Page 25 of Cocky Nerd
He has transformed into Mr. Double Date. He is somehow always attentive to meandour hosts, smiling and chatting casually in a way that I have never witnessed before. It’s like he flipped aswitch.
I suppose I’m staring at John a little too hard while he talks to Mr. Investor Guy about food tech, because Mrs. Investor Guy has to reach across the small table to tap my hand to get myattention.
She wrinkles her nose while grinning at me. “How did you twomeet?”
“Oh I’ve known him pretty much my whole life,really.”
“No! You’re so lucky. I have so many single girlfriends who are dying to meethim.”
“Really? You mean women in Houston?” I look over at John, fully aware that he’s capable of listening to more than one conversation at once. He squeezes mythigh.
“Houston. Austin. Here. New York. I have friends all over. You do realize he’s famous! How long have you been dating? I didn’t realize he wasn’tsingle.”
“We just re-connected quite recently,actually.”
“A whirlwind romance. I loveit.”
“Yeah, it is. It’s quite the whirl of wind. We grew up together, in Cleveland. He’s my brother’s bestfriend.”
“No! So cute! You must have had such a crush on him growingup!”
I try not to make a face.No. Wait. Did I have a crush on him? No. Definitely not. Change thesubject.
“How did you and your husbandmeet?”
“I contacted him onTwitter.”
“Really?”
Shenods.
“So it was love at firstTweet?”
“I wish. I practically stalked him. He finally agreed to meet me for a cup of coffee in between meetings, but…we’ve been together ever since. They just need to be tied down. I mean I really don’t know if you understand how lucky you are. I have girlfriends who applied to this matchmaking service in Sausalito specifically because they’re hoping to be set up with your boyfriend. But apparently he won’t even sign up forit.”
“Really? A matchmakingservice?”
“Uh huh. It’s high-end. Have you ever seen Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo? It’s likethat.”
“I don’t havecable.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t been scouted. You’d be perfect. I mean, if you weren’t already taken. It’s how a lot of high caliber women meet high net worth men in the Bay Areanowadays.”
“Fascinating. I had no idea.”Silly me, wasting my life with talented artist-types.
“But I’m sure you meet men like that all the time, being a fancydancer.”
“You’d think. I must throw off a low-classvibe.”
“Hah! Not atall.”
At this dinner,I learn that John owns a co-work space in Sausalito, that he rents out to up-and-coming tech nerds who want to work on their laptops in a public space amongst others like them who are doing the same, but without all the annoying baristas and college students around them. I learn that he has two offices in Palo Alto—one at Brainy Biz headquarters, where he is CEO and oversees forty employees, one at his small venture capital firm, which is called General Relativity Ventures, where he employs eight. He is cautious about rapid growth and scaling too fast, he says. His ambitions are tempered by a desire to one day have a family, he says, squeezing myhand.
I have to wonder why he’s trying to impress this upon Mr. Investor Guy. It doesn’t seem like he needs any more incentive to do business with John. Surely he isn’t trying to impress me by sayingthat.
A well-dressed young man who’s about my age approaches our table hesitantly, to shake John’s hand and thanks him because Brainy Biz helped him score a greatjob.
It seems I’m the last person in the Bay Area to discover what a catch John Brandtis.
When Elaine excuses herself to go to the ladies room, I check my phone. I have over three hundred new followers on Instagram, a text from Franklin calling me a lucky slut, a text from Callie asking me if that’s her green dress that I’m wearing (it isn’t), and a recent text from my brother that says:Have you been kidnapped by my friend?WTF?!
I guess they all follow my fake boyfriend on Instagram nowtoo.
When Elaine returns from the restroom, John stands and excuses himself. He shows me the Caller ID on his phone. My brother is calling him. “I should take this,” hesays.
He doesn’t look nervous, exactly, but he doesn’t look relaxedeither.
It’s cute. It makes me feel homesick again and I like him evenmore.
