“Oh? A date? Will asked.
“Yeah. But, I think you should invite Rachel yourself,” he suggested.
“Oh, do you now?” Will countered with a sly tone.
“I do. You two always have fun together, and I’m sure she’ll say yes if you ask her,” Ben prodded, knowing how timid his friend could get.
Will was never the one with the ladies, although they found him attractive. He was shy in college, and had remained that way into adulthood. Ben knew that if he helped him take the leap to ask Rachel out there could be something between the two, so he waited in silence, forcing Will to respond.
“Well, I know she has a lot to do,” Will began, with his list of response to avoid asking Rachel to his charity event.
Acting quickly, Ben rose from his seat, moving around his desk to find Rachel outside his office, typing away at the keyboard on her computer. It was perfect timing, she could take the call and Will could ask the question.
“No, she’s free right now. Here she goes,” Ben interjected to Will before handing his cordless office phone to Rachel.
“Hello?” She answered with skepticism as Ben backed up into his office.
“Oh, Will? Hi,” she smiled shyly.
Ben watched with a smile as Rachel moved around her desk nervously, carefully listening to Will on the other end of the phone. She nodded, and pushed her hair behind her ears as she waited for her turn to speak.
“That sounds awesome. I’d love to,” she finally smiled, nodding quickly.
“Sounds great. I’ll do that. Thanks, Will,” she said before ending the call.
Turning to face Ben, she was beaming with excitement as she stood from her desk, barging into his office. Ben couldn’t contain his laughter, bellowing loudly as he watched her storm towards the dry bar, pouring a short glass of whiskey for both herself and Ben.
“Really? I know you set that up!” She accused him directly as she shoved the glass tumbler in his direction. Ben laughed, accepting the glass.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about. But it seems like you have a date,” he smiled, taking a sip of his liquor.
“That’s funny, because I heard the same about you,” she shot back with a curious eyebrow. They each sipped their drink once before sharing the details.
“I want to take Katherine out to the charity event,” Ben told Rachel.
“Of course you do. How grand of a gesture are you going to make?” she asked, knowing how his mind worked.
“What does that mean?” He asked, feigning complete ignorance.
“You always have to go above and beyond. I’m curious as to how you’ll do that,” she explained.
Ben had already been brainstorming ways to shock Katherine. He wanted to make the evening special, and wondered what she would need to make that true. When he learned it was a black-tie event, he thought for sure she would need to go shopping.
If there was one thing he knew about women, it was that they all enjoyed getting dolled up and going shopping. A new gown, or shopping spree, would be the perfect way to make things special with Katherine. He just needed to find out the best way to ask her.
“Enough about me. What’s going on with you and Will?” He asked, again pretending to know less than he did.
“I think he just wants to go as friends,” Rachel immediately tried to downplay the invitation, always doubting her appeal.
For as long as they had known each other, Rachel always thought less of herself than Ben did, but he fought to show her how amazing she was. Will was going to be the perfect guy to show her how special she was, and Ben looked forward to his friends spending an evening together.
“I think he likes you a little more than as a friend,” Ben corrected her, watching as she shook her head shyly.
“I imagine you’ll be doing a little gown shopping,” Ben guessed, watching Rachel light up again at the thought of getting dressed in the finest fabrics for a night on the town.
“I’ve already been thinking of where I’m going shopping,” she whispered, deviously.
“I want to surprise Katherine with a nice incentive to go to the event,” he explained, and Rachel smiled, realizing how well she knew her best friend.