Page 5 of Simply Irresistible
Melanie
“Why do you work for Roger if you don’t like him?” I asked once we’d placed our orders.
“You don’t waste any time, do you, Spice?” I looked down, embarrassed by my boldness. I felt his finger under my chin, lifting it. “I’m just messing with you,” he said, smiling. “I want to be a writer--a journalist--this job just got me in the door. Something to look good on my resume.”
“So you’re like the male version of Andy Sachs.”
“Andy who?”
“Andy Sachs…The Devil Wears Prada?” How could he work in the industry and not know who she was?
“I guess so,” he said, shrugging.
I raised my eyebrow. “You’ve never seen it?”
He shook his head. “No. I prefer nineties movies.”
“Nineties movies?” Who actually liked nineties movies? “Were there any good nineties movies?” I asked with a laugh.
“Were there any good nineties movies?” he scoffed. “Pulp Fiction, Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, Clueless, Home Alone, Titanic, The Matrix…need I go on?”
I shrugged. “Those are some good films, but the eighties totally beat the nineties for entertainment.”
“Excuse me?” he shrieked. The waitress, who had been placing our plates on the table at that very moment, jumped back. “Sorry,” he told her. “Not you.”
I thanked the server, then looked at Tyler. “The eighties had better movies.”
“I beg to differ,” he interrupted. He looked…green…but I didn’t let that deter me.
“Back to the Future, The Goonies, E.T., The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ghostbusters, and, my favorite,Stand by Me. Those are only a handful of the best movies ever. Don’t even get me started on the music.”
“And what’s wrong with nineties music? N*Sync and the Backstreet Boys started in the nineties. Chicks love that shit.” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he apologized.
“I don’t really like boy bands,” I told him, and he winced liked I’d slapped him.
Was this really happening? Did someone put me up to this? Meredith? I started to look around for someone I knew. I was being punked. It was the only explanation. This was the weirdest date I’d ever been on, if I could even call it that. The super-hot guy from the elevator finally spoke to me, asked me to lunch and I didn’t stumble over my words, then he turned out to be a complete weirdo.
Several awkward moments passed and neither of us said a word, or made eye contact. When I wasn’t scanning the restaurant for a camera crew, I studied my nails. He was staring down at the table. He looked sick…maybe a little constipated. Was he breathing?
“Are you okay?” I asked him. He still looked green. More so than before.
He shook his head. “I was just expecting this to go differently, I guess.”
“Yeah, me too.” I put my napkin on the table, having lost my appetite. “You’re pretty passionate about the nineties.”
“You’re pretty passionate about the eighties,” he said, leaning back in his seat.
We stared at each other across the table, the ridiculousness of the situation settling between us. I wasn’t sure who laughed first, but pretty soon we were both in hysterics.
“I’m pretty sure my love for nineties pop culture is on my sister’s top ten list for why my relationships fail,” Tyler confessed once we got ourselves under control.
“That bad, huh?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “I believe you’re the one who said ‘don’t even get me started on the music.’”
“Touché.”
He looked at his watch, causing me to do the same. I noted that my lunch hour was almost over.
