***
We meet at the Full Shilling as always and order beers at the bar. I spend the first twenty minutes making casual chit-chat so as not to appear too suspicious: how are things at work, have you guys set a date for the wedding, is Leslie driving you crazy with the planning, yadda, yadda, yadda…
When Garrett asks me how the new office is, I jump at the opportunity to introduce the topic that I came here to discuss.
“It’s great,” I say. “If I manage to keep the lease, that is.”
Garrett raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t you sign a one-year contract?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if Leslie told you… I also made a bet.”
My friend smiles. “I might’ve heard something. Any luck with the agency so far?”
“My last date was with a Flat Earther,” I say.
“Oh.” Garrett laughs wholeheartedly. “You didn’t tell me about that one.”
“No, because you would’ve spilled everything to Leslie and, by transitive property, Vivian.”
“Man, I don’t have secrets with my fiancée. And it’s not my fault women talk.”
“To that effect, did you hear anything about Vivian’s date last night?”
Garrett studies me for a few long seconds, before saying, “Turned out he was a real creep. The dude brought his mother along to vet Vivian.”
Oh, I’d pay to see how that played out. Tension releases in my shoulders, and I let out a long breath. The world is a better place now.
“You seem relieved, man,” Garrett says.
“Yeah.” I shrug, trying to keep my attitude casual. “Because of the bet.”
“Of course,” Garrett says. “The bet.”
Is he being sarcastic?
“Yeah, I’d like to keep my office. Better even, I want the corner one.”
“So your curiosity has nothing to do with Vivian, the woman?”
“No, not at all.”
“And you still don’t like her?”
“Absolutely not.”
Garrett raises that mocking eyebrow again. “Is that why you kissed her?” he asks, then takes another sip of beer.
Oh, for crying out loud, can’t a man have any privacy?
He sees my expression and laughs. “Sorry, buddy. Like I said, women talk. Last night, Lee almost broke her neck running to tell me the news the moment she got off the phone with Vivian.” He stares me down. “Are you sure there’s nothing else going on?”
“Nothing,” I say, adamant. “I don’t know what possessed me last night, but I don’t like her. Besides, I’m going on a date tomorrow night with another woman, possibly my future wife.”
Jennifer called me earlier, announcing she’d managed to arrange a last-minute match for me.
“Okay, okay.” Garrett raises his hands defensively. “I’m just saying that if you did like her, there’d be nothing wrong with that. Vivian is a wonderful person. She’s beautiful, fun, kind…”
In my head, I continue the list of her qualities, and stubborn, and impossible to deal with, and the best kiss I’ve ever had, and—No wait, forget that last one!
“She’d be a real steal,” Garrett continues. “And Lee and I always thought you guys would make a perfect match.”
Yeah, I comment in my head, when hell freezes over.
Despite my cocky denials, Garrett’s words stay with me all the next day, and are still there, ringing in the background, as I enter the speakeasy-turned-restaurant I picked for my date with a Miss di Mauro.
After a few minutes seated at the table, I’m joined by a beautiful Indian woman with jet-black hair, dark eyes, and light-brown skin. We make the usual introductions and share our real names; hers is Mira. This time, however, I take a different approach to the getting-to-know-you phase and jump straight to the punch. “Can I ask you three really weird questions without you judging me? I promise there’s a good reason.”
Mira looks at me, half-amused, half-curious. “Sure,” she says. “Fire away.”
“Are you a witch?”
“Err… No?”
“What does the word ‘fellow’ mean to you?”
“Like an associate professor or a researcher?”
I sigh in relief and prepare myself for the ultimate test. “And finally, do you believe the Earth is round?”
Mira frowns. “Obviously. Why?”
I tell her the tragic story of my three previous dates set up by the agency, and she finds it hilarious. We laugh, drink wine, and share a wonderful meal while the conversation flows. Mira is sensual, intelligent, charming… and yet. I can’t explain why nothing is taking off in my chest, not even the smallest spark of excitement.
Mira must feel the same way because, when the bill arrives and I offer to pay, she takes a long sip of wine and stares at me for a long moment before saying, “This has been a great date, and normally I’d accept your offer to cover dinner and ask you to join me somewhere else for a nightcap…”
“But?”
“But…” Another pause. “Feels to me like your heart wasn’t really in it tonight. You act like someone who’s hung up on another woman. Did your friends or family force you to join a dating agency to get over your ex or something?”
For a split second, I think about Brenda. Am I still not over her? I shake the idea away; I haven’t spared my ex a thought in I don’t even remember how long. She’s not the issue.
That’s when the image of a woman in a red coat with killer heels and a heart-shaped mouth pops into my head.
No, I can’t be… Not with her…
But I am, I so am. I haven’t been able to push Vivian out of my mind since that first glimpse of pink lace, and definitely not after I had the brilliant idea of kissing her.
These, however, are dreadful realizations I don’t want to deal with now. So I share with Mira only part of the truth.
“Best friend,” I say. “Garrett had been nagging me to join for weeks, then the night of his engagement party he came at me with the hard sell, and I finally caved.”
“Ah.” Mira sighs. “Champagne toasts and diamond rings. This friend used the heavy artillery.”
“I guess he did.”
“About tonight.” Mira grabs the bill’s leather folder and puts in her credit card. “I suggest we split dinner and leave
