Today, however, Valentine’s Day had rolled around, which this year meant girl’s night in for me. This morning all of our coworkers with boyfriends (or husbands) had showed up at work wearing cute outfits, ready to go out to a romantic dinner as soon as the workday ended. The whole office seemed to be in a celebratory mode. One woman had brought in homemade heart-shaped cookies decorated with red and white sprinkles, and another lady had arrived with a dozen pink-glazed donuts, so that soon even the office kitchen was spreading Valentine’s cheer. Everyone walking by the door to our office seemed to be in shades of red and pink, and Marissa and I tried not to roll our eyes.
“Remember Valentine’s Day last year?” Marissa asked. “I had flowers, a hot date, a nice candlelit dinner…and this year I get to hang out at your apartment.”
“Maybe it’s karma,” I teased. “Did you do anything awful during the past twelve months?”
“Of course not,” Marissa muttered. “Anyhow, the day’s not over yet. Maybe I’ll get a valentine from a secret admirer—someone who is totally gorgeous, of course.”
“Of course, maybe I will, too,” I said, laughing.
Even last year when I was in a relationship, my ex and I didn’t go all out for Valentine’s Day. I did remember wearing a cute dress, but we hadn’t gone anywhere fancy, just met at his place after work. We spent the evening enjoying a bottle of red wine, frozen lasagna that we’d popped in the oven, and pink Valentine’s Day cupcakes that he’d picked up on the way home. There may or may not have been a little make-out session on the couch after dinner. But I didn’t need much to celebrate the holiday—just, you know, a boyfriend. This year, however, I would be at home getting ready for my friends. Valentine’s Day had arrived on a Friday—perhaps the perfect night for a romantic dinner with your boyfriend, if you had one, but also the perfect time for girl’s night in.
“It will be so much fun!” Marissa excitedly said as we ate lunch, discussing the evening’s plans. Apparently she’d gotten over her morning funk and was starting to look forward to a girl’s night. Marissa and Emily were coming over to my apartment to watch movies, drink lots of wine, and discuss the men we didn’t have in our lives. I was actually looking forward to it though—sort of like being back in college when we’d stay up late making popcorn, gossiping, and watching movie after movie on the weekends.
“What will be fun?” Travis asked, walking into the break room carrying a take-out sub and soda. He pulled out a chair and sat down across from me, his tall frame folding into the seat, but he looked over at Marissa, waiting for an answer.
She finished taking a sip of her diet coke and set the can back down on the table before breaking into a huge smile. “Girl’s night!” she exclaimed.
“You two are going out tonight?” Travis asked, shrugging out of his black leather jacket.
“No, this is girl’s night in,” I explained.
“On Valentine’s Day?” he inquired, unwrapping his sub. “I thought women liked going out.”
“Yeah, if you’re in a relationship,” Marissa said, looking horrified at the thought of going out without a date tonight. “Can you imagine us going out alone? With all those couples? Ugh!”
Travis and I exchanged a glance, both amused by Marissa’s tendency to be overdramatic. “I think you’d be okay,” Travis said lightly.
“Why would we want to go out and look at other happy couples?” Marissa asked. “It’s not the same if a group of girls goes out together on Valentine’s Day. Everyone will just be staring and feeling sorry for us.”
I started laughing. “I doubt that. Besides, you could have gone out with Gym Guy tonight if you really wanted a date.”
“Gym Guy?” Travis asked, raising his eyebrows. He paused, his sandwich halfway to his mouth, looking at me for an explanation.
“Marissa’s new guy. I don’t know his name, but she met him at the gym—Gym Guy.”
“Maddy,” Marissa interrupted. “I hardly think Valentine’s Day is the right time for a first date. Don’t you think that sounds a bit awkward?” She looked over to Travis.
“You know, I have to agree with Marissa on that one,” Travis said matter-of-factly, taking a bite of his sandwich. “A guy is not going to want to go out on a first date on Valentine’s Day—even Valentine’s week for the matter. Way too much pressure.”
I shrugged and looked at Marissa. “You could have gone out with him this weekend. You seemed upset at the idea of not having a date.”
“Of course I’m not,” Marissa said, sounding exasperated. “I just said that I was looking forward to tonight.”
“Good point,” I replied with a grin. I took a bite of my sandwich and noticed Travis laughing from across the table out of the corner of my eye. I wondered if Marissa noticed, too, and decided that I better change the subject.
“And how about you, Travis?” I asked. “Any big Valentine’s Day plans?”
“No plans for me,” he said, shaking his head.
“Don’t you have a girlfriend in New York?” Marissa asked innocently.
“Nope, no girlfriend.”
“But you probably dated lots of girls,” Marissa said knowingly. “There’s got to be someone….”
Travis chuckled. “Trust me, I’m very single. The closest thing I’ve even had to a date lately was spending the day skiing with Maddy.”
“Oh, really?” Marissa asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Sure. You were there with Mike, Elizabeth was with Steve, and I spent most of the day with Maddy.”
He said it casually, but I suddenly felt myself flushing. Of course I’d been very aware of the fact that we’d been thrown together in the midst of other couples when we went skiing, thus making it appear that we were paired off as well. It had felt like we were a couple, spending most of the day together, sitting side-by-side at the bar drinking hot chocolate. Travis had even insisted on taking a skiing lesson with me when he was already an excellent skier. I didn’t think that he had paid that much heed to us being alone together, though. He was friendly and polite around everyone. It wasn’t a date, I reminded myself, ridding the idea from my head. We worked together. Travis certainly just thought of me as a friend.
***
That evening, I was collecting the magazines and books scattered around my apartment when the doorbell rang. I glanced around the room, making sure I’d picked up any clutter. My eyes swept over the blue sofa and armchair, which stood out in a nice contrast against the cream carpet and walls. The sofa faced the TV, which was pushed up against a wall next to the balcony door. The light wood coffee table and end tables were clean, and the walls of my apartment were currently bathed in a warm glow from the candles I’d lit around the room. I hurried over to my foyer, wondering which of my friends had arrived first. I pulled open the door to find Marissa standing there, armed with the DVDs Sweet Home Alabama and Miss Congeniality. She had changed from her work clothes and was wearing dark jeans and a brown suede jacket over a red sweater.
“Red?” I asked pointedly when I opened the door.
“Oh, I figured why not,” she said, waving her hand carelessly in the air as she walked in. “You won’t believe how many lovey-dovey couples I saw when I walked over here. It’s like no one else exists—just hot guys taking their girlfriends out to dinner.”
I stifled a laugh at her obvious exaggeration. “No one else was out walking around? If we had boyfriends, we probably wouldn’t even notice all the couples.”
“Exactly. I mean do you even remember what you did last year on Valentine’s Day?”
“Uh, is it wrong to say yes?” I said with a laugh.
Marissa laughed, too, and we wandered into the kitchen to get some drinks. Emily had texted to say that she was running late, so Marissa and I decided to make brownies while we waited. I pulled a mixing bowl and box of brownie mix from the cupboard as Marissa preheated the oven. We mixed all of the ingredients together, laughing when Marissa managed to crack an egg that completely missed the bo
wl but landed in the sink, and poured the batter into a baking pan. I set the oven timer, and we sat down at the dining room table to wait.
“So what was with Travis at lunch today?” Marissa asked, flipping through the catalogs and magazines that I’d stacked in a neat pile. “His last date was skiing with you?”
“Oh, he was just joking around. I don’t think he liked you putting him on the spot about any ex-girlfriends.”
Marissa laughed and looked up at me. “I was just trying to help you out.”
“Help me out?” I said, raising my eyebrows.
“I just wanted to see if he was definitely available,” she said lightly, flipping her blonde hair back over her shoulder. “Anyway, it just seemed like an odd thing to say.”
“Yeah, it kind of was. I think he just wanted to get you off his back, though.” I grinned suddenly, remembering a detail of our day skiing together. “Actually…the ski instructor did think that he was my boyfriend.”
“Oh really? You didn’t tell me that! What did he say?”
“Travis?”
“No, the instructor.”
“Oh,” I shrugged. “She said that I had a nice boyfriend.”
“I think he must be interested in you, Maddy,” Marissa said confidently.
I shook my head doubtfully. “I don’t really think so. He’s friendly to everyone.”
“I don’t know,” she said, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Obviously someone else noticed it, too, if your instructor thought he was your boyfriend. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it’s like he lights up when he’s around you.”
“Lights up? Come on…,” I said, trailing off as I wondered if there was any truth to her statement. Of course he always looked happy to see me, but he seemed to be the type of guy who was happy in general. That was just his friendly personality, wasn’t it? The oven timer buzzed, and I went over to check on dessert. The scent of warm brownies had started to fill the apartment, and I suspected that they were indeed done. I pulled open a drawer, searching for my red oven mitts.
“I’ll get it!” Marissa called out when the doorbell rang.
I looked up a moment later to see Em walking in just as I was pulling the brownies from the oven. She was carrying Titanic in one hand and a bottle of Merlot in the other. “I just saw your neighbor,” she said, looking flushed as she put the bottle of wine down on the counter. Emily had a small crush on Matt, the brown-eyed guy that had moved in next door.
“They were headed out, right?” I asked, referring to Matt and the girl (girlfriend?) that seemed to follow him around every weekend.
“Yep, she was all dressed up—little black dress, sky-high heels, pretty much the works,” Emily said with a sigh.
“A romantic evening for two?” Marissa asked, glancing at Emily. “It does seem like they must be dating now since she’s always around. Maybe they’ll break up soon.”
“We can only hope, right?” I asked, smiling in agreement.
Emily pointedly ignored us and walked over to the counter. “Ohhh, brownies,” she said, effectively changing the subject. “Looks like I got here just in time.”
“That you did,” I said with a grin. I grabbed a server to slice into the steaming brownies and scooped them out of the pan—so much for letting them cool first. After I finished piling the gooey, warm, brownies on a plate, I grabbed the stack of DVDs from the counter. “Well ladies, what shall we watch?” I held up the movies that my friends had brought over. “Miss Congeniality?” I asked, as it was perched on top. They agreed, and I started pulling open my kitchen drawers looking for a corkscrew. We opened the bottle of wine and shuffled into the living room carrying a plate of brownies, stack of movies, three wine glasses, and the bottle of Merlot.
“Wait—did you get roses?” Marissa asked, stopping midway across the room and pointing to a vase of fake roses that I’d had for ages.
“What?” I asked, peering around her to see what she was looking at. “They’re fake!” I said, laughing. “Those have been sitting there forever.”
“Not from Travis?” Em asked innocently.
“She only wishes,” Marissa teased.
“Not you, too,” I complained, looking from one to the other. “Marissa….” Although Emily certainly knew about Travis and the ski trip, I didn’t think I’d even mentioned him to her since the week we got back. Because there was nothing to tell, I reminded myself.
“Oh, lighten up,” Marissa said.
I set the plate down on the coffee table, grabbed a movie, and walked over to the DVD player. “His office is right down the hall from mine,” I said, glancing back at Emily. “I couldn’t imagine dating someone like that who I worked with. Can you say awkward?”
“Probably best to avoid it,” Em agreed, plopping down on the sofa.
“Exactly,” I said as I put the movie in. I wondered why Marissa was pushing the whole Travis thing again tonight. Of course she had joked about it right after the ski trip, but that was weeks ago. I guess our whole conversation at lunch was enough to start her up again. I walked back to the couch and sank down at the opposite end of the sofa from Emily, tucking my legs beneath me to get comfortable.
Marissa settled into the armchair next to us and picked up a brownie. She took a dainty bite and then looked over at me. “All I’m saying is that he certainly seems to be showing some interest in you.”
“We’re friends,” I replied. “Just like the two of you are friends. You were there at lunch today also, remember?”
“You have lunch together?” Emily asked with interest, looking over at me.
“Practically every day,” Marissa said in a sing-song voice.
I picked up my wine glass and took a sip of Merlot. “All of the writers have lunch together,” I said firmly.
Emily nodded and then looked over at Marissa. “Whatever happened with Mike?”
Marissa stretched in the chair, clasping her fingers together and lifting her arms out in front of her. She almost looked like she was doing a yoga pose, her posture was so perfect. “He was too much of a jock, you know? It was fun skiing together, and we went out a couple of other times, but he was always watching sports or heading to the gym. He wasn’t interested in much else.”
“You did see a movie together,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, about baseball. That might as well count as attending a sporting event together.”
“Hey, don’t feel bad. I haven’t even made it past the first date recently,” Emily said.
“It shouldn’t be this hard to meet someone,” I grumbled, reaching over to grab a brownie from the plate.
“Remember in college?” Emily asked absentmindedly. “There were just hoards of guys everywhere.”
“Guys,” Marissa stressed. “Not men.”
“Oh!” I said, sitting up and leaning toward Emily to get her attention. “Remember those idiot guys that lived next door to us?”
“Yes!” She burst out laughing. “Oh, they were the worst.”
“I can’t believe we used to hang out with them,” I said, laughing as I remembered.
“What? Who were they?” Marissa asked.
“The year that we rented an apartment together in college, these four ridiculous guys lived next door to us,” I explained. “The very first week we moved in, they busted a hole in their drywall. Two of them were goofing around, and one of them shoved the other right into the wall. There was a hole there the rest of the year. But they were always locking themselves out. Every single day one of them would come over after class, knock on our door, and then climb over the wall between our balcony and theirs. Every. Single. Day. They would jump down onto their own balcony so they could go into their apartment through the sliding glass door.”
“It was ridiculous,” Emily said, laughing.
“What floor were you on?” Marissa asked.
“The third floor. We lived in these little garden-style apartments; there were only three floors. It was still pretty stupid though.”
“No, some of them had girlfriends. I think they were just that dumb,” I said, shaking my head at the memory.
“Remember that time they climbed over the roof?” Emily asked.
I started laughing as I remembered watching them on the rooftop. Marissa was looking at both of us like we were crazy. “They climbed over the roof? Was it flat?”
“No!” I said. “It was one of those gable roofs, like on a house. One side slopes up; the other slopes down. They were locked out, but none of us were home yet. So they went to the apartment of some guys who lived across the hall. They climbed up from their balcony and went up one side of the roof and down the other. They got to the edge and jumped down onto their own balcony to get into their apartment.”
“You saw them?” Marissa asked in disbelief.
Emily was clutching her stomach, bent over laughing. “Yes! We came home right as they were climbing over—two guys sitting on their butts, shimmying down the roof.”
“They looked scared to death,” I said, laughing at the memory of their wide-eyed faces as they carefully made their way down. “I’m sure having us as an audience really helped.”
Marissa looked back and forth between both of us in amazement. “Wow, this makes Mike sound really normal.”
“Yeah, that makes old Mike look pretty good, huh? Are you sorry that you broke up with him now?” I asked, mostly joking.
First Sight Page 5
