“Oh… uh… Jack. Hi.” I feel a blush creeping its way up the back of my neck. God, the man is gorgeous. Pure sex machine.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be on TV?” He shakes his head. “I would’ve been watching from the start! They didn’t even have the sound on out here, so I couldn’t hear you, but you looked great! Can’t believe you were onLet’s Talk!That’s huge.”
“I know I should’ve told you… it was kind of last minute.” Why am I lying? Let’s change the subject. Fast. “What are you doing downtown?”
“Oh, Pierre lives nearby. I was just grabbing coffee with him.”
“Solo February!” a random woman on the sidewalk shouts nearby. She makes eye contact and raises her fist. I realize then that the audience from the morning show is filtering out into the street, which is quickly getting blanketed in a fresh coat of snow. I get a high five from a middle-aged woman who then glares at Jack as if he’s a maggot wiggling through rotten garbage from a leaky dumpster.
“Thank you for that,” she tells me. “You’ve inspired me.”
Another lady shouts, “Men suck!”
Jack looks at her, uneasy.
“So, have you given any thought to the Golden Chef Awards…” Ack, here it is. Moment of truth. Am I picking Solo February over Jack? But how can I pick Jack with the sidewalk literally filled to the brim with #GoSolo followers?
He rubs the back of his neck. He’s so damn broad and tall that he seems like a man who could chop down pine trees with his bare hands. Just karate-chop those suckers.
“About that…”
Jack’s face falls just a little. He seems to know already what I’m going to say.
A familiar face parts the crowd then.
“Sora? That was so good?” Arial comes bounding up to us on the sidewalk. Where did she come from? She’s wrapped in a geometric scarf and a designer puffy jacket with an asymmetrical collar. “Did you see me? I was in the back corner of the audience? I got in late, so I couldn’t come to the greenroom.”
“Uh, no, I didn’t see you,” I say as she wraps me in a tight hug. I feel white-hot panic run down my spine. I try to telegraph a message to Jack: run. Hide. Jack, however, just looks at me, confused.
“We are going to be even more viral? Is that a thing?” Arial laughs at her own joke. Then she sees Jack for the first time, craning her neck up to take in his impressive shoulders, which have begun to take on snowflakes like a mountain range.
“Uh… Arial, meet Jack. Jack, this is my boss… Arial.”
Jack grins. “Oh, nice to meet you,” he says, offering a massive paw. Arial takes it cautiously, a gleam of understanding and a sharp look of disapproval in her eye as she looks at him and looks at me.
“My? You are good-looking, aren’t you?” she remarks.
“Uh. Only on days I shower?” Jack shrugs a manly shoulder. His self-deprecation makes him sexier.
“How do… uh, you two know each other?” Arial asks.
“We went to elementary school together. We’re just old friends,” I add, quickly, dismissively. Jack shoots me a look. I can’t read it.
“Friends?”
“Yeah. Just friends. I mean, come on, we were in kindergarten together.” I’m more definitive this time, except that I do read the look on Jack’s face. Loud and clear. He’s disappointed. Something more. Hurt.
“Oh, good.” Arial’s relieved. “Come on then, Sora. I thought we could grab coffee? Nice to meet you, Jack!”
Arial pulls me away before I can say a proper goodbye. Jack still looks a little stunned and confused as he turns away from me on the sidewalk and walks away, shoulders slumped in defeat. I want to call after him.
But I don’t.
Seventeen
SORA
I need to date myself, and practice on me, because how else am I ever supposed to get better at dating? And by better, I just mean not being so terrible at it.
