“Michelle, good to meet you,” says Jay before letting go of her hand.
I’m not sure why, but I find myself studying their reactions to one another intently, trying to pinpoint something. What that something is exactly, I don’t know. In the back of my mind, I’m sort of hoping that they don’t end up fancying each other, despite Michelle’s enthusiasm thus far.
We go inside and manage to snag a table by the window. Jay helps me out of my coat, silently appraising my dress, the chest area in particular. Such a guy. Though I must confess, my push-up bra is doing excellent work on this occasion. Excellent work. A waiter comes over to take our drinks order, and I opt for the white wine.
“So, Jay, I hear you do magic for a living. That must be so much fun. I’m in marketing myself, so boring,” says Michelle.
“It’s fun until someone decides to write a story painting you as some kind of evil mastermind,” he replies to her, deadpan, before taking a sip of his drink. His blunt answer doesn’t faze her.
“Yeah, I heard about that, too. Oh,” she says, suddenly turning to me, “speaking of work, I have to do overtime this weekend to prepare for a big presentation we’ve got on Monday, so I can’t make it Sunday. I’m so sorry.”
“What?” I say quietly – sheepishly. “But we’ve had this planned for weeks. The tickets cost eighty euros, and I really don’t want to go without you.”
I’m not overjoyed at the fact that she’s bringing this up in front of Jay, either, because it’s a little embarrassing. A few months back I saw an ad for a day-long seminar with this relationship specialist from Australia. It’s supposed to help women be more successful in their love lives. I managed to wrangle Michelle into coming with me, and now she’s backing out. I cannot believe this. I’d been really looking forward to it, too, hoping that it would somehow help me to overcome my issues, or whatever the hell it is that’s wrong with me.
“I said I’m sorry. I tried to get out of the overtime, but my boss was having none of it. You should still go, though.”
“I’m not going by myself.”
She bites her lip, an expression on her face like she’s wracking her brains for an alternative. “You could get your dad to go with you,” she finally suggests.
I scoff, loudly. “I’m not going with my dad. That would be like getting him to sit down and watch a porno with me.”
Michelle rolls her eyes at how melodramatic I’m being.
“Okay, I was curious before, but now I’m really curious,” says Jay. “What are you two talking about?”
“Nothing,” I answer quickly, giving Michelle a sharp look not to tell him. Unfortunately, she ignores it.
“We’d planned on going to this relationship seminar. It’s being held by a guy called Simon Silver. He’s supposed to be some kind of love expert,” says Michelle, all matter-of-fact and with no embarrassment whatsoever.
“Thanks for that,” I mutter.
Jay takes all of this in with an ever-widening smile. I glance at him, tight-lipped. “Don’t make fun of me, okay? I already told you I need help.”
“I could go with you,” he offers.
It’s definitely unexpected. To be honest, I’d been expecting him to point and laugh for at least a few minutes. I mean, twenty-three-year-olds aren’t supposed to go to these things. They’re supposed to be out for a good time. I’ve always been a hopeless romantic, though. I’ve wanted to find “the one” since as far back as I can remember.
I want epic love, like you see in the movies. I want it so desperately that it fills my heart when I even think about the possibility of it.
“I think that would be even worse than going with my dad,” I say, and then knock back a big gulp of wine.
Jay makes a mock gasp. “Matilda, I didn’t know you had it in you to be so rude!”
“Oh, shut up. You’re not offended in the slightest.”
He smirks. “Yeah, you’re right. But I still want to go with you. It’ll be hilarious.”
“And that right there is why you’re not coming. No siree, Bob.”
“Oh, go on,” says Michelle, butting in. “Let him go. What’s the worst that could happen?”
I look at her, and she’s got a strange calculating expression on her face as she glances between Jay and me.
“Plenty worst can happen, Dr. Pepper,” I answer firmly. “Anyway, I’ve already decided I don’t want to go anymore.”
“But you spent all that money,” Michelle pouts.
“Yeah, Watson. You spent all that money,” Jay agrees, nudging me with his elbow.