Page 3 of On the Line

“You were having a loud conversation two feet away from me.”

“A private conversation.”

“In a pizza place.”

She stares at me a second longer. Then the corner of her mouth twitches, and I have to revise my whole opinion of her face. I thought she was pretty when she walked in. That little almost-smile is going to be a problem.

She turns back to her drink. “I may have made a tactical error.”

“The imaginary boyfriend?”

“That’s the one.”

“Sounds like it’s getting serious between you two. He’s already meeting your friends.”

She laughs in spite of herself, and I decide I’d like to hear that a few more times.

“I’ve got four college friends at a lake house this weekend,” she says. “We’ve been planning it for months. It was supposed to be a girls’ trip.”

“Supposed to be?”

“Somewhere between booking the house and today, everybody decided boyfriends and husbands were invited. And girlfriends. And one ex who apparently isn’t an ex anymore.” She takes a drink. “Which makes me the only one who isn’t bringing anybody.”

I nod gravely. “Tragic.”

“It’s not tragic. I’m perfectly capable of enjoying a weekend without a man attached to me.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“The problem is my friends have decided that means I’m desperately lonely.”

“Are you?”

“No.”

“Me neither.”

She blinks at me. I wave at my phone.

“All my friends are coupled up. Now nobody will go fishing with me.”

“That might be the saddest thing I’ve heard all day.”

“Thanks.”

“I wasn’t being sympathetic.”

“I know.”

That gets another laugh out of her, and I’m already trying to think of ways to keep her on that stool.

“So your friend wants to bring you a date.”

“Her husband has a coworker who supposedly has a great personality.”

“A great personality? Ouch.”

“Right?” She points at me like I finally said something smart. “So instead of just saying no, I made up a boyfriend.”