirty.”

“Great,” he said, and she thought she could hear a smile in his voice, “I’ll see you in half hour.”

Nodding as if he could see her, they disconnected and she tossed her cell phone down on the chair and grabbed her overnight bag, tossing it on the bed. “I, well
we
, repeat, what the hell’s going on?” Tatum asked, running her hand through her hair and flipping it to the side.

“That was Caleb,” she said, pausing as she riffled through her bag.

“And?” both said together.

“He’s on his way to pick me up so we can spend the day together; to make up for what happened last night.” Lennox slid her pyjama pants down and let them pool at her feet then lifted her shirt over her head and dropped it into her bag.

“And, what happened?” Londyn asked impatiently.

Pulling on her jeans she said, “Something about the medication he’s taking to help him quit smoking, it causes drowsiness and it knocked him out.” She shrugged her shirt on then pulled her hair out of the pony tail holder that held it in place on the top of her head.

Tatum burst out laughing, “You actually believe that?” she questioned in between laughing.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Londyn butted in, her head whipping in her direction.

“Oh, I don’t know,
Lond
, maybe because it sounds like a crock of shit?”

“Tate, come on, you don’t know that. It sounds like it could be a legit reason.”

“
You
would think so.” She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

Londyn glared at her, her eyes narrowing and brows pulling together. “What does
that
mean?”

“I think you–”

“Guys,” Lennox called, hearing enough from both, “listen, I appreciate your concern, but give it up already, I don’t have time to play referee right now. So, if you would excuse me, I have a date to get ready for.” She grabbed her pants that were on the floor and shoved them into her bag then hurried off towards the bathroom.

Locking the door behind her, Lennox threw her makeup bag down on the counter and start running a brush through her hair. After deciding to leave it down in light waves, she quickly applied a soft pink color to her eyelids, for a casual look, and then finished it off with a couple brushes of mascara. Looking at herself in the mirror, her blonde hair flowed down over her shoulders, hanging just above her breasts in soft beach like waves. The soft pink on her eyelids brought out the light gold flecks that shimmered around her dark pupils, her violet colored fitted tee clung to her body in the right places, the hem sitting perfectly on the top of her jeans. She was ready, for what, she had no idea but the thought of spending the whole day with Caleb made her stomach flutter with King Kong sized butterflies; not the kind that made you want to throw up whatever was in your stomach, but the ones that gave you a jolt of excitement that shot right through to your heart.

Lennox gathered her things and headed back into the room where both girls were still sitting on the bed chattering to themselves. Lennox ignored their lingering looks as she tossed her things back into her bag and grabbed her purse off the floor next to the chair. “Lond, is it still okay if you cover for me?”