Page 20 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

She looks back at Evan and cocks her head, as if to say,Your move.

Naomi appears near the conference room and calls out to the floor. “Editorial meeting! Five minutes, people!”

The editors, including Dalisay, Riggs, and Evan, join her in the conference room but even after the meeting starts and Naomi has written ideas on the whiteboard for new articles, the only thing Evan can think about is Dalisay.

She sits across the conference table from him, listening dutifully as the senior members discuss assignments, but their voices become a monotonous drone in Evan’s ears.

She didn’t like his gifts. No, that’s not right. Shehatedthem. He’s going to have to try a lot harder if he’s going to win the bet. Daniel and Nicole gave him some hints about what Dalisay likes, but those things now seem too predictable. She asked him to impress, so he needs to think bigger.

While the meeting goes on, he spends most of the hour googling different gift ideas, even going so far as to calculate shipping costs and delivery times. Only when the room goes oddly quiet does Evan snap back into his body. All eyes are on him. Oh God, someone said his name.

“What? Huh?”

Across the conference table, Dalisay rests her chin on her hand, watching him with wide, innocent eyes. She’s enjoying this.

He turns to look at Naomi at the front of the room, who holds her hands out expectantly. She is not a patient woman. Heat rushes to Evan’s face as he shifts in his seat and clears his throat. “Sorry, can you repeat that?” It’s like high school when he’d been caught reading a novel during math class.

“Isaid,” repeats Naomi, slowly, “I want you to take the lead on this next project.”

What this next project is, Evan doesn’t have a clue. His face burns but Riggs gives him a wink, signaling that he’s got him. Dalisay looks infuriatingly pleased with herself. Is she some kind of witch? Did she cast a spell on him? He loves this job more than anything in the world, but all he can think about is her.

Evan recovers and gives Naomi an easy smile. “Not a problem.”

Naomi snaps her fingers. “On second thought, I think you need some help.” Before he can assure Naomi he doesn’t, she says, “Dalisay, how about you two team up on this one.”

At the mention of her name, Dalisay’s smile drops. She sits up straighter in her chair, tearing her eyes away from Naomi to look at Evan. The way she’s acting, it’s as if Naomi asked her to leap off the roof.

“Sure,” Dalisay says, her cheeks turning a dark shade of pink. “Evan needs all the help he can get.”

Every day of the week, Evan tries again, and each time, he means to impress Dalisay. For real this time.

On Tuesday, he brings her truffles from Kokak Chocolates because Daniel said she has a sweet tooth.

On Wednesday, it’s a bouquet of lavender flowers from Rozgol’s, because of the lavender-scented lotion she uses.

On Thursday, he gives her a gourmet gift basket full of top-shelf tequila from Tahona Mercado because of the picture of her and her siblings at Otra on her desk.

And every single one of those days, he watches as she throws them all away, announcing her opinions to the office:

“Truffles are too rich,” she says.

“A bouquet of lavenders are a symbol of distrust,” she says.

“Tequila, before noon? No thanks,” she says. Riggs fishes it out of the trash can so he can have it for himself.

At this point, it’s starting to feel personal. Nothing’s stopping Dalisay from intentionally disapproving of his gifts. For all he knows, she’s doing it on purpose just so he’ll lose. And here he trusted she’d play fair too, but she has all the power.

Evan’s about ready to pull his hair out. It’s not about the bet at this point, it’s his pride. He always thought he was a good gift giver. He always pays attention to what his friends want or need. When his friends mention something, he actually remembers because he genuinely wants to make them happy. When he was dating Becca, he’d plan gifts months in advance, like tickets to a Broadway show on tour that she kept talking about. He isn’t the type to run to the corner store on an anniversary because he forgot.

But now, it’s as if Dalisay is proving how much she hates his guts. And she’s almost flaunting it.

There has to be something he remembers that she likes. There has to be.

But luck is still on his side, because Thursday night, he catches a break. Dalisay’s brother Daniel mentioned that she likes bookstores, and it just so happens that Heliotrope has a limited-edition scented candle that smells exactly like old books, with chai and a hint of citrus. Triple whammy. Evan saw it in a window display when he was leaving the gym with JM, and he practically burst through the glass like the Kool-Aid man to get the last one. The last time they’d had it in stock, he bought one for himself because it smells exactly like his favorite bookstore, Hooked On Books. If she hates this, there’s no hope. At least he’ll get to keep it when she throws it in the trash.

He leaves the final gift on her desk Friday morning, exactly as he’s been doing for the past week.

The note he wrote for her this time says:

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