Page 33 of We Met Like This
We’ve already had a first date.
If a second date doesn’t follow within a year, the dating history gets reset.
Not sure I want a reset on all my first dates.
I cringed, sure that was his nice guy way of saying,Yeah, we don’t need a reset on our terrible first date.And I agreed… didn’t I?
Do you live in Thousand Oaks?I typed back. That’s where I grew up and where my sister and my parents still lived. Andit’s where I’d gone today for the T-ball game and brunch afterward.
No, I live in Glendale. Do you live in Thousand Oaks?
I live in Glendale!It was weird to me that we didn’t know this very basic information about each other. One of the first things we should’ve known, it seemed. Well, not that weird; he had asked me next to no questions on our date. And I’d matched his energy.
That’s probably why the apps keep matching us, he responded.
Yes, that must be it. They don’t care about our compatibility, they just care that we can easily make late night house calls.
Why are we making late night house calls?I could practically hear the sarcasm in his voice.
I put my socked feet up on the coffee table in front of me.Oh, you know, borrowing a cup of sugar, or a toilet or something.
A toilet?
In this scenario my plumbing would be backed up and I wouldn’t be able to find a twenty-four-hour service to fix it at such a late hour.
Oh, right, the backed-up plumbing. I should’ve thought of that. Well, my toilet is yours if you ever need it.
Is toilet code for something else?I asked.
No!
I laughed.Sorry, you’re right. Toilets and carrots are completely different.
Entirely.
Why was your date bad?I texted.
We just didn’t connect, he responded.The older I get the more I realize I don’t want to settle. Alone isn’t the worst thing to be.
Is that how I sound when I say that?
How’s that?
I took two breaths and typed,Like I don’t mean it.
CHAPTER 11
Rob had “taken a personal day” on Monday and “had appointments out of the office” all day today. But I knew what was happening. He was avoiding me. As I thought back over the past three years, I realized this was a pattern. I brought up the promotion, he promised we’d talk about it, then he’d wait me out. I couldn’t believe I’d let him get away with this so many times. This time, I would outmaneuver him. I was his assistant. I filled in his schedule all the time with appointments and calls. I would add myself to his calendar. I’d even have another agent sit in so we both kept our hands where they belonged.
I pulled up his digital calendar for the week on my computer. He had an opening on Friday at eleven. Without giving away that it was going to be a meeting with me, I added myself to his calendar with the wordsMeeting in office. I even put my phone number after as the contact because I knew he didn’t have my number memorized. It wouldn’t set off any alarm bells. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to know it was ourtalk I scheduled, but I didn’t want him to prioritize something else over me.
Then I walked down the hall to the cubicles where I used to sit. Cole sat at his desk. If I were to guess, Cole was twenty-three. I knew he had literally just graduated the year before and had been here at our agency for six months. He was nice and eager, but we didn’t talk much.
“Is Rebecca available for a two-minute ask?” I didn’t do this. I didn’t march around the office demanding agents’ time. I did the opposite, did my best to help them have more time in their day. Even though I worked for Rob, I often filled in when the other two agents were between assistants. Answered phones, filed paperwork, scheduled appointments. I had earned some time.
“Let me check.” Cole picked up the phone on his desk and dialed. Into the phone he said, “You have a minute for Margot?” He listened for several beats, then hung up. “Go on in.”
“Thank you.”
