Page 31 of Electric Blue Love
“When are your interviews?”
With a sheepish grin she looked up at me through dark lashes. “Tomorrow.”
“You’re out drinking the night before your interviews?” I couldn’t believe it. Everything I thought I knew about this woman had just been decimated by the thought of her irresponsibility at something so big. It also made me more pissed at Todd who no doubt was the sudden cause of her wavering personality. Her outfit gave her away.
“What happened to the ‘You need to have a little fun’ crap you were spouting at me a few weeks ago?” she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I stand by that statement, but there’s a time and a place. The night before interviews for your first real job isn’t the time.”
“And the place?” she’d uncrossed her arms and looked around at the busy bar. The place didn’t look half bad. It wasn’t my cup of tea per se, but I saw the appeal to college kids – cheap beer and free entertainment a hop skip and a jump from campus.
“The place is just fine. You come here a lot?”
“No, not really.”
“So why tonight?”
She looked down and my interest piqued.
“Todd.”
“You were hoping to see him, or…”
“He asked me to come. Said he and his friends were gonna be here, but I don’t think they’re here yet.”
“Maybe he called or sent a text – wanna check your phone?”
“I, uh, have been.” She slid her small purse across the table revealing her cell phone laying on the top, screen up. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. It wasn’t like she was my girlfriend. So, what if she’d been keeping an eye on her cell during our conversation? I knew it shouldn’t rankle me, but it did. It cheapened our time together somehow. And then again, every conversation we’d ever had revolved around Todd in some way.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my emotions pinballing all over the fucking place. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” she responded immediately.
“What is it about this guy that you’re willing to do all this to get his attention. There are lots of guys out there. Why this one?”
She blushed, and I wondered how much of the truth she’d tell me. I had my guesses, based off everything I knew about the guy, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it was about this guy that had her so hell bent on getting his attention. Shit, the lengths she’d gone to would make a normal guy feel like king of the world, and from where I was sitting, fucking Todd seemed like he was taking it, takingher, for granted.
“Have you ever had a conversation with someone and it just changed everything?”
A strangled sort of sound left my lips in acknowledgment. Her sitting across from me was proof of that.
“My conversations with him were like that early on. We talked about real things. Things that matter. It’s easy to get caught up in the bubble that is this place.” She waved her arms around. “The only thing people here are concerned about are parties and sleeping around. But with him, it was never like that. He asked the questions others never bothered to and so I’ve shown him a part of me that feels like so much more. Does any of that make any sense?”
“Yeah.” I nodded and felt like a total ass. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
I knew she hadn’t meant to call me out as someone who couldn’t be troubled to go beyond the surface, but it’s exactly what I’d done. It had never bothered me to be that kind of person until now.
The karaoke DJ caught my attention as he announced the next singer and I was thankful for the distraction. “Ah, here we go. It’s show time.”
“What?” she asked, a look of panic before she whipped her head to the man walking toward the karaoke mic.
I shot Perry a wicked smile and tipped my beer to him. He shook his head like he was upset with me, but he didn’t hesitate to grab the mic and start belting out Weezer’sSay it Aint So.
“I don’t understand. I thought you were writing our names down.”
“Are you kidding me? I can’t carry a tune. My buddy Perry though, this song was his specialty back in New York at a little dive bar we frequented throughout college.”
“And you’re both in town for the career fair?”
