When story comes alive

Part 7.

It was the day for dinner date with Jenna's mom. As we were leaving the apartment, I quietly grabbed the gift bag I had stuffed behind the chair near the doorway.

'Wait. What is that?' Jenna pulled it out of my hand before I could act.

'That's rude. It's for your mom.' Of course I was joking. I knew this would be her first reaction and also the reason I had kept it hidden from her. A good friend would have probably said "you shouldn't have done that" or "that was not necessary" instead,  world's best, kick-ass friend said 'I never ever get any gifts from you and you are giving this beautiful scarf to my mom? I am keeping this.'

'Don't be such a child. I will get you another one,' I said pulling it out of her hand and carefully repacking it.

'Pinky swear?' she said in childish voice.

I gave her a light punch on her arm and pushed her out the front door.

Jenna's mom is one of the most talkative and also one of the sweetest person I have ever met. As we dug into Thai cuisine, we spoke about many subjects and finally she landed on the topic I feared.  'Why are you still single?'

'I don't know. Jenna is actually helping me find out why.' I winked at Jenna.

'Maybe I can pitch in. Can I set you up with someone? Like a blind date?'

'Hey mom! Did you forget your daughter is single too?' Jenna protested.

'I thought you had a date just this week.' She was referring to the date after the fashion show. It had turned out to be a complete dud. When Jenna had returned home from her date, she threw herself face down on my bed and said, 'I need to get away from you. Your .... I don't know what it is.... Atheism of romance, is rubbing off on me. I am not taking a leap of faith but rather making calculated decisions just like you do.' She had decided not to call back the guy since he was a young model and she thought he was too immature. 'Old me would have entered the relationship even if I knew it would fizzle out quickly.'

'No, that did not go well.' Jenna told her mom without going into the details of how she believed she was changing, rather, turning into me. But she gave me a look that said it all.

'I will set you up later. Right now, I think there is someone Eva needs to meet.' I could hear low growl of protest from Jenna as her mom said this and I chuckled.

'So Eva, shall I set this date?'

I had just lost and gained back Aiden in my other world and it made me realise how much I missed love. I continued to twirl Pad Thai over my fork and did not realise that I was still thinking and had not given an answer, when I felt a gentle nudge on my arm. 'Sure,' I said looking at my friend for giving me a nudge to answer.

After dinner, me and Jenna were walking back to our place. It was a pleasant night and we had too much to eat so we decided to walk. 'So blind date huh? Ever done that?' she asked.

'This will be the first.'

'Looking forward to it?'

'To tell you the truth, I am. I don't know what to expect but I am open to it.'

'You will need to breakup with your boyfriend in the other world before going on this date.' I knew exactly what she meant. She did not mean writing about the breakup, but that I was getting pulled into it and pulled towards Aiden who no longer existed in real life.

'You were the one talking about us in present tense a few days ago. And now you think I am too involved?'

'I know when to get back to the real world. Your story is sweet and all but you are getting emotionally involved with fictional Aiden.'