Page 75 of The Friend Game

“Lexie,” I sigh, “why can’t you just wait until Wednesday like everybody else?”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I don’t like that answer, Hannah. I’m starting to get angry and you won’t like me when I’m angry.”

Goodness. Now she sounds like the Hulk.

What I wouldn’t give to see Lexie turn green.

I swallow and force a smile. “Well, this has been a nice chat, but I have some work to do,” I gesture to the paint palettes I was assembling whenshe walked in, “so…” I trail off expectantly, clearly hinting that it’s time for her to leave.

“Yes,” she says softly, “youdohave some work to do…for now.” That said she whirls around and stalks out the door.

I exhale a relieved breath. Okay, so Lexie is upset with me. What else is new?

It’s fine. Everything is going to be fine.

***

“Well? What did you think?” I ask Luke the next evening, setting down my papers on his desk. We’re sitting in his office, and I’ve just finished practicing the impassioned speech I plan on giving the board tomorrow. Jill helped me fine-tune it, but the bulk of the ideas in it are mine, and—even with Lexie’s ominous threats hanging over me—I feel pretty good about my chances.

“I thought it was great,” he enthuses, then pulls a small face. “Although you could maybe do with a couple fewer uses of the wordsimagine a world where.”

“Oh.” My face falls slightly as I pick my speech back up and scan it through. “Really? That’s what Jill said too, but I think it really adds to the drama of my plight.”

Luke chuckles. “Oh, absolutely it does, but the board is a more—how do I put this…hmmm” he hums as he thinks, “serious group of individuals. To be honest, I’m not sure half of them even have imaginations.” His lips pop down and back up quickly in ayikesface as he adds, “And I don’t mean that as an insult. If they were here they’d agree with me.”

“Seriously? No imaginations?” I can’t keep a note of petulance out of my voice. It cannot be overstated: I really like imagination.

“Seriously,” Luke confirms.

“Okay, then.” I grab a pen and set my shoulders. “I can appeal to people with no imagination. What if instead of,Imagine a world where you’re a part of helping student artists learn to shine,I say,I want to be part of a world where student artists learn to shine.Let’s make that a reality together.” I pause and look up at home. “See what I did there?Reality?Basically the opposite of imagination.”

Luke chuckles and under the desk his foot finds mine. Our eyes meet, and I forget about my speech as a sappy smile overtakes his features.

We’ve got the door propped open, so no one can accuse us of doing anything untoward—you know, like kissing—but I don’t mind, I’m just enjoying being with Luke. When I’m with him, I feel, well,happy. It’s wonderful.

“Look at you two getting lost in each other's eyes,” a new voice enters the room and I jump inmy seat, then turn, surprised to see the worship director, Will, standing in the doorway with a grin on his face.

“Will.” Luke looks surprised too. “What are you doing here?”

“What amIdoing here?” Will echoes with a laugh. “I think the better question is what areyoudoing here? Everybody is waiting for you in the conference room.”

“What? No, the staff meeting isn’t until 6! And it’s only—” Luke looks wildly around the room for a clock—evidently forgetting about both the watch on his wrist and the phone a foot away on his desk.

“It’s 6:15, mate,” Will informs him. He looks extremely amused to see his friend so discombobulated. His gaze finds me and he gives me a friendly wink. “Look what you’ve done to the man, Hannah. He can’t even remember where his watch is.” His eyes flit back to Luke. “In a surprise twist, your watch is on your wrist, my friend.”

In deference to the stress on Luke’s face, I stifle my laugh. Will seems unconcerned by his lateness, but I’m sure Luke is thinking about being on probation. My laughter vanishes completely at this last thought. I’ve already messed him up and it’s only day three of our relationship.

“Shoot,” Luke mutters, getting quickly up from his desk and raking a hand through his hair.

“Don’t worry,” Will tells him. “I told them you were probably in the bathroom regretting your choice to eat Taco Bell at lunchtime.”

“Wow,” Luke says dryly as he shuffles around for some papers off his desk and grabs his laptop, “thanks for that one.”

Will chuckles. “Seriously, Luke, stop worrying. Everybody in that room thinks it’s funny you’re late because of your new mystery woman.”

At this Luke’s frantic scrambling comes to an abrupt stop and his attention drops onto me. “I’m so sorry about this, Hannah,” he says earnestly.

“Luke, it’s fine.” I wave off his apology. “I understand. I’m the one who’s sorry for distracting you. Anyway,” I rise to my feet, “I’m fully capable of removing all of the imagination from my speech without anyone else’s help.” One of Luke’s eyebrows pops up in doubt. “Probably,” I amend under his scrutiny. He laughs then kisses me on the cheek as he passes by on his way out the door.

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