Page 66 of Lovebug
“More what?”
“Nothing.” He takes a deep breath and smiles. “Nice work, baby.”
“Thank you.” I beam at him, despite feeling insanely guilty on the inside.
At what point should I be telling him that I kissed that odd man who just entered the living room? Now? Never?
Never sounds ideal of course, but I can’t do that. That’s not who I am. Mabel McGonigle does not keep secrets, and she does not tell lies. Even lies by omission. She does not usually reference herself in the third person either, but clearly, she’s going through a strange time right now.
“You okay?” Bert asks, searching out my eyes. “Where’d you go just now?”
“Nowhere. I am right here with you, Bert Alert.” I shake off the guilt and flutter my eyelashes up at him.
“You have something in your eye?” he asks.
“No. Why?”
“They just went all spastic.”
“I’m fine.” Guess I’m not a natural eyelash flutterer. “I, uh… I packed a bag. Are we still on for tonight?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Of course. It’s Monday, isn’t it?” he says with a smile.
It was also Monday last week, but that didn’t seem to make a difference to him. I don’t say that, though.
“Great,” I chirp. “Can’t wait.”
He peeks over his shoulder at a few guests making their way into the main room, sipping their vitamin bug juice.
“Mom has me leading the first product demo, so I have to go prep.”
“Okay. You’ll do great.”
“I know,” he says, giving me a quick peck on the lips, then returning to the living room around the corner.
I stand alone in their fancy foyer for a moment, close my eyes, and take a deep breath.
Wow, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.
I hear the plinky plunky intro music Doreen uses for product demonstrations start to play, so I slowly make my way toward the spacious living room—which, now that I think about it, is not designed for actual living. It’s designed for event-ing. Rows and rows of chairs for prospective members fill the space, the whole perimeter of the room packed with tables full of products.
I scan the room and instantly lock eyes with my one and only prospective team member. He points at the chair next to him.
I make my way over to his row.
“Saved you a seat,” he says.
I speak quietly. “Hi. Thank you. But that wasn’t necessary. I’ll sit with my…” I look toward the front of the room but see no seats available with Bert and Doreen. “Team.”
Wally smiles and rubs his palm in a circle on the empty chair next to him. I silently slide into it.
“Splooge!” he says after a moment, jerking his thumb in the direction of the woman sitting on his other side.
“Excuse me?” I ask.
“Dawn. She’s the head yoga instructor at Splooge.”
“Oh, yes. So I hear!” I lean forward and smile. “Hi, Dawn. Nice to see you again. Glad you could be with us tonight.”
