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There’s a brief pause. Then she texts again.
Her:By the way, we’re moving to Intermediate. Did I mention that?
Conscious that the table has gone quiet, without moving my head, I glance up. They’re all watching me with amusement. Presumably one of them asked me something. I didn’t even hear them.
Slowly, I lean forward and put my head on the table.
“Aw,” Elizabeth says as the others all laugh, and she pats me on the back. “Poor Mack. Is she driving you insane?”
I sit back, and blow out a helpless breath. “I think my head’s going to explode.”
Victoria smiles; she knows how unusual this is for me. “When are you seeing her again?” she asks.
“I wasn’t planning to.” I glance down at the last text she sent and quickly type,Later, Minx, send it, and put the phone back in my pocket. “But I think she has other plans.”
“She bringing you to your knees?” Elizabeth asks, amused.
“Or the other way around?” Huxley says with a grin.
“Hey,” Victoria says, as she sees the look on my face. “That’s not how we talk about each other’s partners.”
Huxley’s eyebrows rise. “Oh…” He looks at my face and his expression softens. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry, that was very rude. I went for the cheap laugh.”
Confused by how I felt when he said that, and Victoria’s reply, I just say, “Don’t worry about it.” I smile at Cesare as he arrives with a couple of the meals, and I change the subject, asking Titus for his opinion on an article I read on AI in this month’s IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.
We don’t talk about it again. It’s only when the meal’s done and we’re on our way out that Huxley mentions it.
“Mack,” he murmurs while the others wait, “I want to apologize again. I hope you know I’d never purposely offend you. I was brought up to respect women, and I’m ashamed of myself for what I said.”
“Bro, come on. I know you were joking.”
“Yeah, but I feel about an inch high. Sidnie is a lovely girl and you obviously like her a lot. She didn’t deserve that. If someone were to say that about Joanna…”
I glance at Elizabeth at the mention of the only girl that Huxley has ever cared about. She meets my gaze, then looks at the ground.
I smile. “You’re one of the good guys, and life’s too short to take offense where none is meant. Seriously, don’t worry about it.” I clap him on the back, and we walk toward the cars. “Merry Christmas.”
He hesitates, then just smiles and says, “Merry Christmas.” He crosses the road and walks away, hands in his pockets. I know it’s going to bother him for some time.
I look at the others, who are talking amongst themselves as they wait. They give me rueful smiles as I walk up.
“He fell on his sword,” Titus says, “but we were all to blame. I’m sorry, Mack.”
“Jesus, it was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you going to call her?” Victoria asks.
“Yeah, maybe when I get back from the Bay.”
“I hope you have a great Christmas.” Elizabeth stands on her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. “See you soon.”
“I’m planning to have the report to you by the end of next week,” I tell her.
She nods and goes over to her car.
“See you later,” I tell Titus and Victoria. “Have a great Christmas.”
“You too.” They go over to their car, as they’re both heading back to the club.
