Page 33 of Love's a Glitch
“No worries. I’m a web designer. Nothing fancy, but I enjoy it, and it pays most of the bills.” She gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
“Really? I wish I would’ve known that before. I’ve been working on one that’s given me nothing but headaches.”
“I have a client like that right now. The arts are so subjective, and that sometimes leads to too many chefs stirring the pot. It’s making me salty. Anyway, I’d better go.” Ellie rattled off the time and address of the Wednesday night class, and I jotted it down in my notebook. “Thanks again for agreeing to go with me. I almost asked Milo, but it seemed too soon and so last minute. I didn’t want to make things weird. It’ll be nice to go on one adventure with you where you don’t already have the advantage. Assuming you don’t already know how to tango.”
The spring in my chair creaked as I sat up. “Wait, what? Tango?”
“You already said yes, and the bitch is back, so see you at six-thirty on Wednesday. Bye!” The line went dead and talk about strings and being tangled.
“Tangoed.” The wall opposite my desk echoed the pun I’d just made back at me, and I clamped my lips before Heather came in and worriedly looked around the empty room again.
I wasn’t sure which was worse: my assistant thinking I’d gone crazy and was talking to myself, or the realization I’d just made a dad joke that indicated the web designer’s implication of me being an old man wasn’t as much of a stretch as I’d like it to be.
16
Ellie
Alone in a room full of couples, I tapped the toe of my Mary Jane heels and glanced toward the doorway again.
Ever since watchingMoulin Rouge, I’d aspired to learn to tango. When I found out that one of the choreographers from the movie was traveling around the nation, teaching a basic version of the dance from the actual movie, I’d begged Dillon to let me sign us up.
He’d hemmed and hawed before finally agreeing, and inside I’d performed cartwheels that not only was he was willing, but that he also saw a future that involved us three and a half months down the road.
Considering he’d ghosted me the very next week, perhaps my insistence to plan things too far into the future had pushed him away.
No, don’t do that to yourself.Since Cat and Penny weren’t here, I mentally repeated the phrases they’d used when I’d blamed myself for being treated so disrespectfully.If a man doesn’t have the balls to break up with you in person, he doesn’t deserve balls,Cat insisted whenever Dillon’s name arose.
You want a guy who makes plans and shows up for those plans,Penny would add.Don’t settle for less because you dated a scared little bitch. That’s about him, not you.
I loved my friends for always having my back and assuring me it was always the dude’s fault, even though they’d also nudged me toward giving nicer guys more of a chance. I also appreciated Luke referring to him as Dildo and his insistence he didn’t deserve me. Problem was, it was always easier to be right about a relationship from the outside looking in.
Regardless of the reason Dillon bailed, when the reminder about the class hit my inbox the other day, I’d experienced a clashing mix of excitement and disappointment. Not wanting to be the only person without a dance partner, I’d considered asking Milo, but the thing that’d drawn me to the tango was the passion, the romance, the dramaticism.
Why it seemed too intimate to share with Milo but not Luke, I didn’t want to examine too closely.It’s just because I’m more comfortable with my good ol’ pal.
Yeah, that’s it.
If I dared to dive deeper, I might reluctantly admit to not believing Milo capable of the passion, flare, or strength to spin me around the floor and dip me. Whereas Luke had proven at the ropes course that he wouldn’t let me fall.
Okay, so there was also the fact that if I were going to be pressed up that intimately against a guy, doing the closest thing to clothed sex on the dance floor as one could get, I’d rather be clinging to Luke.
Because he loved a good adventure, and that’s what this tango class would be.
A thrilling adventure that would invariably leave me hornier than ever.
An awkward thought to have in the room full of couples ranging from early twenties to early sixties. The wife of the elderly couple informed me that they and their group were learning the dance for an upcoming wedding.
As the second hand ticked closer to the top of the hour, everyone began eyeing the poor woman without a dance partner. Despite the giant clock on the wall, I checked my phone as though it’d tell me a different time.
Finally, I attempted a reassuring smile that only added more concern to their expressions, leading me to believe it’d come out as tight as it felt. Exhaling a breath and shaking out my hands, I paced the far side of the room, needing to get away from the mirrors at the front.
Today I’d tossed aside my designer hat and put on a sell-out version aimed at making Charles L. Davis happy. So what if his company ended up with a boring, outdated website? If that was what he wanted, that was what he’d get.
Bright side, it made me realize how much pride I took in my work.
Downside, it took being forced to create something blah enough to nearly put me to sleep at my desk. All the more reason to work out the frustration of the day on the dance floor.
Unless Luke stood me up, and then I’d have to track him down and take out my irritation on him.
