“Why couldn’t you have just said that when we first met?”
“Would things be different?” His eyes fix on me with interest. This intense stare of his is unnerving.
“I don’t know. I guess we could have been friends,” I say lamely.
“And here I thought wewerefriends now,” he says, not breaking my gaze. “Aren’t we?”
There’s a loaded silence as we consider each other, but I’m saved from answering by Marcus, who turns to us from the next table.
“What are you kids getting into over here?” he singsongs suggestively, like he’s caught us in flagrante delicto. I rip my eyes away from Ben’s and smile at Marcus unsteadily, and his eyes narrow a fraction.
“If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I need to run to the ladies’ room.”
I escape to the restroom, taking some time to freshen up and plot my exit. Ben’s had me off-balance all night, and I need to get out of here before it gets any worse. Besides, I’m tired and beyond ready to whip off this bra. The call of comfy pants is strong.
When I get back to the table, everyone’s engrossed in a conversation with Luke about a case he’s working on. He’s consulting for one of the law firms involved in the civil rights versus religious liberties case that’s made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
“No one really knows what’s going to happen,” Luke is saying. “It could go either way.”
“I wonder what kind of repercussions it will have for small businesses,” Ben says.
“Well, we all know which sideyou’reon.” It comes out a little sharper than I intended.
Ben gives me a measured look. “And how would you know that, exactly?”
A bunch of eyes land on me. Maybe that second glass of wine wasn’t the best idea.
“Because we all know who the Republicans support in this case.”
“That doesn’t meanIdo.”
“Sure it does. By the transitive property.”
He looks at me like I’m speaking Swahili. “I’m sorry, by thetransitive property?”
“Yes. Your party supports a certain side, and you’re a member of that party; therefore by the transitive property, you also support it.”
“That is definitelynothow the transitive property works.”
“Yes, it is. Ifaequalsbandbequalsc, thenaequalsc. You’re not the only one who knows math, Einstein.”
His face has gone red. “The transitive property of equality applies to number sentences, not complex social issues. This is real life, not ninth-grade algebra.”
“Thank you so much for mansplaining that to me, Ben,” I fire back.
“Well, that escalated quickly,” Marcus says.
I’m warming up to this debate now. “The transitive concept applies to plenty of other things besides numbers. Haven’t you ever heard of the transitive property of hooking up?”
“I have,” Marcus pipes up helpfully.
“Shut up, Marcus,” Ben barks.
“If I hook up with Tessa and Tessa hooks up with Luke, then by extension, I’ve hooked up with Luke.”
Ben slow blinks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear anything after you hooking up with Tessa.”
“Me either,” says Luke.
