He replied “Me, too. Just wanted you to know I’m thinking of you.”
Wink emoji.
I did not blush. I didn’t. Well, maybe just a bit.
I returned to my work and was amazingly able to concentrate and make progress on the file in front of me. Diane had picked up a sandwich for me for lunch and we ate together in the break room. I kept her talking about her new, dishy Brit, Nigel, so was spared having to share more details of my dinner and dancing non-date. Apparently, Nigel spoke 4 languages and had amazingly dexterous toes. Way more information than I needed, but it kept Jack out of the conversation, so I was happy.
I didn’t hear from Jack again till I was getting ready for bed that evening. I had pulled my hair back into a ponytail and had just slathered a mud mask on my face when my phone tinged. I checked it and found a text from Jack.
Jack:“Hope you had a good day.”
Eve:“I did, other than Diane had to clean up the mess we made last night. Then needed the 411 on what went down. How about you?”
Jack:“It was good, although sadly lacking in time spent with you.”
I smiled at that. He was so flirty, but it was fun. I enjoyed being flirted with and flirting back.
Jack:“So who is this Diane? Someone I should know?”
Eve:“Diane is my PA. She keeps my office going when I’m out town and is inordinately interested in the details of my …
I paused, thinking. Do I say, “love life?” Or does that imply much more than was actually going on? The details of my…relationships? My encounters with Jack Garcia?
Jack:“Eve, I see dots. You’re either writing a novel or you’re filtering”
I quickly ended my sentence with “life” and pressed send. I waited for a moment then dots appeared.
Jack:“I, too, am very interested in the details of your life. Perhaps you could tell me more on our second date.”
Eve:“Second date? We haven’t even been on one yet!”
I had hesitated on whether or not to add the “yet” to the end of that sentence. I didn’t want to seem like I was expecting a date. But he was the one talking about a second date, so I supposed it wouldn’t be presumptuous.
Jack:“Eve, we had dinner and dancing! I’d call that a date!”
I thought about that. Yes, I’d shot him down on going out for dinner, but if he brought dinner to me, did that count as a date? I guess so.
Eve:“I suppose so.”
Jack:“A case could even be made that our first date was in Scottsdale. You were my date for the memorial service.”
Eve:“Heckuva first date. Is that how you normally woo the the ladies?”
Jack:“Nope. You were my first that I used the old, tired ‘need a date to a funeral’ trope.”
Eve:“I feel honored, Jack.”
Jack:“So now that we’ve established that we’re dating, are you available Friday evening for our third date?”
My eyes widened at that. We’re dating? Officially? Like, a couple? Dating? How did we go from ‘he brought me pizza’ to ‘we’re dating’? I had to wait for the fizzing in my brain to subside and my heart rate to go down to figure out how to reply. I thought carefully. I could just say yes and ride the roller coaster and see where it stopped. If I said no, either he’d find a way around my no, or…we’d be done. Was I ready to be done? Did I want that? To never see Jack again?
Jack:“Hon, I’m not seeing dots. You checking your calendar?”
Rather than explain my thought process to him, I just wrote,
Eve:“I’m free Friday evening.”
He responded with a grinning emoji.
