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“Hold up,” I ordered, crossing my arms and blocking his path when he tried to escape my inquisition. “Can we please just talk about the other—”
“Fine. No beer. Wine, then. Red or white?” he asked, completely ignoring me.
Well, two could play at that game, my friend.
“Why did you walk away from me when we came in here?” I questioned. “You abandoned me to the wolves.”
It was Ellis who now crossed his arms.
“We’re at a single’s mixer, Tessa,” he said, indicating to the full conference hall. “I’m single, and I’m going to mingle. What else would I do here?”
You’d help me. Because I need you.I just managed to stop myself from blurting the words out. His words stung, but I was so frustrated with him that I refused to let him see that.
“Fine.” I pulled back my shoulders and held my chin high. “Good luck, then. May we’ll both find what we’re after.” I stuck out my hand and hoped it wasn’t shaking. “Betcha I’ll get more numbers than you, friend.”
Ellis’s eyes remained fixed on mine as he took my hand and shook it curtly. “Go get ’em, tiger,” he said, then gave me his megawatt brilliant smile and slid past me.
And I let him go.
Soon, he was chatting with a redheaded woman with a waistline the size of a rubber band. He didn’t even glance in my direction as he laughed at something she said. But he did fiddle with his phone, and suddenly mine pinged with a text. I dug around in my purse and frowned as I read.
ELLIS:Already got her number. You better get a move on.
In a huff, I pushed to the front of the line at the bar. “Gin and tonic.”
“Hey, lady, there’s a line,” a guy behind me whined.
I turned to him and stared him down. “I’m on my period, okay?” Bad of me, I know, pulling out the menstruation card, but hey, sometimes a girl’s gotta get drunk, and fast. Ellis was blowing me off and in a way that was going to land him a heap load of other women’s phone numbers, and I didn’t know what to do with that besides try to win our little competition. So game on.
“Gin and tonic,” I repeated to the bartender, then caught sight of Ellis out of the corner of my eye with his arm around Rubber Band Lady. Quickly, I added, “And make it a double.”
* * *
"So Microsoft has put out some really great Autocorrect options with the latest upda—”
“Yeah, sure,” I interrupted Joe R. (according to his crooked nametag on his tweed jacket) and grabbed his shoulders, giving him a bit of a twist. “Um, could you just stand a little bit…this…ah. Perfect. Yeah, right there.”
Joe R. seemed confused for a moment, but jumped right back into his riveting Microsoft Word tutorial nonetheless. I finished the rest of my gin and tonic, and watched Ellis, who was chatting with a steadily growing group of women. When his eyes finally found their way to me, I quickly looked away, laughed loudly, and ran my palm down Joe R.’s arm flirtatiously.
“Oh, my gosh,” I said loudly, making sure Ellis could hear me, “you are sofunny. You’re like the funniest guy I have ever met.”
Joe R. shook his head and said, “But I only said that I thought Microsoft could improve its user interface, and that’s not really that funn—”
I giggled loudly. “User interface. So hilarious. You are just the funniest ever.” I checked as subtly as I could to see Ellis’s reaction, only to growl in frustration when I found his back to me.
“You must work out all the time,” I easily heard him say to the trim redhead, another full bottle of beer in his hand. “And you must hardly ever order Italian takeout with extra breadsticks.”
“Ugh,” I grumbled before stalking away from Joe R., headed yet again to the bar.
“Wait, Tessa,” Joe R. called after me. “You haven’t even heard the awesome new updates they have planned!”
I turned around and shrugged as I continued to walk away backward. “Joe R., I spilled beer on my laptop like three and a half months ago.”
This time I waited in line, only to have my phone ping yet again.
ELLIS:I have three numbers now, btw. You?
I shoved my phone back into my purse and pounded my fist on the white table cloth, startling the bartender and making the arrangement of bottles rattle.
