Like, saving her job is probably a good thing. Dr. Sexy is, well, sexy, but if he is turning the place into a fidget spinner store then he might not let any of us keep our jobs.
“Yeah, they pulled it out in the end.” Dana groans. “My mouth’s still sore.”
“Ah,” I say. “That’s why your voice sounds like that.”
I realize that her voice sounds muffled from the procedure, and I am too busy thinking about the mess that today has been and trying to decide which one of my plain boring dresses to wear tonight that I didn’t even think about why she sounded like she was snacking on cotton balls.
“Really? You can tell?” Dana laughs. I guess all is forgiven.
Major bullet dodged.
“Sorry,” I say, giving her a half-hearted smile, even though she can’t hear it over the phone. She may forgive me, but it isn’t just my job I need to improve or save for the bookstore. I know tonight has to go perfectly “Just a bit.”
She laughs. “Great. You should see me! Then you’ll know that something was wrong.”
I reassure her. “Hey, don’t worry about tomorrow. I’ll be there on time.”
“Sure thing. What time is that Eric guy picking you up?”
“He’s not.” I giggle. “His driver’s picking me up at six.”
“Wow, a driver!” She pauses. “I have to admit that I was a bit jealous earlier. The two of you were standing and talking as if you were the only ones in the bookstore. The world, maybe, the way the sexual tension was rolling off of you two. Earlier when I was there he was just generally talking to me one professional to another. Then you bust in and he’s all flirting and despite saying before you showed up that he was about to leave...well, he didn’t seem to be in much of a rush once you two started talking.”
“Oh gosh,” I say. I feel my cheeks heating up. I don’t know if I would have noticed anyone else in the world then because I was too busy trying to stop myself from being blown away by him. But I had a feeling that I didn’t do a good job because he had me from hello, blushing, flirting, and trading jabs.
“Yeah. And to make matters worse, you were like ‘oh Mr. Billionaire, my name’s Elia.’”
I chuckle. “I’m not good at hiding my feelings.”
She gets really loud, laughing at me. “No, you’re not. But forget that. Tell me the interesting parts. What are you going to wear tonight?”
I sigh as my eyes dart over my bed one more time, as if I expect the four dresses on top of it to miraculously change.
“Nothing, at this rate. I just don’t have the right dresses to wear to go out with someone like him. There’s nothing in my closet that’s even close.” I slump on the bed thinking that maybe the best thing to do would be to just wear the dress that I wore today. That is kinda what Eric is expecting after he was going to have his driver pick me up at the store. But that feels so blah.
“Hey, you sound down. Don’t be like that. What about your sexy red number? The one you wore to the cocktail bar last week for Gail’s birthday. Remember?”
“Shoot!” I’d forgotten all about that dress. I feel as if there’s finally some headway being made in these preparations that I skipped the rest of work for, and maybe, just maybe, this hasn’t all been in vain.
“I forgot all about that dress, you’re a genius, Dana. I could kiss you right now.”
She laughs and then groans. “This conversation’s hurting my mouth. You can kiss me later. But right now, I really have to go. Make sure that you enjoy your date.”
Holy crap! I look at the time and it’s getting close to five. I’ve been at home for what felt like five minutes, but it must have been a lot longer.
“I need to go too. Or I’ll be late.”
“You gotta kick that habit, girl!” Dana says, and she doesn’t sound serious, so I know she’s still in friend mode and not boss mode. “Just make sure that you’re on time Elia. I don’t think that he liked it when you were late today.” Of course, friend mode can still come with its own lectures.
“I know that already,” I say with a sigh but I’m not taking it too harshly. “He went on about it, at least five times after you left.” I scrunch up my nose, but thinking about how he teased me actually gets me thinking about how damn charming Eric was.
“Oh, he was probably just teasing you to flirt with you. Sounds like he probably got a rise out of you,” Dana says, clearly amused by the sing-songy way she says that. “So, you have fun. I want to know all the juicy details.”
She hangs up before I correct her and tell her that there won’t be any juicy details.
I find the red dress at the back of my closet, a long and flowing one that the girls at the bookstore got me as a Christmas present. They said that I needed something nice. Even they’re aware that I’m just a lonely virgin that never goes out.
Well, tonight, when I meet Eric in my red dress, I wonder if I’ll look every bit as broke as I am. Or if I can’t pull of the level of sexy that I’m looking for...just because I don’t really date.