Page 49 of Reeling in Love

“Drink? Yeah. I think I do need one.”

“Get a hold, son. I know you can’t keep away from each other, but maybe try to hold on till after dinner,” George says, chortling as he hands us a drink each.

I’m sure my face is red as a cherry and so hot that the chef could bake a fish on my face itself. And it’s not only the embarrassment of George pointing us out like this that’s causing it. I realize it was not the alcohol that made me feel like it was the best kiss ever that night. It can’t be the drinks or rebound or anything else, if you get the same feeling two times in a row.

Shit! I’m really in deep shit.

I think I need to talk to Gabs about this. He needs to know how I feel, or at least how I think I feel. Maybe he has an explanation for it.

I turn to face him, and he is deep in thought. “Hey, we need to talk,” I say.

“Right now?”

I shrug. “The sooner the better.”

Daphne interrupts us. She has a knack for always coming at the wrong time. “Nora, you must meet Sophia. She’s the daughter of a dear friend and will inherit one of the very large businesses in France. Sophia, this is Nora, Gabriel’s childhood friend. Her family lives nearby.”

I smile at Sophia and shake her hand. She’s pretty and elegant. I’m almost jealous. Jesus! What’s wrong with me?

“Is your family here too?” Sophia asks.

I scan the room. I didn’t even check whether Daphne invited Mom and Carla.

Daphne is quick to respond. “Um, they’re busy and can’t make it today.”

Well, clearly that’s a lie. I know they’re not ‘busy’ today. Anyway, I don’t want to call her out on that. Gabs understands that too, I guess.

“Gabriel, I’d like you to meet some people. Why don’t you come with me?” Daphne says, pulling Gabs’ hand and taking him away, leaving me with Sophia.

“So,” I say after a brief pause. I know that the difficulty of breaking a pause increases exponentially with the length of the said pause, and I don’t want it to reach seriously uncomfortable levels. “How do you like Boston so far?”

“It’s okay. It’s not my first time in the city, though. I travel to the US often for work. But it’s not like Paris.”

I nod. “Yeah, it isn’t.”

“You’ve been to Paris?”

“Um. No. Not really. I love it here and the beauty of my work is it can be done from anywhere in the world. I mean, it’s digital marketing. Would be silly if I had to travel for that, right? Not too digital if it required physical meetings.”

Wow, I’m pretty happy with the words I just uttered. They’re intelligent and funny, at least in my head. Given the state of daze I’m still in, I’m quite impressed with myself. I turn to her, hoping to see an appreciative look. But no. Nothing. Not even a hint of a smile. Maybe she doesn’t understand English all that well.

“I know a few social media influencers. TimPenny, TruthSeekerBob, HashTheTag. A few more. Aren’t you too somewhat of an influencer? I can’t understand the big hype around them, though.”

TruthSeekerBob! Why am I not surprised? Birds of a feather. Hah.

We’re quiet for a bit. I don’t know how to respond to her. Maybe I should introduce her to Clark. They might hit it off.

I’m still engrossed in thinking about the two of them and what conversation they’ll have when she speaks up again. “You weren’t there for the meeting with Gerard? I would think the marketing head should’ve been there.”

“Gerard Dumas? The investor? You know him?”

“Yeah, I do. I know most people in business in France. You end up meeting them at conferences, or parties or somewhere, y’know.”

Yeah, of course. If they’re all as snotty as you, I’d rather die of loneliness than go to any party.

“Totally,” I reply aloud. “I think Gerard shouldn’t have asked Gabriel to leave MooreGames. There’s no one better than him, and he was doing a stellar job.”

She doesn’t reply, and I don’t want to start another topic with this snooty woman. Unfortunately, she doesn’t feel the same.

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