Page 49 of The Dating Prohibition
“You sound surprised at that last part.” She kept her eyes on her tumbler.
“I’m not surprised,” he sighed. “I just... It’s been a long time.”
“You said that already.” She took another sip.
Eric returned. “Can I get either of you anything?”
“Yeah, can you make another round for both of us on my tab?” Chase downed his drink, setting his tumbler on the counter heavily.
She stiffened. “That’s not necessary.”
“I know it’s not necessary, but you were gonna have another one anyway, so you might as well have one on me.” He always couldread her well. When they were together, they had all the same interests in sports, in movies, in music. It felt like everythingaligned—the stars included. And nothing could shake her focus on Chase.
But she had her degree and a great job. And when she’d accepted the role in Silicon Valley, Chase had bristled because he couldn’t handle the level of success she’d reached. Her goal had been to have Chase join her, because his job had potentialto go fully remote, but he looked at her achievement through a competitive lens. She stood to make more than twice what he was and he began to feel more and more like they were in two different parts of their lives. He couldn’t be happy for her or supportive of her ambitions—so he slept with a girl who worked at the coffee shop near his job. He hadn’t planned for Kendra to stop by unannounced. Days later, Kendra left for Silicon Valley with a broken heart.
“Thank you.” She slid the pad of her middle finger around the rim of the glass, attempting to tune out her ex.
“You seem like you have a lot on your mind,” Chase interrupted.
“I do,” she sighed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he offered, turning to face her.
He can’t possibly be this dense.“Chase,” she started, slowly turning to meet his eye. “We’re not friends. I’m not going to confide in you. And you don’t getto know all of the inner workings of everything going on with me. You gave up that right.”
He exhaled deeply. “Do you want me to leave you alone?” he asked quietly, his gaze serious.
“It doesn’t really matter. You can sit wherever you want, but I’m really not in a talking mood.” She turned back toward thebar.
“Okay, I understand. I’ll just sit here,” he replied quietly.
She gave a curt nod and returned her attention to her drink. Breathing deeply, she polished off her first glass and set itat the edge of the bar. “Hey, Eric, can you close me out?”
“Sure thing, Kendra.” He brought a small digital terminal and set it in front of her.
Digging into her wallet, she grabbed a credit card andtapped it against the screen until it beeped, accepting her payment. She added gratuity and pushed the terminal back to him.
“Thanks, Eric.” She draped her purse over her shoulder as she stood.
“Wait, you’re not going to finish your drink?” Chase asked.
“I think I’ve had enough,” she called over her shoulder and kept walking.
At home, she kicked off her shoes and poured herself a glass of water. The last thing she wanted was a headache, and she hadto be at the restaurant early the next day.
Her phone pinged.
Ben:Kenny, are you okay?
Kendra frowned at the message
Kendra:Yeah. Why do you ask?
Ben:I saw you at the Maple Leaf. I don’t think you saw me though.
Kendra:You were there? I must have been in my own world.
She searched her memory for others she saw at the bar, but she hadn’t paid attention to her surroundings at all. The lossof the auction still weighed heavily on her mind.
