Page 67 of Partner Pursuit
“OMG, it’s the plot ofRebecca—get out now!” Eve said, talkingoverMax.
“Okay, okay, hold on here. He doesn’t have a dark side—hisex-girlfrienddoes; and hisex-girlfriendis alive, there’s no scary housekeeper, and he seemed to be trying to make clear that he isn’t still in love with her,” Audrey said. The clatter of plates from the kitchen punctuated Audrey’s defense as a waiter with a tray full of food emerged from the swinging kitchendoor.
“My advice is to steer clear of men with crazyex-girlfriends—especially those who call in the middle of the night and require the guy to come over,”Evesaid.
“And interrupt potential fooling around. I’m seeing Eve’s point here. Potential sex vs. consolingex-girlfriend. No contest,”Maxsaid.
“Man, you guys are so right. But I reallylikehim.”
The three friends considered options.
“Well, on the bright side, he’s interested,” Max consoled. “Aside from the possessive ex, he’s a good catch.”
“Personally, I wonder if she was just so attractive that he didn’t probe deeper,”Evesaid.
Max conceded that men mayinitiallyprioritize looks without a deeper analysis. “But to give Jake the benefit of the doubt, he probably didn’t know she was possessive when they first dated,” Max said, defending his gender. “And what about women who are attracted to bad boys? Case in pointhere.”
“Jake is not a ‘bad boy,’” Audreysaid.
“Putting aside his ex, I still prefer Jake to Tim. Although I did talk to Tim at the party, and maybe he’s not as boring as I thought,”Evesaid.
“Compared to Tim, Jake is definitely ‘the bad boy.’” Max snorted.
“Really, you liked Tim?” AudreyaskedEve.
“He was kind of sweet, and apparently he likes to cook. I talked to him for a while in the kitchen. He was even helpful. He said he’d heard a lot about mefromyou.”
“Points for Tim!” Max said. “I couldn’t tell if he liked you. You didn’t talk to him much, although you did look intimate together by the glassdoor.”
“No, Jake pulled me away from Tim, and we started dancing. And I really felt like there was chemistry and it was going to happen.”
“I thought so too,” Max said, rubbing hershoulders.
“And Tim came with Colette, so I thought that they might be dating. But then she left with some friend from college. Tim probably thinks I’m datingJake.”
“After last night.. .yes.”
Audrey’s work phone beeped. She rummaged around in her bag looking for it and said that it was probably Malaburn. “We’re filing our brief, and he keeps texting me changes. He dribbles them out like a sort oftorture.”
“It’s good you can joke about it.” Max exchanged a concerned lookwithEve.
Audrey intercepted that glance. “I’m better at handling him than I was the first time. But I’ll be glad when this is filed and he doesn’t have an excuse to text me every day.” She read the text. “It’s Tim. And he’s asking me if I want to see a movietonight!”
“Way to go!”Maxsaid.
“Men. Competition works. And he’s asking you for tonight to see if anything happened last night.” Eve shookherhead.
“Well, be coy about Jake. Don’t admit that nothing happened,”Maxsaid.
“Great, so I’m going to look like a slut,” Audreysaid.
“No, she should say nothing happened, and act surprised that he thought something did, but that they’re VERY close friends. It implies something could happen at any moment, and he better wrap this deal up!”Evesaid.
“Damn, Eve, you’re devious,” Max said, shakinghishead.
“I can’t believe I’m going on a date with Tim after the party last night. But I wish it was Jake asking me. Maybe I should say no.”
“You might as well go out to a movie with Tim and see what’s going on. You’ve had a crush on him for two years. And I don’t know what’s up with Jake. This ex seems to have made him really hesitant to get involved again,”Evesaid.
