Page 124 of Champagne Nights

“Interesting. How weird is that?”

“What?” I asked.

“That you ran into her the next day.”

“Yeah. I’d say that’s weird.”

“Are you going back tonight?” David asked as he ate a French fry.

“I don’t know. I was thinking about it.”

“If you’re thinking about it, then you should go. Maybe that girl – what’s her name again?”

“Paisley,” I replied.

“That’s right. Maybe Paisley will be there.”

“Yeah. Maybe she will be.”

When I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was seven fifty-five, I paid my bill and said goodbye to David.

“Have a good week, David. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you next week.”

“Bye, Ben. Enjoy that meeting.” He smiled.

As I pulled into the medical center's parking lot, I saw Paisley’s car. I smiled. She was here, and I was relieved that she showed up. I stepped out of the truck, and on my way into the building, I stopped at her car because I noticed she was still sitting in it. As I lightly tapped on her window, she looked startled.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She rolled down her window. God, was she pretty.

“Hey. I’m fine,” she replied with a strange but cute look on her face.

“Are you going into the meeting?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”

“Well, it’s eight o’clock, and I’m sure they’ve already started,” I said as I looked at my watch.

“I’m surprised you came back,” she said.

I could tell she was nervous. “I’m actually surprised to see you here.”

“Yeah, well, I haven’t made it into the building yet.” She smiled.

“You know what? This group makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Why don’t we skip it and get some coffee? You know, the coffee we were supposed to have last Friday night?”

Paisley

I sat in my car and scraped my top teeth along my bottom lip, contemplating whether or not to have coffee with him. But really, what was the harm? I couldn’t come up with an excuse quickly enough, so I said yes. Ben smiled and asked me where I wanted to go.

“There’s a Starbucks right down the street. We could walk,” I said as I climbed out of my car.

“Starbucks it is, then.” He smiled.

I could already tell this would be one of those awkward moments where neither of us knew what to say next.

“How was surfing last week?” he asked.

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