Page 17 of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love

Should I text Carlos and tell him I’m leaving … out the tiny bathroom window?

If only I hadn’t left my phone at the table.

I stare hard at my reflection.

I want this.

I’m ready for this.

Except…

I honestly can’t tell if this date is going well or going mortifyingly not well.

I don’t even know how I feel either way.

None of the previous dates have gone like this.

Is it because I can’t find anything wrong with Zach and it’s dawning on me that with my friends here, any excuse for not seeing him again has to be plausible? Real.

I try to envision if I will think about Zach as I slide beneath the covers of my bed tonight. Will there be a smile on my face? Will I be hugging my pillow?

A picture of George enters my head and I think I actually moan in denial.

Or lust?

My heart skips a beat.

Nope.

There’s no lusting when it comes to clients.

And definitely not when there’s a perfectly good man who’s available and whom I’ve actually met, and is waiting at a red-and-white checker-clothed table just outside my new comfort zone.

I turn on the cold-water tap. Roll up my polyester sleeves and run icy water over the pulse points on my wrists.

The door to the restroom opens and I glance up as a woman, my age, comes in.

‘Ashleigh?’

How does she know my name? Probably works for the CIA with my mother. And Oz.

‘Yes?’

She passes me a note. ‘A guy with great hair asked me to give you this.’

I dry my hands, take the note and open it.

It is a full-blown essay from Carlos.

Jeez.

How the hell can anyone write so much on a receipt for – I turn it over – hair product!

Hon, what the hell? Stop talking about some guy called George. Who even is George? It’s not okay to be talking about other guys when you’re on a date. That’s simple 101 and I know you’re an intelligent woman, not some ingénue. (Ingénue! Let’s take a moment to high-five my word power being right up there with gelatinous.)

Anyway.

Zach is nice, right? He likes you, right? He likes you even though you’re acting like you have a bad crush on some other guy. You could hang out with Zach on the weekend and actually talk as well as have sex. I thought that was what you wanted. I know how hard meeting new people must be for you since?—

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