Page 24 of The Boardroom: Kirk
She bites her lip and thinks. “Ya know…stuff.”
I nod politely and look over at Marissa, wondering if she’s surprised by what a mess Ella seems to have turned into since high school. However, she seems unfazed, as if Ella is still the prom queen she was all those years ago. From what I can tell, she seems unemployed, and unmarried…I guessed she was still living off her parent’s money.
“What doyoudo?” Ella asks, as if she’s countering an insult.
“Like Marissa mentioned already, I’m a lawyer at Torver Corporation,” I say, and Ella looks bored.
The conversation diverts to what Marissa has been up to since high school, and what I’ve been up to since high school, and Ella still shares nothing, probably feeling inadequate and obviously very annoyed by it. Hell hath no fury like the tables being turned on a prom queen…even I knew that.
“You were pretty weird back then,” Ella says to me, as if it’s an objective fact.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, laughing it off politely.
“I mean it,” Ella says, and Marissa just stares at us both blankly, as if she’s watching a car crash. “I remember the things people used to say about you…you weren’t exactly well liked.”
The wordswell you weren’t exactly well liked, eithernearly slip off my tongue, but I keep quiet. I had to be the better man here.
“Well, I’m happy now,” I said. “And that’s all that matters.”
Marissa looks desperate to change the subject. “Has anyone seen that new show with the detectives who—”
Ella cuts her off immediately. “There was a point where I remember you not having very many friends at all, actually.” She takes a sip of her mojito and slams it down on the table. “So, I mean, there must have been something wrong with you.”
I grip my glass so hard I’m afraid it’ll crack in my hands. “I was a shy kid, but I was okay,” I said, trying to remember that Ella’s words probably came from a deeply insecure place. “I had a lot of good friends in high school though. They were great guys, and we had a lot of fun.”
“A bunch of fucking nerds, if you ask me,” Ella says, scoffing as she bites down on a carrot stick. “I have no idea why Marissa ever sunk to the level of dating you. We all thought she was pathetic, for a while.”
“That’s enough reminiscing, I think,” Marissa said. “What do you guys think of these empanadas? There’s not enough stuffing in them, if you ask me.”
We both stared at Marissa harshly.
“Jake had the funniest nickname for you in high school, Kirk,” Ella said. “What was it again?”
“You know what,” I said. “I’m tired, I think I’m going to leave.”
“Pity,” Ella said, sarcastically raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, but you’re my ride,” Marissa said, only now starting to realize how much she was pissing me off.
“Yeah,” I said. “I am. So, you can come with me now, or you can call a cab.” I turned around and walked out of the bar, shoving the door open and storming off to the parking garage.
I heard the clacking rhythm of heels behind me and saw Marissa running towards me. “Kirk, wait,” she said, but I didn’t turn around. I walked among the rows of cars in the dingy garage until I found mine, leaning up against it as I waited for Marissa to catch up.
“Kirk,” Marissa said, running up to face me. “I’m sorry Ella was so rude, she’s always been kind of a bitch, and—”
“You don’t have to tell me,” I said sarcastically, shoving my hands into the pockets of my coat. “But you could have told her.”
“What?”
“Oh please, Marissa,” I said, trying not to yell. “This? Again?Ella,again? I should have known.”
“Kirk…”
“First of all,” I said, “You were very good at managing to not mention the fact that we’re dating, no matter how many opportunities presented themselves—”
“I’m sorry, I forgot, I just—”
“Bullshit,” I shook my head.
