really not that attractive, you know.”
“Right,” I said with a nod. Crazy woman .
When Adam and David made their way to Juan Carlos and me to say goodbye, Juan Carlos stood up, and there was much backslapping. Great. They’re all buddies now.
David beamed down at me. “Good seeing you again, Nicki. You’re gorgeous as ever.”
I had to grin. He was too charming not to respond. “Thanks, David. It was good to see you, too.”
Adam followed up with a pleasant but far more professional, “Good night, Nicki. I suppose I’ll see you on Monday.”
My giddiness over David’s charm faded into a nervous smile for Adam. “Yes. Monday. Good night.”
I stared at them as they walked away. Two tall, well-dressed guys standing out among the crowd of sweaty salsa dancers. I watched a second too long, though—before he got to the door, Adam turned around and caught me. His eyes met mine, and I looked away. Damn it .
As we went home in a cab, Juan Carlos announced, “It’s nice that you’re friends with Adam. He seems like a good guy. Maria Ines seemed to like him.”
“Yeah,” I said, looking out the window at the lights as we sped down Connecticut Ave. Friends . There was that word again. I searched for something emotionally innocuous so I wouldn’t lie but also not raise any red flags. “It was good to see him.”
The night that had started with me dying to get my boyfriend alone so I could pounce on him ended with me dreading my bedroom. With no place in DC yet, Juan Carlos always spent his nights in town with me. Lisa’s apartment had three bedrooms and two baths, so we had ample privacy and could be as loud as we wanted. There I was, though, silently going through the motions of sex with my beloved boyfriend and hardly enjoying the moment. Adam had ruined it for me, or I had ruined it for myself. Both were true.
When it was over, Juan Carlos curled up behind me. Despite the intimacy, my mind was elsewhere. I looked out into the darkness and remembered again the night before Adam had moved back to England. The second part of our conversation came back to me—a promise I’d clung to, though it would’ve been better forgotten. Deep down, I had always admitted I would be mortally crushed if it never came true.
“But what if…what if I was thirty-five and still single? Could I contact you then?” Adam asked.
What he described seemed unimaginable. I couldn’t really comprehend what it would be like to be thirty-five. And the idea that he would ever be single was ridiculous. I said yes. “In the highly unlikely event that was the case, I’d say sure.”
“Really?”
“You’ve got to admit, it’s probably not going to happen.”
He happily kissed my nose. “Maybe, maybe not.”
Of course, life hadn’t worked out that way. We weren’t thirty-five yet, and neither of us was single. Instead, we’d been thrown together sooner than expected—too soon, or maybe too late. Adam might have had a hand in making it happen, but his intentions weren’t clear, not even to him. The situation wasn’t what we’d imagined, and it could end badly. Most of all for me.
The following morning, Juan Carlos and I took a shower together as I tried to rally myself for him. He didn’t seem to notice I was out of sorts. Either he was distracted by the sex or the flight he had to catch to Seattle at noon.
After he caught his cab to Dulles, I went upstairs with my plan to give Lisa the sorry-I-gotta-run-goodbye and then flee to the safety of the office. She wouldn’t hear of it.
“Oh no you don’t,” she said as she blocked the path to my room. “You stay right here. We need to talk.”
“Tonight.”
“No way. I’m dying to know what you and Adam talked about when you were dancing!”
“I’m kind of dying to know also.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was odd.”
She pointed to the living room. “Sit. Tell me what happened, for once, between you and Adam. Word for word.”
“Okay…”
After
“Right,” I said with a nod. Crazy woman .
When Adam and David made their way to Juan Carlos and me to say goodbye, Juan Carlos stood up, and there was much backslapping. Great. They’re all buddies now.
David beamed down at me. “Good seeing you again, Nicki. You’re gorgeous as ever.”
I had to grin. He was too charming not to respond. “Thanks, David. It was good to see you, too.”
Adam followed up with a pleasant but far more professional, “Good night, Nicki. I suppose I’ll see you on Monday.”
My giddiness over David’s charm faded into a nervous smile for Adam. “Yes. Monday. Good night.”
I stared at them as they walked away. Two tall, well-dressed guys standing out among the crowd of sweaty salsa dancers. I watched a second too long, though—before he got to the door, Adam turned around and caught me. His eyes met mine, and I looked away. Damn it .
As we went home in a cab, Juan Carlos announced, “It’s nice that you’re friends with Adam. He seems like a good guy. Maria Ines seemed to like him.”
“Yeah,” I said, looking out the window at the lights as we sped down Connecticut Ave. Friends . There was that word again. I searched for something emotionally innocuous so I wouldn’t lie but also not raise any red flags. “It was good to see him.”
The night that had started with me dying to get my boyfriend alone so I could pounce on him ended with me dreading my bedroom. With no place in DC yet, Juan Carlos always spent his nights in town with me. Lisa’s apartment had three bedrooms and two baths, so we had ample privacy and could be as loud as we wanted. There I was, though, silently going through the motions of sex with my beloved boyfriend and hardly enjoying the moment. Adam had ruined it for me, or I had ruined it for myself. Both were true.
When it was over, Juan Carlos curled up behind me. Despite the intimacy, my mind was elsewhere. I looked out into the darkness and remembered again the night before Adam had moved back to England. The second part of our conversation came back to me—a promise I’d clung to, though it would’ve been better forgotten. Deep down, I had always admitted I would be mortally crushed if it never came true.
“But what if…what if I was thirty-five and still single? Could I contact you then?” Adam asked.
What he described seemed unimaginable. I couldn’t really comprehend what it would be like to be thirty-five. And the idea that he would ever be single was ridiculous. I said yes. “In the highly unlikely event that was the case, I’d say sure.”
“Really?”
“You’ve got to admit, it’s probably not going to happen.”
He happily kissed my nose. “Maybe, maybe not.”
Of course, life hadn’t worked out that way. We weren’t thirty-five yet, and neither of us was single. Instead, we’d been thrown together sooner than expected—too soon, or maybe too late. Adam might have had a hand in making it happen, but his intentions weren’t clear, not even to him. The situation wasn’t what we’d imagined, and it could end badly. Most of all for me.
The following morning, Juan Carlos and I took a shower together as I tried to rally myself for him. He didn’t seem to notice I was out of sorts. Either he was distracted by the sex or the flight he had to catch to Seattle at noon.
After he caught his cab to Dulles, I went upstairs with my plan to give Lisa the sorry-I-gotta-run-goodbye and then flee to the safety of the office. She wouldn’t hear of it.
“Oh no you don’t,” she said as she blocked the path to my room. “You stay right here. We need to talk.”
“Tonight.”
“No way. I’m dying to know what you and Adam talked about when you were dancing!”
“I’m kind of dying to know also.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was odd.”
She pointed to the living room. “Sit. Tell me what happened, for once, between you and Adam. Word for word.”
“Okay…”
After
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