First Sight (43 page)

This time
around
,
Rob had wanted to split the check after
they’d gone on several dates together
, and Marissa had been offended.
 
“
He asked me out
,” she argued.  “Doesn’t that mean he should pay for the date?  Right
Maddy
?” she looked over at me pointedly.

“Well, I guess technically
,
yes
.  But it’s not like this was your first date.  You’ve gone out several times and are seeing each other, right? 
I mean if
it was the first or second time he asked you out
, I think it would be polite for him to pay.  But after you’ve been dating awhile, i
t makes sense to split the checks
.  I mean he can’t just keep paying for everything forever.
”

“Well
,
he
could
,” she replied, sounding miffed.  “He just doesn’t want to.”

“What’s the big deal anyway?” Travis asked, looking a little puzzled.  “You have a job; you want to spend time together.  Wouldn’t you pay your own way if you were going out with
Maddy
or one of your
other
friends?
  Why should the guy get stuck paying for everything?
”

“It’s just the principle of the matter.
 
He
asked
me
out on another date.
”

“So, are you going
to see him anymore?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Marissa said with a sigh.  “I like him, but I’m just getting frustrated already.”

“Why don’t you just wait and see how it goes?” I asked.  “I mean if you really like him….”

“Maybe
.
  He better shape up though.”

The rest of us burst out laughing.

“You keep him in line, Marissa,” Travis joked.

“All right, I can see lunch here is over,” she said as she stood up.  “Elizabeth?”  I exchanged glances with Elizabeth, and she shrugged.  It was obvious that Marissa was annoyed at both Travis and me, so Elizabeth headed back with her
while Travis and I
linger
ed
behind.

I gathered my things, and
Travis
put his arm around my shoulders as we slowly
walked
back to the office. 
“
Marissa
was sure in a good mood today,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Don’t I know
it
.
  A
nd
you’ve only been here a few months.  The rest of us have been listening to her dating stories for over a year!”

“You have my sympathy,” he said, nodding seriously, a gleam in his eye as
he
atte
mpted to keep a straight face.

I playfully
jabbed him with my elbow
.  “I know you’re happy you missed out on all that.”

“Maybe a little,” he said with a laugh
, pulling me even closer
.  “
So
anyway,
you already have
plans
tonight
?” he asked in a low voice.

“
Yeah
, I promised
Emily
that I’d go shopping with her to buy a
wedding
present for her cousin. 
And we were planning to meet for drinks and
maybe
dinner beforehand
.”

“O
h
,” Travis replied, his face slightly falling.

“But hey,” I said, touching him lightly on the arm, “
W
hy don’t we do something
tomorrow
night
?”

“Okay,” he said, the smile returning to his face.
“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I was just at your place last weekend.  Why don’t you come over for dinner
tomorrow
?
  I’ll
even
attempt to cook for us.
”

“
That sounds good.
  What can I bring?”

I thought for a moment,
unsure of
what I
even
planned to make for dinner. 
“Wine?”

“Sure,” Travis said with a gentle laugh.  “
I can bring a bottle of wine.”

We stepped onto the elevator
in our building
to head back up to our office.  As the doors closed behind us, we found ourselves alone for the first time all day.  Travis
placed both hands on my waist and
leaned down
to plant
a gentle kiss on my lips.  “
Mmmm
, we definitely don’t get enough alone time at the office,” he mumbled.

I reached up and cupped his face in my hands, holding him to me.  I could feel the slight stubble on his jaw beneath my fingers and
,
as
I stood up on my tiptoes to kiss him back,
his warm mouth against my own.
  “Tomorrow,” I whispered.
 
His warm brown eyes met mine, and I felt a nervous thrill shoot through me
. 
It was
already
Thursday afternoon, but it felt like
Friday
evening c
ould not get here soon enough.

Travis took my hand as w
e stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall,
coming to a pause
in the doorway of my office. 
“I’ll see you later, okay?”  He gazed down at me, and a smile came to
my
face as I looked up
at him
.

“Okay.”

He let go of my hand, and
I watched as he walked down the hallway.  He glanced back before he ducked inside his office and winked at me.  I smiled and felt myself blushing that I’d been caught watching him. 
Of course, he’d looked back, too. 
No
,
I thought happily to myself,
tomorrow definitely could not get here soon enough
.

***

“You’re not going to believe
some
of the
stuff they registered for
,”
Emily
said
later
that
night over margaritas. 
Marissa had
bailed on happy hour but was meeting us later
, so it was just the two of us
enjoying drinks
. 
We were
perched on barstools at
one of
our favorite Mexican restaurant
s,
not far from where we planned to go shopping. 
The
interior
was warmly lit, with tiny
white
lights swooping in strands from the ceiling.  A sombrero was perched on top of the counter behind the bar, near a stack of clean glasses, and Mexican blankets were artfully draped on the walls. 
Loud
music blasted from the speakers, and even louder
people around us laughed and called out to
one
an
other, downing Coronas and margari
tas of their own.

Emily
shook her head in disbelief
as
she spoke, the light catching on her gold chandelier earrings.  She had on a black halter top and dark denim jeans, and I noticed a few guys walking by eyeing us appreciatively.  I’d
come straight from work
but had taken off my blazer and was wearing a deep
purple
top
with short fluttery sleeves and dark jeans. 
Normally I saved denim for casual Fridays, but since we’d stayed so late
at work
the night before, I’d decided to make an exception and dress down at the office today.  I glanced down at my
black wedge sandals,
wondering if they would
be comfortable enough for walking around
and
shopping later on.
 
A few guys near us roared in laughter over something, and I watched as one of them slapped another on the back.  I leaned closer to
Emily
in order to hear
her
over the noise in the bar. 
“Really?
  What types of things
do they want
?”

Emily
swirled the tiny red straw around her margarita glass then picked
the glass
up to take a sip.  “The china, for example, is like $80 a piece—not $80
per
place setting, but
$80
per piece
!
 
I mean c
ome on
, who can afford that?
”

I laughed.  “
Isn’t all china that expensive?  But I know what you mean, who wants to give a single
$80 tea cup
or something as a wedding gift
?
  I wonder if anyone could actually afford to buy them an entire place setting.
”

“Exactly.
  Now you see why I haven’t gotten anything off the registry.”

I reached over and grabbed a tortilla chip, scooping up so
me of the fresh, homemade salsa, before taking a bite.
  “That is hard—I mean you want to give them something
meaningful, not one dish in their massive china collection
.”

“I know, right?  But I can’t really afford any of the other things they picked out.  Who would even use stuff that expensive anyway?  I’d be afraid I’d break it.”

“I think that my entire
set
of dishes was
$80,” I said, laughing.
 
“
I mean it’s not
c
hina or anything, but it’s pretty and it works.  Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.”

“Another round?” the young bartender asked, interrupting us.  I looked up at his close-cropped haircut and youthful face.  He looked a little stressed out, and I imagined it must be tough to work nights like this.  He probably made good tips, but it
had to
be exhausting when it was this crowded.

“No, we’re on our way out,”
Emily
answered.  She flung a $20 bill down on the bar and
grabbed my arm.  “It’s on me.”

We stood up, and a blonde college student in a
sequined
pink tank top and white
denim
miniskirt rushed over to us. 
She practically tripped over her sparkl
y platform heels
, and some of
the
cocktail she was carrying sloshed over the glass and onto her shoes. 
“Are you guys leaving?”
she asked before glancing down to assess the damage.  “Damn it!”

“Yes,” I said, trying not to gawk at her outfit.

“Great!  We,
like, couldn’t find any seats,” she said, gesturing to a brunette girl following behind her.  The friend
was
wearing
a black dress that barely covered her rear end, and I watched as she struggled to climb onto the barstool in her revealing outfit. 
I exchanged amused glances
with Emily and
heard them talking loudly about how cute the bartender was as
we
walked away.

“Did you see those outfits?” I asked, laughing.

“I tried not to look!  That was scary.”

“Maybe they were underage and were trying to look more sophisticated.”

“Sophisticated?  Well
,
it totally wasn’t working.”

I giggled as
I followed her through the crowd until we were
outside
. 
“Please tell me that we didn’t dress like that when we were in college.”

“Uh, we didn’t dress like that?” she said
,
sounding less than sure.  “Who cares, we were young then. 
Let’s
go
find something for my cousin.”

“Where to?”
I asked.

“I’m not sure—department store?”

I followed her down the block towards
the
upscale
mall
nearby
.  We headed into one of the
large
department
stores and wandered around aimlessly for a little while.  I pointed out items they probably didn’t need, like house-shaped cookie jars and generic, oversized glass
paperweights. 
“Or how about this?”
I asked, holding up a silicone pot holder in the shape of a cow’s head.