As we transitioned the discussion into non personal topics, I found myself focusing easily on the work in front of me, all thoughts of Ryan behind me. Mia managed the digital marketing agency relationships at the worldwide level and Kyle managed it for the US Subsidiary. There was a lot I needed to know to take over the portion of work that Mia had been managing. With Mia and Kyle as my mentors, I felt comfortable asking questions and digested all the necessary details.
It was nearly four in the afternoon before the meeting came to a close.
Kyle said his farewells to Mia, shut his laptop and looked up at me. “I’m heading down to Joey’s for happy hour. It’s an ongoing US team thing. Want to join?” he asked with a hopeful expression.
“Uh, isn’t it just for people in your org?”
“Well, yeah, technically, but other people come all the time. We usually get about twenty or thirty people joining in. C’mon … it’s totally casual. It’ll be fun.”
“But, I won’t know anyone,” I said in half protest.
“Well, then it’s a good opportunity to do something about it, don’t you think?” he said, ignoring my discomfort. “I’ll introduce you. Plus, you’ll get free drinks.” He smiled mischievously, like that would seal the deal.
“Do any of the execs join?” I asked innocently.
“Yeah, sometimes,” he replied. “It’s really laid back, though.” Apparently, executive visits weren’t a concern of Kyle’s. Of course, it wouldn’t be. He had nothing to hide.
I bit my lip, wondering if Ryan would be joining the group. I was suddenly nervous and my natural fight or flight instinct kicked in. As much as I wanted to flee the building, the potential opportunity to see Ryan again won over.
“All right, I’ll join you,” I said with fake resignation. I had almost forgotten Mia was still in the conference call. “Talk to you later, Mia,” I said into the speaker phone. “Have a great vacation!”
“Okay, see you in a couple of weeks! Have fun, you two! Bye!”
I wondered if Kyle heard the little inflection in her voice that said, “It’s so cute Kyle invited you to happy hour; I hope the two of you hook up!” like I did. Probably not. I rolled my eyes and couldn’t help smiling to myself. I wondered what she would think if she only knew the truth.
Joey’s was a restaurant in the building next door to Lincoln Square. The food wasn’t bad, but the lunch scene was different from the evening scene. In the evening, there was definitely more of a meat market singles vibe going on. I had always found this place somewhat comical, because every hostess and server was female, sexy, bright-eyed and under the age of twenty-five. They must have had a uniform code requiring their female employees to wear black cocktail dresses of their own choice. Unofficially, the dress apparently needed to be tight, showcase gratuitous cleavage, and have the hem located far above their knees.
When Kyle and I arrived, we headed immediately to the bar area and seated ourselves near a group of tables already occupied by a handful of folks from his team. I recognized some of them and Kyle informally introduced me to a few sitting near us. A very cute cocktail waitress arrived in her tight, black, cleavage-spilling dress. We both ordered beers from the menu.
“So are you going to be checking out Bumbershoot next weekend?” I asked Kyle in my attempt to make conversation.
Bumbershoot was the annual three-day weekend music festival at the Seattle Center, home of the infamous Space Needle. With his love of music and watching live bands perform, I figured Kyle would be a regular Bumbershoot attendee.
“Yeah, I think so. I’ll probably just go on Saturday since Jane’s Addiction is the only real band I want to see there.”
I asked him sarcastically, “Aren’t you going to see Gotye?” I rolled my eyes.
“I like him,” he deadpanned.
Oops! I just looked at him blankly, trying to pretend I hadn’t made fun of his favorite singer. I guess there was a reason why Gotye was so popular. Just because I thought the music was awful and a sorry excuse for talent didn’t mean others agreed with me.
“I’m just kidding,” he said quickly, chuckling at my expression.
Ten points right there. God, why didn’t I feel something for this hot sweet man sitting next to me with great musical taste? Over the course of drinking my beer and discussing Bumbershoot, I noticed more people had arrived. Within the hour, there was a good group of twenty or so people from the US Sub milling around, plus a handful of others I knew from other teams. Seeing these others outside of Kyle’s org made me feel a bit less out of place.