Page 44 of Chaos Theory
‘Yep – he was very eager to get your number.’
‘I think “very eager” is a bit of an exaggeration.’ I laugh and touch my hair, flustered.Wait – is Josh…jealous? ‘Anyway, no, I haven’t heard from him.’
‘Yeah, you’re right – it’s way too soon for him to call. It’s only been a day.’
I scoff at this. ‘As if anyone calls anyone any more. ButI really don’t think that’s why he took my number. I think he just… we just… I just listened, is all.’
He rests his tanned forearms on the wooden counter. How does he have a suntan in October? Must be a trick of the soft lighting.
‘I’m not sure we’re going to get anything more useful from PHI anyway, to be honest. I think we’re better off focusing on the future.’ He smiles at me. ‘The present looks pretty good too.’
I swirl my rum and Coke, and try not to wonder if he means me, or us, or just this bar right now.
A group of musicians are chatting in the corner as they unpack their instruments. Phelan’s must be trying something new.
‘How is Kobi getting along with everyone this week?’ Josh asks, eyeing the musicians over my shoulder.
‘Not bad. In fact, I’m thinking of trying him back in the customer relations department again. You know what they say – if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.’
He laughs. ‘And here I was thinking that was New York City.’
‘Customer service is a much tougher place to survive.’
He clinks my glass with his beer.
‘Sounds good. Maximise his interactions. He needs to be out there in the real world.’
‘I’m flattered you consider Go Ireland to be the real world.’
We both laugh softly. The fiddle player has embarked on a melodious, mid-tempo slip-jig. It seems to be having a hypnotic effect on Josh, and the only reason I know this is because it seems to be having a hypnotic effect on me. The tune undulates. The guitarist joins in but only in a supporting role. Everyone knows the fiddle is the star of an Irish trad session.
‘I really like this place,’ says Josh. ‘I can see why you guys come here.’
‘Everyone likes it,’ I say. ‘It’s good with a group, you can come here for a quiet drink on your own, it’s good for dates.’Why did Isay that?I greedily suck my rum up through the straw, willing it to enter my system rapidly.
He laughs, shakes his head. ‘Well, maybe I should give it a whirl myself sometime. I’ve been on some bad dates lately.’
‘Dating is tough for everyone,’ I agree. ‘Awful, actually.’
‘It’s so hard to meet someone,’ he says. ‘Why is that, do you think?’
‘I don’t know,’ I answer too quickly. ‘Chemistry, or lack of?’
The room seems to be getting warmer. I take off my cardigan, hang it on a hook under the bar. I rotate my glass on the beer mat. A bodhrán player has joined the session – a thrumming heartbeat under the melody, an echoing insistence.
‘And how would you define chemistry?’ So he’s not going to let me off so easily.
‘Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s that…that spark. Hard to define by itself.’ I feel my dating formula bubbling up through my mind, like the bubbles in my glass.Don’t say it,I will myself.
‘But it’s one of the four key elements required to ensure a second and possibly third date.’Oh no.I definitely sound like Kobi right now. I thought I was supposed to be influencinghim, not the other way round.
‘It is? What are the other elements?’
I face the bar so I don’t have to make eye contact. ‘I’ve kind of worked out a formula over the years through my own, um, research. I use the formula to work out whether I should continue seeing someone I’ve just met. It saves a lot of time.’ I’m unsure if this justification makes my confession worse or better.
‘Maximum efficiency – I like it.’
I can hear the smile in his voice, but I refuse to look at him. The musicians have moved onto a reel. It’s faster, spiralling ever upwards.
