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“‘Quiet, but curious petite brunette’… I don’t think you should use ‘curious’.” Aaron recited.
“Why not?”
He shrugged, but he was still frowning. “Guess it depends what kind of guy you’re wanting to attract.”
You, only you.“Someone nice, friendly. A bit intellectual.”
He read on. “‘… who loves literature, would also love to meet someone to unleash her—’” Aaron’s brows had tightened into a ridge across his nose. “Christ, Alice,unleash?”
“Why not? Isn’t it about getting lots of swipes right—or is it swipes left? I’ve forgotten.”
“Sure. But not… I mean, this is going to attract a certain type of guy, not the sort you’re looking for.”
“I see. You’re the expert on what I’m looking for now, are you?”
He fell silent. The air was so thick Alice could barely inhale it.
“Look, why don’t you come back to my place and we’ll re-write this. Polly’s ideas won’t work for you.”
“That’s a lousy pick-up line.”
His cheeks flushed. “I amnottrying to pick you up.”
About to fire back, Alice remembered Polly’s advice to stay quiet and mysterious. Let him do the leg work. “Equanimity,” Polly had said. According to Polly it was an esoteric term for keeping your shit together.
“Okay,” she said after a moment. “Not for long though.”
“I haven’t got long.” It was almost a snarl. “I’ve got to go into the office later.”
“On a Sunday?”
“You don’t know my workload right now.” He glowered at her.
Well, whoopee-doo. Things were going to plan.Not.
In the car Alice tried to ignore the way Aaron changed gears, which happened to show off to perfection the shift of muscles in his arm, the way his chunky metal watch hung low on his wrist, the tiny spray of dark blond hairs. Which led her to wonder what colour his hair was lower…oooff… well, that just sent equanimity up in smoke.
She snapped her head the other way and stared out at the large posh houses changing into large posh apartments as they circled Riverside Drive and finally arrived at the denser, inner-city, trendy apartmentsville Aaron lived in.
Once inside, Aaron flung his keys on the hall console and mumbled an apology for the mess. Alice let her gaze roam around. Itwasa mess. She’d been here so many times and never seen it in this much disarray. For a guy, Aaron was relatively neat. But unironed shirts spilled out of washing baskets, boxer shorts dried over the backs of chairs and dishes were piled haphazardly in the sink. She nearly tripped over a mangled towel in the middle of the floor. She peeped in his bedroom. The bedclothes were tumbling off the side of the bed. She guessed it could put off a lot of women. It certainly didn’t look like he’d been entertaining lately. Which made her inappropriately happy.
“Tea, coffee, beer, wine?” he asked, head in the fridge, already pulling out a beer.
“I’ll have a spritzer, please.”
He busied himself making it, brought the wine glass over to her and flung himself down on the sofa. Alice perched herself in the easy chair opposite him; their respective seats whenever they played Monopoly. Monopoly had always been a bonding experience. But now it felt like she was a stranger here. Maybe she should suggest they forget all this stupid stuff, play a game instead, and everything would go back to how it was before. Her eyes skittered around; no Monopoly box in sight.
Aaron ruffled the hair on the back of his neck with one hand. “So,” he said. “You’re serious about this… Tinder thing?”
Face it, the game between them had changed. Whatever happened now, it would never add up to how it was before.
“Yes, of course.”
He gave her a dark look. “Okay, give it here.” He motioned impatiently for the notebook. She handed it over and he started to scribble, a little smile beginning to quirk at the corners of his mouth. After a minute he handed the paper to her and she read aloud: “‘Petite, introverted 26-year-old with a secret passion for bodice-ripping romance and Victorian artists with kinky hang-ups, seeks like-minded-male for hot intellectual pursuits.’ What does ‘hot intellectual pursuits’ mean?”
“You said you wanted an intellectual and I’m assuming you—er—don’t want just conversation, so I kind of combined them. The right person will read between the lines.”
“I don’t like it.”
