Page 2 of Ghost of Ex-mas Past
She says it sincerely, but I snort inside my head. Last year, they—Nash, Clara, and her immediate family—spent the holidays in the Alps at a gorgeous chalet. This year, they’re going to Finland to watch the northern lights and visit Santa Claus Village. Nash is surprising Clara with a food tour where they’ll learn how the native peoples survived winters and preserved food. Since the family includes Clara’s niblings, which are all under the age of seven, it seems like there’s something for everyone.
Here isn’t nearly on the same level of these globe-trotters’ Christmas plans, but it is a hell of a step up from Pithole, PA, where my family used to spend the holidays.
I’ll take it.
Clara changes the subject. “How was your date the other night?”
“Oh my god, amazing. Thank you so much for recommending that tapas place. I ordered the croquettes and they were To. Die. For. I’m serious,” I insist when she laughs. “The server had to perform CPR; it was a whole scene.”
“I meant theman.”
“Oh.” I wave my hand to indicate that the man I had a date with isn’t even worth discussing.
There’s an epidemic of shitty dates occurring across bars, restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, diners, and yes, even the occasional hot dog stand, all the time in this city. My bad dates are nothing special.
Though this one was, in fact, pretty damn bad. I don’t tell guys I’m an EA super often on the first date, but this one, a finance bro who lives in Tribeca, continued to ask me about work. The disdain on his face when I said “assistant” should have had me end the date there.
Alas, my Hallmark-fueled romantic heart valiantly tried to avoid flatlining before dessert, but after Raj picked up the check and told me we were going to my place (presumably for sex), it gave up the ghost. Sadly, it was also not the first time a date has assumed he gets to have sex with me after one date.
RIP my love life. Time of death, 8:45 p.m.
That was my twelfth date in a row where I didn’t like the guy enough to even kiss him. Granted, I work too much to go out on many dates, so the last time I had a man-induced orgasm was seven months ago when I swiped right and had a one-night stand while in London for meetings.
Honestly, city men just suck. There’s something about the concrete jungle, smog, and incessant press of people that makes them careless. As much as I enjoy my job, there’s nothing else holding me to New York.
I know how amazing love can be. I fell in love once and got left behind for a big city and all its opportunities and wealth. Furthermore—I want a family. I’m twenty-eight now, which I know is still young, but when you do the math...a year to date, a year to plan the wedding, a year of married bliss, then three to four kids over eight or ten years...
I feel old just thinking about it. And two of my sisters are in committed relationships. My kids should have cousins their own age to play with. The clock is ticking, people!
That’s why I’m going to keep my options open when I get to Here. There’s a flannel-clad, outdoorsy small-town man in my future. I can feel it.
There’s a ding and then an echo of a ding across the room when two phones go off with calendar notifications—mine and Nash’s—and it’s time for us to go to the conference room for a meeting. I check my makeup and hair—flawless and smooth. Clara waves us off, insisting she’ll take care of the trash and tidy up, so Nash and I grab our things and go.
On the walk, I check my personal phone again. The most recent email is from my mom, and it says,Bea, are you okay with that?
I’m not sure what they’ve settled on, but I’ll catch up on the email thread later. I’m sure whatever they decide is fine.
Yup, totally fine, Mom. See you soon.
We step into the conference room and have our meeting with the advertising team. I sit next to Nash and take notes on what he needs to accomplish until I hear a familiar name.
“Wait, what did you just say?” I ask Miles, the lead.
“Uh, how far back do you want me to go?”
“The bit about Rivrse.”
“Rivrse does sensors for virtual reality technology. Their product is currently being used in the ImmUniverse headsets.” Miles turns back to Nash. “We’ve noticed that ImmUniverse is now targeting ads on our platform based on customer data they shouldn’t have access to, and we think it’s coming from the Rivrse sensors. A few employees are testing out their VR headsets and looking for some data points, but it’ll take a while to figure out what’s actually happening. We probably need to call in legal to figure out if what ImmUniverse is doing is against our policies.” He grimaces.
Nash’s gaze meets mine, and he raises an eyebrow, probably wondering what my sudden interest in VR headsets is about.
My brain is still catching up and trying to reconcile what I know about Rivrse—which is, actually, not much. But I do know a lot about the CEO of Rivrse...he’s my ex.
2
Charlie
With every stepI take away from the meeting I just left, I give more and more serious thought to screamingFUCKout loud.
