Page 91 of Ten Years and Then…
Annette gave her a look.
“Sorry, just talking to myself.” It was like a tour of memories with Daniel; the day at Turn the Page when she’d read out loud from that ridiculous romance novel with him on the other side of a bookshelf, and the night a couple of weeks later at the Green Lantern Café where they’d had their first date.
Even if he was somehow at the conference—which of course he wasn’t, why couldn’t she just accept reality already?—what were the odds that he’d be here to listen to terrible karaoke?
No. She needed to forget about him, and just enjoy tonight for what it was. The past was the past. They’d each made a promise, but if he even remembered his, it wouldn’t come true for another eight years.
“Come on, Nora. There’s a table over there, by the window.” Nora let Annette lead her over, and she let her order the drinks, too. “Two Mariah-garitas,” Annette told the waitress, then she looked over at Nora. “Salt?” Nora nodded. “Salt for both. Thanks!”
Nora thought she knew the answer, but she asked anyway. “What exactly is a Mariah-garita?”
“According to the sign by the door, it’s a margarita with extra drama.” That was pretty much what she’d guessed. The name went with the décor—lighting that was just a touch too soft, neon musical notes on the walls in garish colors and a stage that was too small—surely to force groups of singers to huddle together for maximum embarrassment.
Still, it could be worse. She was out for a fun evening with someone who wanted her there—when was the last time she could say that?
Their drinks came just as the first act of the night went up on stage. It was one of the junior Microsoft reps who’d run yesterday’s Windows NT demo. He sang—well, tried to sing—Video Killed the Radio Star. Honestly, it was less singing and more howling, sort of like a cat getting chased up a tree by foxes.
But everyone clapped when he was done anyway. Or maybe because he was done.
Nora glanced out the window, just in time to see a taxi stop at the curb outside, and a man get out.
A slim, dark-haired man with the prettiest eyes. A man who looked exactly like Daniel.
Because … he was Daniel.
She didn’t even register the glass slipping from her fingers until it hit the floor and shattered. All she could see was him.
Daniel, one minute later
Just for an instant, when he got out of the cab, but before he turned around to help Red out, he thought he saw someone in the window. Someone dark-blonde and beautiful, shining green-blue eyes and a smile on her face.
But it wasn’t Nora. Obviously it wasn’t. She was—he didn’t know where she was living or working now, but she couldn’t be here at the conference, at this bar. He didn’t know why he was obsessing about her all week, but it had to stop. He had a job to do, a team to lead and right now a couple of hours to just relax and watch other people embarrass themselves while he had exactly one drink.
“Here you go, Red, I’ve got you.” She grabbed his arm, balanced herself on her good ankle, and then put an arm around him.
Why couldn’t he think about someone like her instead? Not Red herself, obviously, or Blue, or anyone back in the office in Chicago.
Dad had drilled it into him, and so had Dad’s boss. And Lisa. And Bianca. And about a million movies and TV shows. Never date anyone at work—it was a recipe for disaster. And even more so now that he was a Team Lead.
But why not someone like her? He could go out with Jeff, or with other guys from the office, and maybe meet someone that way. Or there were the personal ads in the paper. Or even church. There was a Catholic church three blocks from his apartment. That was still a way to meet people, wasn’t it?
There were countless things he could do to meet an actual girl, rather than losing himself in memories of someone who—no matter how amazing she was—he hadn’t seen in over two years. And wouldn’t see again for another eight, if they both kept their promise.
Except, the moment he stepped inside the bar, he saw her, right here and now, not twenty feet away.
It was her. Nora. In the flesh.
She sat at a table by the window, with a shorter, redheaded woman. Just like the first time he ever properly saw her, in the Green Lantern Café sitting with her freshman roommate.
She turned and saw him. Their eyes met. And the expression on her face, a mix of confusion and fear and a dozen other things he couldn’t even guess, changed instantly, and she smiled. That smile. The one she only ever showed to him.
If he hadn’t been holding poor Red up, he would have run to her. But he had just enough presence of mind to call Thomas over to take her, and the moment she grabbed hold of his teammate, Daniel went to Nora.
She was already standing, already coming towards him.
And then she was there, her arms were around him, and his around her, and they were kissing, and nothing else in this bar, or the rest of the world, mattered.
Nora, a moment later
