Full pints were placed in front of us. We clinked our glasses and took long draws of the cold drafts.
“I mean, I get it, working together and all, and you being a head honcho. Gage might not be on board. But still, it’s gonna put a strain on you guys, dontcha think?” he asked.
Why was everyone against us working out?
“We’ll figure it out,” I said. “We’ll be fine.”
The finality in my tone told him I was done talking about it.
“What I wanted to ask you was if you’d come out one night this week, get Maryellen and her friend Evie to come to Iggy’s with us.”
I knew Maryellen said no dates, but we could still hang out as friends, with friends. Convincing her would be a challenge, but ifI got Mitch on board, it would help. If I had Evie’s number, I bet I’d get her on board as well.
“Does Maryellen know you’re doing this?” he asked.
“Not yet, I wanted to ask you first. If you weren’t around, it wasn’t going to be worth trying to talk her into it.”
Mitch laughed out loud. He threw his rolled-up napkin onto his empty plate and drained the rest of his beer from his mug. He slid off the bench and started putting his coat on.
“I have to get back, I have a call in about twenty minutes.” He waved our waitress over to get the check.
“I’ve got it.”
“Oh, I know you do,” he said and howled.
I threw a hundred-dollar bill on the table to cover the check, and we started back for the office.
“Well, what do you say? You in one night this week?” I asked.
“Sure, I’m in.” He turned and had a conspiratorial smile for me. “It should be an interesting night if you convince her to go.”
I shoved his shoulder as we walked.
Inside, I was giddy.
I wasn’t sure if I should go see her or if texting her was the better option. Trying to make the plans sooner than later was important since I knew she wasn’t a fan of going out during the week. If it was going to happen, I’d need some time to convince her.
As I stood at the floor-to-ceiling window in my office, I decided to send her a text.
Me: Have a question for you
The dots came up immediately.
Maryellen: What’s up
Me: Would you be interested in going out one night this week? Hear me out, it would be as friends, Mitch would come and you could ask Evie, it would be a group thing
The dots came up, then disappeared. They came up again, then disappeared again. Then I was left stranded with no answer for a couple minutes. I contemplated texting her again but decided against it, thinking I’d come off as pushy. I threw my phone onto my desk and resumed looking at the reports on my monitor. I’d promised Gage I would have their analysis completed before tomorrow when he returned, and I wasn’t even close to done.
My phone buzzed against the mahogany of my desk.
Maryellen: Evie is around on Thursday of that works
My fist bump went high in the air.
This was my first time experiencing joy about a girl that I had to literally keep to myself. I glanced around the office as if there would be someone to share it with, knowing full well there wasn’t. Nor could I.
At least I had Mitch.
