Page 11 of Room One Hundred and Twenty Nine

“To your date?” Parker asks, in that same weird tone he used earlier.

I nod.

“Cool. Have fun.” He gives me a soft smile and I smile back.

Silence stretches beyond my comfort as I look from Parker to Nicholas, who gives me a tight smile. I wave and Elijah, whose nostrils seem to flare. The tension that’s growing makes me feel awkward, but the butterflies in my stomach take off.

I clear my throat before saying, “Okay. Well. Bye.” I give them all a wave before pulling out and closing the door.

Cool. Cool. Cool.

I pick up my bags and start walking out of the office.

You know what? That was probably all in my head. They’ve been stressed lately, and this probably has nothing to do with me.

Though there’s a part of me hoping it might be.

That maybe they didn’t want me to go on the date because they want to take me instead. But that’s all fantasy in my head. There’s no way any of them want to date me, let alone all three. And yeah, I would want all three. They all have things about them I’m drawn to and I could never choose.

I shove my extra bag into my work bag so all I have to carry is the one and head to the restaurant. It’s a pleasant night tonight. No clouds and the air is warm, but there’s a cool breeze that almost has me reaching for my blazer. But I’m almost at the restaurant, so I just shrug off the cold.

I’m Canadian after all. I can take a little cold.

When I get to the restaurant, I see him already there. Looking around, probably waiting for me. I straighten my spine and walk in. I give the hostess my name and she brings me to his table.

He stands and gives my body a once over. For some reason, it doesn’t excite me at all. Not like when my bosses look me up and down. I get chills when they do that. And they do it a lot. Whenhe does, it doesn’t have the same effect. But that’s okay. I’m still giving him a chance. Not all relationships start with a spark the first time they lay eyes on each other.

“Hey, I’m Noah. You must be Haruko. It’s nice to meet you.” He sticks his hand out and I give it a shake.

“Hi, nice to meet you.”

Dani texted me more info about him the day after she told me about the date. His name is Noah Singleton. He’s twenty-four. I knew that already. He’s a part time DJ and was the class clown in high school.

Apparently, he had good credit, too.

The server comes to our table and asks us if we’d like to start with a drink.

“Sure. I’ll—” I try order, but Noah jumps in.

“We’ll start with a bottle of your best wine.” He gives me a wink and I grimace.

Um… okay. I hope he’s paying for that wine.

The server nods and walks away.

“Hope you don’t mind. They have great wine here and everything is always so tense on a first date. Figured we needed a little liquid courage.” He winks again.

Man, the guy must like winking.

We chat about random first date stuff as we wait. Things like first pets, favourite movies and music we like. After the server comes back with our wine, we order. Again, he orders for me and I’m suddenly wishing that Dani would have to call a little earlier. I’m getting a strange vibe from this guy. It’s been fifteen minutes, and I already want to go home.

So far, the things we’ve talked about haven’t led to me think we’re meant to be. His first pet was a lizard. Mine was a parakeet. His favourite movie isMad Maxand mine isThe Proposal.And he likes EDM techno music, and I like country. So far, we have almost nothing in common.

And add the fact that he’s interrupted me as many times as he’s winked, I’m thinking this date is a bust.

Geez, Dani, I thought you were my friend. What the hell did you see in this guy?

“So, what about books? You read? You look like a gal who likes to read.”

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