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I'm still wracking my brain when I get to the office to find Edward sitting at my desk.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Casanova himself," he says, clapping his hands. "I was almost sure you were spending the night."
I sit down on the couch on the outside of the room and shake my head. "Things would have gone a lot smoother if you hadn’t interfered," I say.
Chances are if Ed hadn't flirted with Cassidy, I might not have gotten the opportunity to convince her to go on a second date. He doesn't need to know that, though.
"Looks to me like our waitress friend is proving your theory wrong," Ed suggests gleefully.
He’s really enjoying my momentary defeat. Cassidy grows more complicated each time I speak to her. Nothing seems to impress her and when I think I have her all mapped out she surprises me again.
I am still shocked that she rejected my kiss. Was it my breath? Something caught in my teeth? Surely not.
Cassidy is just different, a mystery I can’t wait to solve and more than that–a mystery I have no doubt I will solve.
"Not a chance," I laugh. "I just miscalculated. I need to make a few adjustments, as do you."
As much as I like Cassidy she is still just human. My formula works, there is no reason for her not to fall head over heels in love with me, even if Ed can’t see it yet.
Ed is confused. "Why would I need to make adjustments?"
"Because you’re about to make a very large investment in the future of love and romance," I announce. "The dating scene will never be the same again. True love will practically be on order for anyone who can afford it."
Edward watches me, that troubled look in his eyes. He hates to lose just as much as I do and like me, he isn’t above changing the rules of the game to stack his odds.
"If it really is all that easy, then you're going to love this," Edward says, rubbing his hands together. "I'm willing to fund the whole thing on my own if you can prove to me that your theory really does work."
Edward has a flair for the dramatic and pauses for effect frequently. He’s like the announcer of a game show.
"If you really can get Red to fall in love with you, taking it a step further shouldn’t be a problem," he continues, again delaying the part of his proposal I actually want to hear.
I pace the room. I wrack my brain and I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s gone wrong. I had timed everything absolutely perfectly, but still she didn’t bite.
I have had many, many encounters with women and I have never had a gift in a pretty velvet box rejected. Never had my advances rebuffed and definitely not the way Cassidy did.
The moment she swerved away from me flashes in my mind and I can hardly hear Edward prattling on.
“Get to the fucking point, Ed!” I shout irritably.
“Touched a nerve there, Ethan? Are things not going to plan with the pretty waitress?” he sniggers.
I pour myself a drink and sit back down. “Things are going well enough. I just can’t get a proper read on her,” I sigh.
“She’s a waitress at the club. If anything, this should be easy,” Edward shrugs.
“She’s not just a waitress,” I say defensively. “There’s so much more to this girl. I mean, she listens, like actually listens to people. It doesn’t matter if it’s a server at a bakery or one of you maniacal freaks at the club.”
“So the plan has backfired then? And you’ve fallen head over heels for a waitress who’s in love with everyone she sees on the street… but not you?” he mocks.
It isn’t half as funny as Edward thinks it is. None of his jokes are.
“I’m not in love with the girl, I only just met her. And besides, I don’t fall in love. It’s too simple and we both know I know better,” I explain.
Edward shakes his head slowly. “You’re not making any sense.”
“I’m just intrigued, interested. I’ve never met anyone like her and I want to know what it is that makes her- well that makes her, her…” Even the sound of my voice is different since I’ve met her.
The confidence I had going into this is battered and bruised. So much for an easy win. She’s supposed to be a romantic.
