Page 19 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

By the time he gets Bettie to the parking garage it’s still early and Overnight’s office is quiet and unpopulated, but Evan makes quick work of dropping off the gifts on Dalisay’s desk without being seen. Who knows how HR would react if they saw him giving gifts to a coworker, even if she does work in a different department?

Despite the fact she’s only just started working at Overnight, she’s already made the space her own. A soft, gray sweater drapes across the back of her office chair, and a few framed photos of her family smile back at him from around her computer. In one photo, he recognizes her, Daniel, and Nicole smiling at a Mexican restaurant called Otra. He loves that place; he’d recognize the blue papers hanging on the ceiling anywhere.

Lavender hand lotion and a cute ceramic tissue box shaped like a pineapple and a small, mason jar terrarium make thespace downright homey. All her paperwork and notes are meticulously organized, not even a pencil out of alignment.

So this is where she corrects his articles, cutting through his ego with a simple click of Track Changes. The more he gets to know her, the more it feels like they’re on opposite teams, vying to score the first point. Evan is determined not to let her get under his skin so easily.

He sets the stuffed bear down on her chair, situating it so it looks like it’s typing on her keyboard, and ties the balloons to the armrest so they don’t float away. Propped up on her keyboard, he places the card.

On it, he’d written:

I hope we’re not polar opposites! —Evan

He didn’t need to write a note, but he’d wanted to. From across the floor, he hears the elevator doors open and glances at his watch. She’ll be here any minute.

Evan crosses the floor, returning to his section, and shrugs off his jacket just as Riggs gets to his desk, the coffee Evan bought already waiting for him. “For me? You shouldn’t have!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Evan says, distractedly, unable to stop himself from glancing back at Dalisay’s desk.

“What are you doing here so early anyway?” Riggs asks.

Evan explains the parameters of Stage Two and Riggs spots the gifts at Dalisay’s desk. “Balloons? Really?”

“I wanted to go all out.” He keeps glancing toward Dalisay’s cubicle, wondering when she’ll arrive. He can’t wait to see what her reaction will be.

Riggs huffs a laugh into his coffee. “You have no imagination.”

Evan spreads his palms, baffled. “Yeah, okay, like you know anything about romance.”

“I know enough to knowthatwon’t get you in her good graces.”

“I’m not trying to change her mind about me. If anything, I’m proving that this is a lot of work for one date.” Riggs laughs at that.

“And this is why you’re single. Which reminds me, I’ve got a new neighbor. Get this—she’s recently divorced, a Pilates instructor,andshe has the cutest golden retriever puppy. Want me to set you up?”

“No thanks.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“You’re taking this bet really seriously.”

Evan screws up his face, about to ask him what’s wrong with that, but just then, he hears Dalisay’s ringing voice say good morning to the receptionist.

Here she comes.

Evan can’t help but watch as Dalisay navigates her way to her desk, smiling and greeting people as she goes.

When Dalisay reaches her desk, she pauses there, with a small, amused smile dimpling her cheeks. She looks around, and sees Evan standing there, still looking her way. What’s the point in hiding?

She raises a delicate eyebrow, and her smile grows wider.

Hiding his own smile, he raises his coffee to her as if to sayCheers.

Dalisay takes the balloons in one hand and the teddy bear in the other, his card pinched delicately between her index and middle finger like a cigarette, and starts walking toward the far wall.

She stops at a tall trash can next to the kitchen. With little ceremony, she shoves the bear into the trash, punching its large head through the opening, then uses her teeth to let the air out of the balloons one by one. Finally, she reads the card, lingers on it for a moment, then throws it in the trash with the rest.

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