Executive Engagement

But I could see myself falling in love with him.

He was too cocky. Too sure of himself. Too confident that he could spin me up, make me laugh, and then leave me hanging.

A moment with him would leave me forgetting everything going on in my head. All the problems of the world would become silly little annoyances.

Just like the first time I met him.

I remember telling my friend, let’s call her Lana, that I couldn’t stand him.

“Oh my God,” she said after a particularly long rant. “You so love him.”

“I do not!” I protested.

“You want to have like all his babies!” she pushed back, making a face as I stuck my tongue out at her.

We were sitting in a coffee shop in San Francisco. The morning commuter rush of people walked by us on Market Street and they watched us with raised eyebrows.

And then my phone vibrated.

It was WineBar.

He told me he wanted to have dinner with me.

Didn’t ask.

Just told me what he wanted.

And my heart froze.

Because I said yes, but all I could think was the following:

“This is the cockiest guy I’ve ever met in my life.”

Laura

The beat vibrating through the dance floor pulses through me as I move along to the rhythm. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt a need to let loose, but tonight is an exception.

Being broken up with over a text message isn’t only impersonal, it’s cowardice. Like, he didn’t even have the nerve to approach me in person and explain how over the course of the last two years, he somehow developed some level of disdain for me.

Nope. He just hid it.

The whole time.

And when I just seek understanding on all of it, he shuts me down and says I’m just a nagging bitch.

I feel like I’m in high school again. If you hate me, fine. So be it.

But at least have the audacity to be honest about it, and more importantly, have some reasoning to back yourself up.

I walk back to our table. As I push my sweat-dripped hair back, I see Jeremy just standing with his back against the mirror-lined wall. He’s a great friend for coming out with me and trying to get my mind off of the jerk that left me without any reasoning.

It’s not healthy to sit and question why over and over. So instead, tonight, we drink, laugh, dance, and goof off like we did years ago when we first became friends.

As I approach the table, I let out a heavy sigh.

Dancing now is a lot more exhausting than it was in college. I think when you get out into the real world, it takes a big toll on your ability to shake your ass for hours on end.

“Are you having a good time?” I ask Jeremy, who has just been a wallflower since he got a beer from the bar. So not like him.