Page 22 of Stand By Me

His future self would probably be thankful for his restraint tomorrow.

* * *

Oh, yeah, Mario was definitely thankful the next morning. While he hadn't drunk too much, he tended to be overly emotional after a few drinks and it could have ended really badly last night.

Now, though, caffeinated and alert, he stared at his phone, trying to decide what to send.

It took him the entire train ride and walk to the museum to finally settle on:

I do want to. Your schedule is probably trickier than mine, so let me know when you're available and we'll figure something out.

He added a smiley face—because why not—and hit sent before walking into the building and seeing Carina already there behind the front desk.

"Hey, you." He leaned over the counter, but whatever she was going to say got interrupted with a text alert.

Great! Any time after six this week is fine with me.

Mario couldn't contain his grin, which apparently told Carina everything she needed to know.

"Having a hot date in your future, perhaps?" she teased, but there was a genuine smile on her face, too. She could be blunt and overly rational, but Mario never doubted she wished him well.

When he showed her the last text, she nodded in approval.

"Nice, he's making himself available to you."

"Right?" Mario was honestly surprised that Clay had no plans at all for the whole week, but he wasn't going to complain, especially if it got him that date he was hoping for.

Besides, it wasn't like he had that much planned, either.

"Okay, we have that seminar after work today that I want to attend, so I'm going to suggest drinks tomorrow at Jackie's," he decided, already typing before he even finished the sentence.

The reply came right away again.

I'll be there. :)

Carina's grin probably mirrored his own.

"Somebody's got a date," she sing-songed, then picked up her phone. "I'm texting Andie, be prepared for a volcano eruption of excitement."

Mario chuckled. "I'll be right there with her, so it's fine."

"Don't come to our group chat until you two get your exclamation points and heart-eye emojis out of the way."

He pretended to pout. "So, never?"

She rolled her eyes. "Go and be ridiculously happy somewhere else, please. You're messing with my vibe."

"Love you, too." He glanced at the time and straightened up. "I'm going, I'm going."

He grinned all the way to his office.

* * *

Mario paused and glanced up at the neon sign above the entrance to Jackie's. He usually didn't suggest this place for any of his dates, not wanting to spoil the place for himself if—when—it inevitably went badly, but for some reason, it felt right this time.

Hopefully he wasn't going to be forced to find another bar for his Monday outings with Andie and Carina.

He went in, noting that the place was less crowded than he was used to—probably because of the Monday's happy hour—which meant they shouldn't have a problem grabbing a table for themselves tonight. He walked up to the bar, ordered a beer, and turned to watch the room, only to spot his date in a booth further back.

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