Page 26 of Stick Side
Melody glanced over at Annie to see how she was faring only to find her friend wringing her hands together in a show of nervousness.
“Don’t worry, Annie,” Melody reassured. “I’m sure this is going to be fun. As Shawna pointed out, awkward interactions will be limited. On the other hand, if you find someone you enjoy talking to, you can exchange numbers and get together later to continue the conversation. There really isn’t a downside.”
“I know I don’t really have anything to lose by being here,” Annie agreed with a sigh. “And I really am excited. I’ve just never done this before. Since it’s new and I don’t know what to expect, I can’t help but feel nervous.”
“That’s understandable,” Melody affirmed. She punctuated her comment with a reassuring smile.
“Good evening, ladies!” one of the event organizers called out as she clapped her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “The gentlemen will be joining us in just a few minutes. For anyone new to our events, I’m Maureen Spencer, the general manager of Cupid Connections. Like Cupid, it’s my job to help orchestrate your romantic introductions. This evening, we have ten ladies and ten gentlemen present. That means you will have just under ten minutes with each gentleman. To reduceany potential awkwardness and help conversation flow a little more easily, there are decks of question cards on each table. I’d encourage you to use them. After all, there are only so many times you’re likely to enjoy going into detail about your name, occupation, and reason for coming here tonight.”
A few of the ladies chuckled. Melody imagined they had firsthand experience with the situation Maureen had just described.
“You will remain seated throughout the course of the event,” Maureen continued. “When the bell chimes, indicating the time to change partners, the gentlemen will get up and move to the next table. After you have conversed with all the gentlemen present, they will leave the room, indicate to one of my colleagues which of you they would be interested in hearing from, and then depart the premises. Once they leave the room, I will ask each of you which gentlemen you would be interested in getting to know better. If there’s a match, you will each receive the other’s contact information.”
“This protocol,” Maureen went on to explain, “dramatically minimizes the post-event odds of enduring the awkwardness of having to converse with a gentleman who would like to get to know you better, but whose interest you don’t reciprocate.”
Or vice versa, Melody thought, though Maureen didn’t say as much.
“Okay, ladies. If you could please take your seats,” Maureen instructed. “You’ll note that your name has been placed on one of the tables.”
“Good luck!” Melody said to Annie as they both went off to look for their tables. Melody found her seat at table three and noticed that Annie had been placed at table seven. She was curious whether friends were deliberately separated. After all, how awkward might it be to have a front row seat to witnessingone’s friend flirting with a person one might wind up in a relationship with?
It had occurred to Melody, while Annie was confessing to her nerves, that there was one potentially glaring problem associated with going to such events with a friend. What if they both hit it off with the same guy? Melody cringed inwardly at the prospect and promised herself that she would avoid future contact with anyone Annie might be interested in. Surely, no guy was worth risking a friendship over.
No sooner had all the ladies taken their seats than the men started to file into the room. Melody did a double take when she noticed a man who looked remarkably like Ben. As he walked directly toward her and took the seat across from her, she discovered she wasn’t mistaken.
As he moved to sit down, she couldn’t help but notice how incredibly attractive he looked in his dark blue jeans, white button-down shirt, and navy-blue sport coat. If the editors ofGQcould see him right now, she felt quite certain they would try to hire him to be their next cover model. She resisted the urge to sigh in the face of his near picture-perfect good looks.
“Good evening, Melody,” he greeted warmly as he took his seat. His eyes surveyed the name plate in front of her before meeting her no doubt bewildered gaze.
“Hi,” she breathed, rather impressed with herself for being able to form words under the circumstances. “What are you doing here?” She was happy to see him, but she couldn’t quite understand why he was at a speed dating event, let aloneherspeed dating event. Surely to goodness, a criminally handsome professional athlete didn’t need to go to such extremes to meet women.
“Tsk, tsk,” Ben gently scolded. “Aren’t we supposed to avoid that question in favor of these cards?” He gently rapped the topof the deck with a closed fist. His warm smile told her plainly that he didn’t really mind that she’d asked the question.
“Let’s just say,” Ben volunteered, “that a little birdie may have tipped me off that I might be able to find you here tonight.”
She felt her eyes widen in surprise before her eyebrows furrowed together in thought. “Might this little birdie go by the name of Shawna?”
Ben laughed deeply. “Okay. So, two little birdies might have sung me a song about your intended whereabouts this evening.” The twinkle in his eyes suggested she’d guessed right on at least one count.
Melody thought some more. “Pam?” she guessed.
“More or less,” Ben admitted.
“Kevin,” Melody corrected.
Ben angled his head in acknowledgment.
“I guess a few people wanted to get you here tonight,” she observed.
His eyes danced in a way she found incredibly attractive. “It would seem so.”
“I can’t say I mind the help,” Ben admitted. “I mean, just how much competition are you trying to give me?” he asked as he gestured toward the other men in the room.
She gave a lopsided grin. “I kind of got roped into it,” she admitted.
A slightly embarrassed laugh escaped her lips. It felt a little too mortifying to tell him the girls had talked her into coming in order to help her build up her confidence to datehim. As such, she opted for a different truth. “Pam’s sister, Annie, just broke up with a guy she’d been seeing. Annie wanted to come tonight but felt like she needed a wing woman.”
Ben smiled that warm, generous smile of his that never failed to set her heart aflutter. “I’m getting the impression you were voluntoldto attend tonight’s event?”
