Page 44 of Somebody To Love

I made a noncommittal noise, thanked her for her time and hung up.

Great, I’m going on another date. Woohoo, I said to myself. Becca was right. I was cranky and clearly I didn’t know what I wanted. Actually, I did know what… or rather, who, I wanted. He just didn’t want me.

The night of my date, I pulled my hair into a tight bun and put on a black silk jumpsuit and dangly earrings. I added dark red lipstick and a little eyeliner and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked beautiful, but kind of unapproachable. Good, I thought to myself. That’s exactly the look I was aiming for. I was feeling pretty crappy about myself, but I wasn’t going to let my inner turmoil be reflected on the outside. I still needed to look hot, no matter how messed up I felt on the inside.

I got in my car and gingerly made my way downtown. I wasn’t looking forward to my date, so I took my time getting there. Truth be told, I wasn’t excited at all. I had been tempted to call Sylvia and cancel, but part of me knew the best way to get over one guy was to date another. I knew I couldn’t just sit in the house and mope. I was a grown woman, not a 15 year old.

As I neared the exit to downtown, I glanced at my GPS wondering which exit led to the museum. That’s where my date had decided he wanted to meet. At least my date was classy, I thought to myself, trying to have a better attitude about the situation. Ty still hadn’t called. I was determined to just not think about him, but I did whenever I let my guard down. I had thrown myself into work and had even started looking into maybe bringing on another partner to do the sales and marketing side of the business. But no matter how much I tried to focus on other things, I just couldn’t get Ty out of my head. It infuriated me.

But I was determined to have a good time, Ty be damned. Feeling fancy, I tossed my keys to the valet in front of the museum and hoped that I wouldn’t regret that decision later when I had to pay the bill. Sylvia had explained to me that the museum was having a special exhibit so many high-rollers would be attending. That definitely explained why the museum had hired a valet service. And to my surprise, as I walked in, there was an orchestra playing in the lobby and men in tuxedos were serving glasses of champagne.

I was supposed to meet my date in the modern art section of the museum, but I had never visited the museum before, so I didn’t know where I was going as I wandered directionless from room to room, unimpressed. I wasn’t a huge fan of art. I knew that made me seem uncultured, but I would rather hang out at the science museum and stare at dinosaur bones than look at paintings of nude women with funny looking babies. Not that I was about to tell my date that.

The event was going really well if you considered how big the crowd was. For the most part, everyone was happily chatting with each other while admiring the art around us. I was clearly the only one not enjoying myself. I looked left, then right, searching for a sign or something that would direct me to the modern art section but I didn’t find one. Shrugging to myself, I just continued to walk around figuring that I couldn’t miss a section of the museum that was bound to have a bunch of canvases with paint splattered randomly on them.

A smartly-dressed waiter spotted me and made a beeline in my direction. He insisted that I take a glass. “Compliments of the museum,” he said when I opened my mouth to refuse. I quickly found myself with champagne in my hand. My date wasn’t here yet, I thought with a shrug as I took a sip. I was not in a good mood, so that was probably for the best. I was still pissed at Ty. And my thoughts were totally not on my prospective date.

“Fancy meeting you here,” came a voice from behind me. My heart quickened and I turned slowly in its direction.

Ty stood there wearing a suit that made him look powerful and seductive. I couldn’t believe he was so good looking and that I had slept with him. I had really hit the jackpot and then I remembered that he hadn’t bothered to call me since the evening we’d spent together.

But I didn’t want him to know that his silence had really hurt my feelings. I didn’t want him to know that he had the power to hurt me at all.

I tried to keep my voice neutral as I said, “Good evening, Tyrus. How are you?”

“Tyrus? That’s a little formal.” I said nothing more, so he continued on with a strangely teasing tone, “So are you here waiting for your date or something?”

How did he know I was seeing other people? I guess it was the most reasonable guess. I felt vindicated. At least he wouldn’t think I was stuck on him.

I decided to play it cool. “That’s none of your business.”

“Ouch. You’re awfully testy this evening.”

He reached for my hand and I pulled away. So much for playing it cool. That wasn’t going to happen. I was still too angry.

“What are you doing here, Ty?”

He placed his hands in his pocket and studied me, as if trying to figure out what I was thinking.

“Trying to have a nice time with a beautiful woman.”

“Really?”

“I understand that you’re angry, but I have a perfectly good explanation—”

Explanation? I wanted more than that. I was ready to tell him off but I kept my anger in check. “If you excuse me, I have a date tonight.”

He seemed unperturbed by what I said. So, I guess he wasn’t the jealous type.

“Date? I don’t see a date.”

I bit my lip in frustration. Where was my date? “He’ll be here soon. Enjoy your evening.”

“Piper,” he started, but I turned to walk away and was relieved when he didn’t follow me. I had a date to get to; although, it was beginning to look like I had been stood up. Sylvia hadn’t had a chance to send me a photo of my date and I didn’t even know his name. She had just told me that he would find me and identify himself as being part of the agency.

I rounded a corner and stopped dead in my tracks, Jean-Bernard sat less than five feet away from me, talking to someone. I knew at any moment he was going to turn around and see me standing there.

I counted down, “One... two... three…” He glanced in my direction and did a double take. He smiled at me, looking surprised yet delighted to see me. He excused himself then and made his way toward me.