I looked at him and my mouth dropped open, even though I knew he was totally kidding. I pulled a Mia and jabbed him in the side with my elbow.
He feigned pain. “Just kidding!” he said defensively, holding up his hands and laughing.
“He did a hit and run,” I deadpanned. “He’s lucky I didn’t press charges.”
“No I didn’t! She told me she was running late for an interview and basically shoved me away and didn’t want any help.”
“I was fine, really. There was no harm done.”
“Except for your laptop.”
“Yes, except for my laptop,” I agreed.
I noticed he’d put his arm casually around my chair while we told our joint story. Maybe it was the wine getting to me, but I leaned comfortably back into the nook of his arm. I had removed my sweater earlier and his fingertips were lightly brushing my bare shoulder, giving me goosebumps even though it was a warm evening. I glanced at Anna, who was staring pointedly at his fingers lingering lightly on my shoulder and then back to my eyes, like I didn’t notice.
“Anyways, she was in such a hurry, she just took off. We didn’t exchange names or any other information. She just kept babbling about not wanting to be late. She didn’t seem at all distraught about the fact that she had just been hit by a car.”
“And just when I thought I would never see him again …”
“The stars aligned and we bumped into each other at Betty’s,” Ryan put in. For Dexter’s benefit, he added, “It’s a restaurant up on top of the hill.”
We continued to tell the rest of the story, exchanging back and forth commentary like an old couple. It was almost funny how easy our banter was building off the other’s comments. Anna’s eyes kept looking back and forth from Ryan to me as if she was watching a tennis match. She was as aware of this fluid and comfortable exchange as I was. Maybe that’s one of those twin things. She seemed to sense how odd this was, considering that Ryan and I barely knew each other. It also didn’t get past me that she had a smug grin on her face.
Why did everything seem so effortless with Ryan? We seemed to feed off of each other’s energy. I remembered how easy it was to talk to him that night at Betty’s, too. It was clear something was happening between us. In the course of twenty-four hours, I could feel my heart changing and shifting, slowly but tentatively opening up again. It was like the sun trying to come out on a cloudy, constantly weather-shifting Seattle day. Could Ryan finally be the one I’ve been waiting for? Between Dexter and Jamie and Anna and Ethan, I had two examples that love did exist and that happiness could be found. I was an optimistic person by nature and I could finally feel the sun peeking through.
“That’s awesome. What a great story,” Dexter declared with a wide grin.
“Well, isn’t there more to the story, Julia?” Anna asked innocently. I knew she was fishing for the additional details I hadn’t been able to share with her earlier. “You guys never exchanged contact information that night after Betty’s, did you?”
Ryan jumped in to rescue me and gave me a look that said he had this one covered. “No, we never did. That was one of my bigger regrets.” He looked over at me coyly.
I was befuddled by his candor.
“It was totally unexpected,” he continued, “but we saw each other again yesterday at a work function. I volunteered to help her with some work stuff today. When she found out I had no other plans tonight, she took pity on me and invited me out.”
“Third time’s a charm then, right?” Anna asked cheerfully.
“So what do you do at Megasoft?” Ethan butted in. I looked at Ethan with gratitude and he winked at me, cutting Anna off from asking any further questions.
“I’m in marketing.”
This was the same thing Ryan had initially told me when we first met. He was so humble about it. He left out the part about being the Vice President of Marketing for North America for Megasoft, one of the largest and most successful software companies in the world.
The group discussion switched again and this time it was about my new job. I summarized my whirlwind first week and Ryan was quiet. I couldn’t help feeling a little self-conscious as I described my work, my manager, and my crazy teammates. Did he perceive Catherine’s team the same way? Probably not. How well did he know the people I was talking about? I made a mental note to be more cautious about work-related topics in the future. Not because I couldn’t trust Ryan to keep them confidential, but I felt a little like I was betraying the confidence of my teammates and Catherine in front of a very influential executive that they have no idea that I had any sort of relationship with.