Page 27 of We Met Like This
The air smelled like garlic and butter and salt. As I passed by the patio on my way to the host stand, my eyes scanned the wrought-iron tables and matching chairs topped with lime-green cushions and people enjoying the sun. That’s when I saw Oliver, sitting across from a woman, eggs and fruit on thetable between them. Like in a movie, his head seemed to be turning my way in slow motion.
“Shit!” I hissed as I ducked. I squat-walked until I was past the fenced-in area and safely behind the redbrick building.
A girl behind the check-in podium eyed me suspiciously as I straightened to standing. “Hi… uh… table for one?”
I adjusted my baseball cap. “No, two. My sister is parking.”
“It will be a little wait for the patio,” she said.
“No, not outside,” I snapped. My pounding heart seemed to think this was a life-or-death situation. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my flight instinct, because it definitely wasn’t… a life-or-death situation. It was something slightly below that. “Sorry, I mean, we don’t want to sit on the patio. Inside is fine. In a corner… away from the windows.”
Her brows shot down. “Um, sounds good. There’s no wait at all for inside. Follow me.”
I shot Audrey a text about seating choice, and when she joined me, she said, “What happened to outside? Did the hostess give you trouble? I’ll go talk to her.”
“No! Please don’t. I know someone out there,” I said.
“Ohh-kay…” She pulled out the chair across from me and sat.
I tugged on my wrinkly tee. “He does not need to see me like this.”
“He?” she asked, craning to find a window, but there was no direct view to the back seating area from here. “This could’ve been a fun meet-cute,” my sister said. “You all grungy, him…” She trailed off because she obviously hadn’t seen him to fill in any details.
“With another woman,” I finished for her. I wondered ifthis was the woman he was asking advice about. If, based on my feedback, he had ended up complimenting her in some fun, unique way before their date.
“Oh, yeah, not ideal,” she said.
I opened the menu, my heart still several beats faster than normal. Why did it care so much? This was Oliver. My sister was right. I should’ve just waved hi and smiled big and said something like,Youdostill exist outside the apps.“Besides, it wouldn’t be a meet-cute. We’ve already met. Years ago.” And it went terrible. So bad.
“What’s your favorite meet-cute?” she asked. “Out of all the books you’ve read or movies you’ve watched.”
That was one of my favorite questions. “I’m a fan of the trapped together somewhere with a stranger. Or fake dating. Like inThe Proposal.”
Audrey scrunched her nose. “But they already knew each other in the movie too.”
“True. So it would have to be more like if we showed up here today and there was a hot guy waiting outside and he grabbed me by the hand before we went in and said,I need your help. I haven’t seen all my college buddies for years and they’re all engaged or married and I’m still sad and single. Will you pretend to be my girlfriend for the morning?”
Audrey raised her eyebrows. “A bunch of guys are meeting for brunch? Not believable.”
“Guys can meet for brunch.”
“They can, but do they?”
“They should. Besides, they brought dates, remember?”
“Oh, right. The dates. So you’d ditch me for this handsome college kid?”
“No, he hasn’t seen them in a long time. He’s a grown man now.”
“You’d ditch me for this grown man?”
“Absolutely.” I smiled. “You’d want me to, right? The universe would basically be dropping my future husband in my lap. You wouldn’t deny me that.”
“Never,” she said, putting her hand on her heart in a dramatic fashion.
“Thank you for your support.”
“But thank goodness that didn’t happen because you look like that. The guy would’ve waited for his next option.”
