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Not that it made me any more comfortable. And to make matters worse, our table was near the back of the room, which meant I had to walk through the minefield of people to get to where I wanted to be. More than a few women looked my way.
Another part of Lorenzo’s I didn’t like. The single women who came here looking to secure dates with men like me. I didn’t like it, and I always dressed down as much as I thought I could get away with to try and help avoid having so many of them come my way. I didn’t make much of an effort.
I finally spotted Kit, sandwiched between two talking women, her back almost completely pressed against the wall and a look on her face that said that she wasn’t that interested in what was being said, but she was trying to follow and look as if it mattered. To the untrained eye, she might pass off as listening with no intent to say anything.
I could tell she was uncomfortable, however. Not wanting to be interrupted by anyone else, I fixed my eyes on her and hurried over that way. As her eyes met mine, her mouth parted a fraction, and she shifted. It was a hopeful expression. At least, I wanted to think she was that pleased to see me.
As I got closer, however, I was thwarted. Sarai brought some more people over to me to talk. I didn’t like to talk about work outside of work, but these were two men interested in doing something similar to Sarai, and given she was making the introduction, I knew that I couldn’t be too rude.
I shook hands and listened to their proposal, but it wasn’t a project that had gotten very far yet. After being polite for just long enough, I pulled out a card and handed it over to them. “Thank you, gentlemen. I look forward to hearing from you both. It sounds like a fascinating project. Let me know when you’re ready for me to be involved, and we’ll discuss what that might look like. If you’ll excuse me, I said I’d help someone else as well, and I don’t know how much longer they will be here.”
Although it was a slight lie, from how awkward Kit looked and how she wasn’t really involved in any of the conversations around her, I knew there was a chance it could end up being true.
The men didn’t look as if they appreciated me walking away so soon, but they could hardly stop me and not look rude themselves. I took the opportunity to hurry over to Kit, but I was going to have to join the conversation group she was in to get to her.
“Ladies,” I said as I got closer, looking at Kit first and smiling at her as warmly as I could. I acknowledged the other two women as well, not wanting to snub anyone, but I focused more on Kit.
She had put on a simple but elegantly tailored sun dress. The pattern was pretty enough, and her jewelry was very simple, but she wasn’t as well dressed as the women on each side of her. I was relieved to find she had also dressed down compared to the usual dress code and appreciated that we looked like we should be here together.
“Lukas!” the woman on the left exclaimed, sounding as if she knew me, although I couldn’t place her. If we had met, it was been a long time ago and not on this project.
“Good evening,” I replied. “How have you been?”
It was a simple enough response when I thought I should know someone I was talking to. Her face lit up, and I could have sworn she glanced at her friend as if she was the cat who’d got the cream. I didn’t like it and immediately looked at Kit, then the third woman before me.
“In fact, how are all of you? And Kit, sweetness, I hope you saved me a seat beside you?”
“Oh, I haven’t claimed a seat yet,” Kit spoke rapidly and looked toward the tables as if she should have picked one out. The other two women were looking between us at this point, none of them actually answering the question. I hadn’t given them much of a chance.
“Let me get two for us, then,” I replied, going in the direction of another table before anyone could stop me. Although I didn’t know if Kit would get the hint and follow me, she showed enough presence of mind to do exactly that. It was almost as if she had been as grateful to get away from the two women as I had been.
Neither of us made it as far as the table before other people came up to talk to us. They were old friends from the past andonly stopped us briefly, but then there was a commotion by the door, and everyone’s heads turned.
In walked several football players and their partners. I got the impression none of them had made a reservation from the way the staff scrambled to rearrange some of the tables. They didn’t get very far before it was clear that they couldn’t add much more, and certainly not enough for the people who had walked in.
When I spotted Daniel at the back of the group, I called out to him. He hurried over to me, explaining something to the waiter nearest him as he did.
“Is there space at our table?” I asked, saying it loudly enough to get Sarai or Richard’s attention. The latter held his thumb up, and the quarterback looked relieved, as did the waiter.
“I don’t know how you do that,” Daniel said, grinning as he came close enough to slap me on the back.
“Do what?” I replied, shifting so Kit was included in our little group again.
“Anticipate a problem and solve it from a distance. We just created a headache for the staff. Too many of us and not a big enough table left. If I can sit with you and your friends, I can stop the poor waiter over there trying to break the laws of physics to do his job the way he feels he ought to.”
Kit smiled at this description but didn’t say anything as Daniel stopped talking and looked at her. The smile on his face grew even more broad.
“Forgive me,” I hastily said. “This is Kit, the interior designer on the project I’m currently working on. And Daniel, one of the best quarterbacks the Chicago Bears has ever seen, if not the entire sport.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I think Lukas told me about you and a real estate problem you were having. I hope you managed to make your decision and have found it to be a good solution.”
“I have, I have. And I was looking forward to the opportunity to meet you. Thank you for your advice. Lukas can be a great help when it comes to many aspects, but it sounds as if this is one area where your expertise was even more useful.” Daniel offered to shake Kit’s hand, and she smiled, finally looking more comfortable.
It helped break the ice and tension of the awkward conversations as Daniel went into social mode and talked to Kit about herself. He asked questions that even I hadn’t thought to talk to her about, and before long, the three of us were sitting down to our starters, one of us on either side of Kit.
Sarai and Richard soon joined us, and then an array of other people at the restaurant. It was something that I’d never liked about this sort of place. No one really stayed where they were put. It was another excuse for networking. Thankfully, having Daniel around and the three of us talking a lot allowed me to ignore a lot of other people. At least while we ate.
“Oh, Kit, darling, you need to come with me and meet this person,” Sarai said as she stood and held her hand out to Kit. It interrupted the conversation we were having, but Daniel immediately backed up and shifted to help her pull out her chair and respond. And for a while, at least, I had to let her go.
