“I feel safe with you, you know. You have such a strong and steadying vibe. I can see why you were the captain of England.”
“Ah, see now you’re just flattering my ego. But thanks.”
“Nell’s right. You do have hero vibes.”
I laughed, enjoying Rona’s frankness.
Rona took a deep breath, looking towards the dancefloor. Her profile was delicate and fitted her perfectly. She had that creative person look, like she was always on the edge of some big insight.
“So, beautiful and talented musical genius, what else would you do that you find new or challenging? Getting drunk aside. You didn’t answer me earlier.”
Rona held my eyes and in my hazy state, I think it went on for the longest time. Her eyes were the deepest blue and it was like falling into the sea, looking at them.
“I would ask a woman out on a date.”
“Would that be new or a challenge?”
“Both.”
“You’ve never done it before?”
Rona shook her head. “I’ve always been asked out, or something has grown from friendship.”
“I think that’s pretty normal.”
“Have you? Ever asked a woman out?”
“Oh yes. Many times.”
“You sound confident about it.”
“I think you’ve got to be.”
“See, I’ve always been too afraid of rejection. It would kill me.”
“Nah, you’d be fine. Risking rejection is all part of the fun. If you don’t ask, you don’t get, right?”
“I like the way you think.” Rona smiled.
I loved making her smile. “You could ask me. Pretend I’m some hot girl you’ve been making eyes with across the club. What would you do?” Such a simple suggestion that flowed out of my mouth but the implications of it were way bigger than I made it sound. At least to me, anyway.
“Yes, but you wouldn’t reject me because you know it’s just a game.”
“I might,” I said, trying to make it sound like a joke.
Rona gave me a curious look I couldn’t place. “Will it count as me doing something for our little game?”
“Nope. I’ll still want to see you do it for real to someone. It’s the only way to get better at it.” I said all this but my nerve was faltering. I liked Rona, and I wished she would hit on me for real or give me a clear and undeniable sign that she was as into me as I was increasingly becoming into her.
“Damn, I thought you might say that.”
“So, will you chat me up?”
Rona nodded in agreement, biting her bottom lip. Her pupils were very dilated.
“Wow, this is my lucky day.” I could not help but flirt with her. It was too natural, this dynamic between us.
“I didn’t know you were into role play,” Rona said, confidently, her voice dropping slightly lower.
