Page 27 of Atlas
“Oh, okay.”
“All right. So, that makes eight of us Dallas fans and seven Broncos fans,” Karen summed up. “Michael, you’re the only one undecided.”
“Well, that makes it an easy choice, then?” Michael clapped his hands together. “I’ll even out the balance and go with team Broncos.”
“Yay.” Jolene leaned forward and gave him a fistbump. “Best choice you could make. We are the funniest and nicest fans you could ever know.”
Jolene and the others kept joking around while a flight hostess served us drinks and snacks. It hit me that the dynamic between Jolene and me was different from the women I’d brought along to events in the past. Typically, they would hang on my arm all night. I always tried to be thoughtful and include my dates in my conversations so they wouldn’t feel bored or left out, but right now, it was Jolene who was bringing me in by asking me questions and making sure I took part in the lively conversation. I should have known that with her background, she could talk to anyone, but the truth was that it was more than that. If not for Jolene, this would have most likely been a plane ride with nothing but boring business talk.
The stadium had a capacity of more than sixty thousand people, and when we got there twenty minutes before game start, the whole arena was boiling with anticipation and excitement.
“Whoa, look at this.” Jolene spread out her hands as we entered the VIP sky suite. There were twenty-four seats in two rows, and behind the seating was a comfortable lounge area with food and drinks for us.
“Can I get you something to drink?” I offered.
Her eyes were large, and her mouth slightly open as she walked down to the edge of the suite and took in the audience all around us.
“Jolene, did you want something to drink?” I asked again.
She finally turned around. “No more champagne, please. My head is bubbly from the two glasses I had on the plane. Do they have beer?”
“Yes.”
A server in the room had overheard us and smiled at me. “Two beers, sir?”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
Some of our VIP’s had flown in from other cities and were already here. When I brought Jolene her beer, she was talking with two executives from General Motors.
“Where do you want to sit?” I asked her and motioned to the seats that were filling up.
“Jolene, over here. We’ve saved you a seat.” Karen was waving her hand, and Jeff smiled.
“You make friends quickly,” I muttered under my breath, but Jolene was already walking toward Karen and Jeff with a careless grin on her face.
“I was worried you might not want to sit with a Broncos fan.”
I stood in astonishment once again, feeling like I was the outsider, and she was the popular kid at school.
“That’s some woman you brought.” An appreciative glance in Jolene’s direction followed John White's comment. “We should hire her in sales. She’s got them eating out of her hand.”
“I have to say that I’m a little surprised myself.”
Patting my shoulder, John leaned in. “I like her.”
My eyebrows drew in, not sure how to interpret that. John was married, but he wasn’t very good at hiding his extramarital affairs, and I didn’t appreciate his looking at Jolene that way. She had been through a lot back in California, and she was here to enjoy a fun day, not be hit on by our sleazy CEO.
“Tell me, Atlas, are you dating her?”
“No” was right there on my tongue, but I hesitated. If John thought I was dating Jolene, he would leave her alone.
“Well, are you?” He looked over at her again. “She’s not your usual type, but I can see the appeal. She’s cute with an innocence to her, isn’t she?”
“It’s our first date,” I lied.
“Oh, okay. I didn’t pick up on that energy between you.” Patting my shoulder again, he muttered, “You’d better get over there and woo her. You don’t want to end up in the friend zone.”
Taking a sip of my beer, I was about to walk over to join Jolene and the others, but then another business partner came to greet me, and I ended up in a conversation about his company taking part in one of our research projects. I could tell from the noise of the audience that the game had kicked off, but it took me ten long minutes to end the conversation and move to Jolene and the others. At least she had placed her bag on the seat next to her and reserved it for me.
