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There was a delay, as usual, then he looked up. “Hey,” he said, clearly surprised. But he didn’t look displeased. “What are you doing here?”
I shrugged. “Was walking by and saw you. I need some coffee…mind if I join you?”
He frowned. “I thought you didn’t like coffee.”
Fuck.
“Once in a while I do,” I said evasively. “The only way I can get a real caffeine kick sometimes.”
He nodded, thankfully not questioning it too much. After getting a cup of drip, I sat down across from him.
“So, how’s progress today?” I asked.
“Slow,” he admitted. “It happens sometimes.”
A lapse of silence fell. I tried to think of something that idiotic fan girl would say.
“Slow for you is probably ten times faster than what I can write.” Recycled material, but what could you do? Praying they hadn’t had this conversation before, I asked, “How’d you get published in the first place?”
He smiled. “Slush pile.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s where unimportant aspiring authors go when they’re trying to get published. It often gets ignored. Or sorted by interns.”
I frowned. “Then how did you get noticed?”
“Mmm…well, agents still go through it. They just take a while sometimes. Or sometimes you get a savvy intern.”
“I thought only actors have agents.”
“Everyone selling themselves has an agent.”
“Is yours good?”
He nodded. “She’s got me some great deals.” He paused. “I’m not convinced she has a soul, though. The best ones never do.”
“You know a lot of soulless people?” I asked glibly.
He flinched. “Um, yeah. Some.”
Then, just like in the Robert Frost poem, two paths diverged in the woods. I could either make Beth sound completely idiotic and see if Seth would lose interest. Or, I could aim for compelling and captivating to see if he’d go for it.
I wasn’t really good at idiotic.
“I dated a guy once who I’m pretty sure didn’t have a soul.” Beth’s fictitious past rolled off my lips like it was my own. “He was a lawyer. I swear, I used to hear him mumble in his sleep at night. I think he was chanting Doors songs backwards.”
“That’s evidence of being soulless?”
“You seen Jim Morrison? That guy was so hot that there’s no way he didn’t have some deal with the devil.”
Seth laughed genuinely, and I saw it. The interest in his eyes.
I pushed forward, chatty and funny, trying to do it in a way that was interesting but didn’t sound like a Georgina clone. To my dismay, Seth forgot all about the laptop and displayed none of his usual reticence in conversation. He spoke to Beth as easily as if she were, well, me.
An hour or so later, I made my move.
“I know you’ve got a girlfriend,” I said hesitantly. “And I know you couldn’t do coffee the other day…but…I’d love to keep hanging out, and I’m really hungry. Do you think maybe you’d like to go grab some food? I’m starving, and I know a great place. And it’d be just as friends.”
Seth’s good humor faltered. “Well…I would…but, well, I’ve got to meet her later on. I don’t have the time. I mean, but I would otherwise. It sounds fun.”
This was true. Seth and I had made dinner plans. He had a legitimate excuse. But what if he didn’t…?
Stop this, Georgina, I told myself. This trial’s unhinging you. You’re moving into psycho territory.
“Okay. No problem,” I said, smiling and open. I stood up. “Hey, I’ll be right back.”
I headed into the bathroom and pulled out my cell phone. I dialed Seth’s number.
“Hey,” he said when he answered.
“Hey,” I returned, back to Georgina’s voice.
“How’s the jury thing going?”
“Ugh. It sucks,” I grumbled. “Finally wrapped up for the day.”
“Ah, cool.”
“But, I’ve got some bad news. I got sucked into some dinner thing. I’m not going to be able to see you until a lot later.”
A long pause.
“That’s okay…I can fend for myself.”
“I’m really sorry…I feel like I’ve been neglecting you.”
“Nah, it’s okay. Really.”
“Cool. I’ll catch you later.”
We disconnected, and I walked back to the table, fully in Beth mode.
“Back,” I said, returning to my chair.
Seth smiled. This time it was the bemused, pensive smile he got when he was thinking hard about something. Finally, I saw a decision snap into his eyes.
“So…hey. Maybe we can do dinner after all…”
Chapter Nine
The weirdness of technically being out on a date with my boyfriend and another woman wasn’t lost on me. Nor was the fact that this sort of insane, paranoid behavior was typical of the kind of women you hear about on TV who drive themselves and their children into a lake.
“Georgina” never followed up with Seth on when “she” would be back later. This gave him no immediate reason to go home, and the night turned out to be a long one. The two of us ended up walking down the street to some cute little French café. It had outdoor seating, which was absolutely perfect for the balmy evening air. The tables were tiny and round, made of patina copper. Christmas lights, strung merrily along the roof’s edge, twinkled down at us. Seeing them reminded me of my earlier metaphor about demonic power hierarchies. Kurtis only had to pull out one “light” in my string to give me a night with Seth, a night that could possibly stop insanity like this night from happening again. Pondering that brought the trial back to my mind. The thought of going back to the jury deliberation tomorrow made my brain hurt.
Beth’s past still poured forth with ease, but then, I’d been making up identities my entire life. I also knew enough about Seth to adapt her perfectly to him. I could say exactly what he wanted to hear. Dinner flew by, the conversation fast and furious. Afterward, we wandered over to a beachside park and spent a long night continuing our conversation. A number of times, I had to remind myself to stay in character. Being with him and talking like this just felt so natural and so comfortable that it was hard to remember that he and I just weren’t out on a normal date. He was with Beth. What was disturbing was that he treated “Beth” just as sweetly and familiarly as he would have treated me.
For all I knew, Seth might have stayed out all night, but I eventually made up some excuse about needing to go home and do homework. We didn’t touch—no kissing or hugging—but Seth regarded me with genuine pleasure.
“This was really great,” he said. “You’re…very easy to talk to. Thanks for asking me out.”
“Thanks for joining me,” I replied. “It beat doing homework.” I tilted my head curiously.
“So, tell me again: how long are you in town?”
He shrugged. “Still not entirely sure. Another few days at least.”
“Ah. Okay.” I put on a look of demure shyness. “Well…I don’t suppose…I don’t suppose you’d want to maybe catch dinner again before you leave?”
He turned thoughtful, conflict in his eyes. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’d like to…but I mean, I don’t know what my schedule’s like.” A palpably nervous pause followed.
“Could…could I call you when I know for sure?”
Crap. No. He couldn’t very well call Georgina’s number.
“I lost my cell phone,” I told him.
“Well…I’ll probably be at the diner tomorrow. We could talk then.”
Oh, yeah. Even better. The real Beth would be pretty surprised to hear about what a great night they’d had. Frantically, my mind whirled.
“A couple other friends have been coming in lately too, and my boss is getting annoyed that I keep talking to people during my shift. Might actually be better if you work somewhere else. I need to keep this job,” I added, hoping I sounded like Pathetic Struggling Student Girl.
“Why don’t you just give me your number and I’ll check in with you tomorrow?”
