Page 36 of True Sight
“It’s just this guy.” I try to minimize the growing importance of Conrad in my life to her because whenever I mention I have any kind of guy in my life, she freaks out.
“A guy,” she screeches again, emphasizing the word ‘guy’ as if this is the first time I’ve ever mentioned having a man in my life. I’ve had plenty of boyfriends in the past before—albeit some more desirable than others—but the dating pool was slim back at home so you had to take what you could get sometimes. And theguyI’m mentioning now could very well be straighter than a telephone pole and not worth bringing up at all. Even though I’m pretty sure he’s flirting with me. Maybe. I want to text him back but Ellie is talking a million miles a minute and I know if I ignore her again she’ll be on the next plane to Charleston to wring my neck with her own two hands.
“Ellie, Ellie…Ellie,” I snap to get her attention and she finally shuts her mouth long enough for me to speak. “He’s just a guy I met here. He’s helping me open the studio.”
“Oooh, so he’s ahandyguy.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me and smirks.
“No, not really. He’s helping me with the tech side of it all. I hired him to build my website, set up the point of sale system, develop an app for me, that kind of stuff. His name is Conrad.”
“So he’s a smart bloke. You’ve never been with a smartone before,” she jabs with a laugh and I click my tongue at her. If only she weren’t so painfully correct. “Is he cute?”
Is he cute?
If you find an almost six-foot, ashy blond-haired guy who is the perfect balance of preppy school boy and wildly intelligent nerd with brown eyes warm enough to melt your insides cute, then yeah, he’s cute. There were plenty of times I had to remind myself to close my mouth while he was talking about something techy at one of our meetings. Hearing him get excited about the thing he had just programmed or built and seeing his face light up as he explained it made me excited, too, but for different reasons. It was pretty much game over for me when he pulled his glasses out and slipped them onto his handsome face.
“Yeah, he’s okay. Some people would say he’s cute.”
“Some people like you,” she points out. “Henry has a boyfriend, Henry has a boyfriend,” her voice singsongs out. Over it I can hear the muffled sounds of voices in the background and the sound of glasses clinking.
“He isnotmy boyfriend. I don’t even know if he dates men,” I sigh, explaining to her and reminding myself of my blatant lack of crucial information.
“Why don’t you ask him if he does? You’re a fucking catch, Henry Wanker. Any boy would be lucky to have you.”
“That’s what Alex suggested,” I groan.
“Who’s Alex? Another guy?” Ellie questions. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve spoken since I’ve been so busy with classes and studio renovations. I haven’t had the chance to tell her about my new friend and co-teacher.
“No, Alex is a girl.”
“You better not be replacing me.” My best friend’s tone is both threatening and joking.
“You, my darling, are irreplaceable,” I quip, and blow her a kiss over the phone.
“Damn straight I am. But really, why don’t you just ask him about it? Then at least you’ll know.”
“You can’t just ask someone about their sexuality. Maybe he doesn’t know or isn’t into men or just isn’t comfortable talking about it. I don’t know, I feel like there’s something between us but maybe I’m making it up in my head. Even now, I feel like someone would read our messages and think he’s flirting but…I don’t know,” I huff, tossing my hand in the air.
“What are you talking about now?”
“Picking out hardware,” I answer flatly.
“Hardware? I hardly see how that’s flirting.”
“Well if you know Conrad and know the situation, you would be able to draw the same lines I am.” I let out a long sigh and sit down on the floor with my back against the wall, thinking about all the signs that tell me he mightbe into me.
There was the time our hands touched when I went to his place to watch a film and he didn’t immediately pull it away. How he always answered all my questions, even the ones I made up just so I could talk to him more. And how he brought me tea on Sunday when I asked him to the studio. And then that same day, after I told him about Gran and he told me about his family. Something was going on there, I could feel it. Then our texts. Those alone were evidence enough to me that he could maybe, possibly,potentiallybe into me.
“Well you, Henry Baker, are the whole package and this Conrad fellow would be stupid not to want to be with you,” Ellie compliments over the phone.
“You have to say that, you’re my best friend.”
“Oh please, I don’t have to say anything I don’t believe.” She gives me a wink. “Oh, Jordan is finally coming out from the back. I have to go, I love you.”
“I love you too. Chat soon.”
“Chat soon.” She waves and blows me a kiss before ending the call.
Once she’s gone, it’s just me and the empty studio once more to mull over my thoughts and wonder if I’ll ever find a way to know for sure if Conrad likes me as more than just a client. I’m about to push myself up from the floor when my phone buzzes in my hand.
