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* * *
MBS69: Not with this crowd. They’re all married with trophy wives and expect the same of me and everyone in their circle. John said you were beautiful. If he thinks you’re hot, I know you’re perfect. Make sure you look classy and conservative. You have something appropriate, I hope? John said you were high end.
* * *
Lexi911: Oh, I’m very high end. The highest. I’d like to meet you in person before I go out with you. You like rules? That’s one of mine. Hard and fast. Coffee would be fine. 1:00 Thursday. The food court at the Columbus Circle mall. Outside that sushi place. Wear something red so I know who you are. You can bring your Non-Disclosure Agreement and I’ll sign. You’re a stickler for rules? Same here.
* * *
MBS69: That’s pretty short notice. I’m a business person and I am exceptionally busy.
* * *
Lexi911: Precisely. Me as well. See you then, Mr. Big. Shot.
* * *
“You’re really going to go meet him, right?” Candace's eyes were wide. It was something she would do, but not me.
“No.” I was already hatching a plan to spy on him. “I’m going to go incognito and see what he looks like. I'll stand him up, let him go to this fundraiser alone. Serves him right.”
“I wish I wasn’t going to be in a meeting tomorrow afternoon with Professor Everly,” Candace said, her voice sad, “but it’s about my committee members and I have to go. I want to come, too…” She pouted.
I bit my bottom lip and considered, doubts creeping in about whether I should lead him on.
“Maybe I should send him an email and confess.”
“No, no, no. You should go. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing!”
“What if he’s mad and starts to harass me?”
She shrugged, like that was nothing. “You could always block his cell if he starts to bother you. You could delete your old email. You don’t use it anyway.”
I made a face, struggling with my decision. I created my Lexi911 email when I worked as a 9-1-1 relief operator during the summers. After everything that happened with Blaine, I had initially planned on becoming a paramedic, but realized after answering calls that I couldn’t face that kind of stress. So, I went into plain old social science instead. Something calm and non-stressful, like international relations. I did an undergrad in Portland, and then moved to Manhattan to do my MA at Columbia. Candace came with me, happy to leave the West Coast behind. I’d start my PhD next year, if all went well.
“He’s obviously a real dickhead, so don’t feel bad about leading him on.” Candace moved back to her desk and flipped a page in her file. “What kind of guy has such rigid rules and breaks up with women over them? He sounds like he doesn’t have a heart. He deserves some payback. Consider yourself Karma.”
“What about my Karma?” I examined the pic of his abdomen again. “Will this be good Karma or bad Karma if I go through with it and stand him up?”
Candace shrugged. “Has a guy ever treated you badly?” She raised her eyebrows meaningfully.
She knew very well that a guy had treated me badly. One particular guy named Blaine who I only barely escaped with my life. I tried not to think of Blaine, because it was a very dark and scary part of my life I'd rather forget, but that's the thing about trauma. You can't ever really forget it.
“Mr. Big Shot 69? Consider me Karma,” I said and smiled.
Chapter 2
Luke
* * *
I met John at our favorite hot dog cart in Central Park West, relishing our weekly trip to for some street meat.
It was a ritual we never failed to follow, the two of us going for a sausage slathered in mustard and heaped with sauerkraut. Although we were business partners, we had separate office space. John was CTO and in charge of the technology side of the business while I was CFO and in charge of the financial side. I spent my time on Wall Street and he spent his closer to the techies at Columbia. He wore jeans and a t-shirt and had a surfer-dude thing going on with the longish hair while I wore a business suit and tried to look like a banker. A competitive swimmer in college, John still swam for fitness and had the bleached-blond pool hair to show for it.
"So?" he asked, eyeing me as he paid for his dog. "What's the deal with Lexi?"
I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "She agreed."
