Page 16 of Reaching Gavin

Chapter Seven

The week flewby in the way time passes when you’re dreading something—going to the dentist, a trip to the DMV. In this case, the cherry on top of a craptacular week was a date with Luka. Maybe life wasn’t as bad as I thought, but it wasn’t going swimmingly exactly. I’d spent the last couple of days trying to find the right approach to the Majestic Theatre presentation. What I’d wound up with was a whole lot of nothing. The always helpful Trevor had offered to give me a hand, but I told him that I’d been sticking to my make shift office , the cubicle walls providing a much-needed barrier from being seen. Maybe if no one knew how much I was struggling, they wouldn’t hold it against me. Plus, it meant I wasn’t running into Trevor at every turn. Or for that matter, Gavin and his beautiful girlfriend. I needed to focus on work, but as the hours ticked by on Friday afternoon and I couldn’t help but watch the clock. Unlike everyone else, my plans for the weekend weren’t something I was looking forward to. More and more of my fellow workers logged off early and headed out, ready to go climb mountains or kayak or whatever the hell else the outdoorsy types did on their time off. By 3 o’ clock I was dragging, struggling under the weight of my own failure to produce any results as well as the looming dread of my date. I grabbed my purse and decided it was time to turn things around.

George was busy talking with the deliveryman, so I waved at him on my way out the door. There were only a few people in line at Sound Coffee which gave me time to consider exactly how much caffeine I required. I noted that Danny wasn’t behind the counter. Thank heaven for small mercies.

I still haven’t decided on a drink before it was my turn. The friendly barista at the cash register looked a little less amiable as I stuttered out an order. I grabbed George his customary Americano and asked for a couple extra sugars, just the way he liked it. It was easier to keep him happy than to figure out where my ID card was every morning. Then I glanced off and ordered the first thing on the menu: a Coconut milk latte with extra shots. Whatever. I would try anything once. By the time, I got my order and headed out the door, the sky overhead had darkened in an ominous way. Despite the day being a muggy 80 degrees, clouds were rolling in and although Seattle rarely enjoyed a true thunderstorm, I’d bet money that it was going to rain this evening. Could a date be called on inclement weather?

George was free when I got back to the office, and I handed him his Americano.

He took it with a suspicious frown on his face. “Most people need a coffee run on mid-Monday not mid-Friday.”

I pretended to take the cup back. “If you don’t want it…”

“I am not most people.” He snatched it back and began adjusting the lid. “What are your weekend plans? You look like you have a date with bad news? Balancing the checkbook?”

“If only I was just going to pay my bills.” I shook my head, wishing it was something as painless as that. “No, I got roped into having dinner with an old…friend.”

George raised an eyebrow. He saw right through that little fib.

“Okay, it’s an ex-boyfriend,” I confessed. “I didn’t know how to say no.”

“N-O,” he spelled it for me with a snap of his fingers.

“It’s a bit late now. He’s picking me up in four hours.

“Is it a date? “George asked, looking a little more interested.

“Absolutely not! He is on my do-not-date list.” I didn’t bother to add that every man that was breathing was on my do-not-date list at the moment.

“Then why are you going out with him?”

I leaned in and lowered my voice. Somehow I got the impression that George would understand. “I want to see why he cheated on me.”

“Oh honey, there’s only one reason a man cheats.” He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in a remarkable imitation of my mother.

“And what is that?” I took a tentative sip of my drink. It wasn’t bad, but I probably wouldn’t order it anymore. Some day I would find my perfect drink again. It seemed more likely than finding my perfect man, even with George’s insights.

“Because he’s a cheater. You can’t change a man that cheats. You can’t fix a man that cheats. And it’s never yourfault.”

“I know that.” I began to study the Sound Coffee label as though it were a piece of fine art. Did I really know that? If I did, then there was no reason to go on this date. I could cancel. I could have canceled already, but I hadn’t.

“I can tell you until I’m blue in the face, honey,” he said. “But the thing is you’re going to have to believe it. So you may as well go on your date, but let me tell you preemptively: I told you so.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s very helpful.”

“I live to serve.”

George was right if I really believed that Luka cheating on me wasn’t my fault, I wouldn’t be going tonight. I guess I did have something to prove to myself. “I know it’s a bad idea, but I have to do it.”

He nodded as if this was a dilemma he could relate to just as a fresh wave of corporate evacuees came off the elevator. I caught sight of Gavin and tried to hide behind the fern George kept on the counter. The last thing I needed was a run-in with the boss. Not when I was trying to avoid him, and what had George just said about cheaters? If he was right, and I knew he was, then it was best to keep my distance from Gavin.

“Where you going?” George asked, oblivious to my Houdini antics.

I shrugged, afraid my voice would carry across the lobby. Luka had texted me the restaurant, but I had never been there. “Some place downtown, near Pike Place Market. Some little French bistro.”

“Oh. French food,” he said with meaning, adding another motherly cluck of disapproval. “He definitely wants this to be a date.”

“Well, I don’t.” As far as I was concerned, that was my final word on the subject. I would get what I wanted out of Luka, which only seemed fair after he used me for sex our entire freshman year. I deserved answers, and a little bit of French food on the side wouldn’t hurt either.