Page 52 of The Holy Grail
“So, tell me everything,” Paige demanded. “And I mean everything … to include even the smallest details of the sweaty, needy, mind-blowing sex.”
“I would, but we actually haven’t had sex, yet.”
“What?” Paige’s eyes widened in stunned disbelief as she processed Jules’ claim. “I don’t believe you.”
“We haven’t. I swear.” For a moment, Jules was tempted to tell her friend about the oral sex, but at the last second, decided against it, wanting what had happened with Malcom to be only hers for a little while longer. She could understand why Paige had been reticent in the past and actually felt a little bad for always hounding her friend.
“How many dates have you been on?”
“Two.”
“So, what have you two been doing? Hanging out at the malt shop?”
At the obvious reference to when Jules had given Paige shit about ‘dating’ David and what their dates might look like, Jules hid a smile. “Actually, we hang out in his kitchen a lot.”
“You do? Why?”
“It’s his favorite room in his house.”
“That’s rather … strange.”
“Well, he loves to cook, and he’s cooked for me on our dates, so ... we hang out in his kitchen.”
Paige was now looking even more surprised. “He cooks?”
Jules nodded. “Really good stuff, too. Like, even his salads are amazing.”
“Wait. He got you to eat a salad?”
“Salads, plural, since he apparently serves them with every meal. At first, I was just being polite, but they really are good.”
Paige pursed her lips for a moment. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?” she suggested. “I think that would be good.”
Jules explained how she’d kept his card and looked at it often, but hadn’t called to get a reference from Malcom’s mother until after Jules had the epiphany about men and why none of them worked out. She then filled Paige in on the nice chat with Beverly, the voicemail apology to Malcom, the parental advice to send him flowers, then the ambush at lunch which culminated in the date where he mostly stood Jules up. When she was done, she was actually starting to fidget under Paige’s intense stare.
“You’re thinking I’m an asshole, aren’t you?” Jules asked.
“No, I’m thinking you seem different.”
“Different, how?”
“Humbled,” Paige clarified. “For the first time in your life you had to work for a man.”
“I did, but in terms of effort, it wasn’t necessarily that impressive.”
“True, but for you, itwasimpressive. And I’m proud of you for taking a chance with that dinner invitation, despite knowing you could be setting yourself up for failure.”
“That was a little rough,” Jules admitted. “And that’s part of the reason why I didn’t tell you what I was doing until now. I felt pretty awful about ghosting him for so long, and I didn’t know if it was even going to go anywhere, to be honest—and if it didn’t go anywhere, then I really didn’t want you to know. But he and I have seen each other a few times, so I figured I’d come clean, even though I still don’t know if it’s going anywhere.”
“No one knows if it’s going anywhere until it does.”
Jules gave Paige a bland look. “That’s really … dumb.”
“Well, it’s true. So, is he as nice as he seemed?”
“Yes.”
“Do you like him?”
