“I’ll go with you,” Lindsey said and walked away with Kelly.
“Hello,” a woman tentatively said as she joined Eden, Randi, and Gabi.
“Oh, excuse me,” Gabi said, “I see a friend of mine over there. I’ll be in touch, Eden.”
Eden smiled. “It was nice to meet you.” She couldn’t say she didn’t love the attention, but knowing they were all standing around mingling in order to eventually go on a date with her was a little unsettling. However, that’s what this event was all about.
“I’m Eden,” she said to the woman, extending her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Tennie.”
“Hi, Tennie. I’m Randi.”
“Oh, I know. I saw your pitch and I have to say the friendship you share is remarkable. You two are friendship goals.”
Eden smiled at Randi. “Wow, that’s a nice thing to say.”
“Yeah, but tell us about your name. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone named Tennie,” Randi said.
The woman shrugged. “I typically tell people it’s like Penny, only with a T. It is unusual. My grandmother had an Aunt Tennie and while I was growing up she’d tell me stories about her. It seems that her parents met and grew up in Tennessee so they named their daughter that. My mother thought it was an interesting and unique name so here I am.”
“I don’t guess you’ve answered that question more than a few times in your life,” Eden said with a kind smile.
“Just a few times, but it’s memorable,” Tennie replied. “After hearing the stories about her I didn’t mind being named after her so much. She was an interesting woman. However, I’ve been teased a fair amount about it.”
“Randi knows how that feels,” Eden said, glancing her way.
“Yeah, my name is Miranda and some people like to tease me and compare me to the Miranda Priestly character,” Randi explained. “I am not a tyrant like the Miranda in the movie, nor do I value fashion the way she did.”
“Uh, I don’t know,” Eden said, tilting her head. “You can be demanding sometimes.”
Randi smirked and Eden laughed.
“Enough about names,” Randi said. “Tennie, what made you come to the event today?”
“I’m rather new to Dallas and thought it would be a good way to meet people,” she explained. “I enjoyed your pitch, Randi, because you talked about Eden’s heart. None of the others went there.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Eden said, widening her eyes. “But everything she said was true. I hope I didn’t come off as some hopeless romantic who’s boring in real life.”
“Not at all,” Tennie said. “You seem very—please don’t take this the wrong way—capable. From what Randi said you’re successful and now you want to share your life with…” She paused. “Dare I say the right person or someone special.”
Eden smiled. “Thank you. That’s accurate. I love my job and my life, but…” She shrugged. “Having someone special to come home to would be nice.”
Tennie nodded. “I get it.” She paused. “How do we go about the next step? I’m not sure I have anything new for us to try or am especially gifted at planning dates, but…”
Eden grinned. “How about I give you my number and we can plan something easy. Randi forgot to mention that a laid back, casual date is something I like.”
Tennie smiled and handed Eden her phone. “That would be great.”
Sometime later after Analise had gone and the event began to wind down Eden looked around the venue for Randi. Her eyes scanned the room then they stopped when they saw Randi smiling and looking her way.
Eden returned her smile and walked over to the high-top table where Randi was standing alone. “Having a good time?”
Randi shrugged. “It’s not about me. What about you?”
Eden nodded. “It was fun. I have to say it was a little unnerving talking to so many people who supposedly want to ask me out.”
“What? You are a great conversationalist.” Randi snapped her fingers. “I should’ve put that in the pitch. When you’retalking to someone, you have a way of making them feel like the most important person in the room. You listen.”
