Page 77 of The Moon Also Rises
He doesn’t look up for a few seconds but then lowers his phone and presses a single finger to his chest. “Oh, sorry. Are you talking to me? Or Jack?”
I sigh. “I did try to correct him multiple times.”
“I noticed. Thank you for trying.”
“He was a bit…” I begin but don’t have the right word.
“A bit of a slimeball?” Jake finishes for me, because of course he has the right word.
“Something like that.” I chuckle.
“He really did like you, you know,” Jake says and briefly his gaze and busy fingers return to his phone. “You could have got his number, if you wanted.”
“I did not want,” I say easily.
Jake’s mouth twitches and I half expect a smile to land there but it doesn’t.
“So what do you want?” Jake says and his question stuns me a little.
“Sorry?”
“You said my name,” he says, his curious eyes searching my face.
“Oh, yeah,” I say, abruptly feeling stupid. I suck in a deep breath.
“Would you like to have dinner with me on Friday night?” I venture feeling waves of nerves rise and fall in my gut.
Jake doesn’t speak for a few seconds. He doesn’t even look at me and his expression remains almost neutral, which for him is nothing short of alarming.
“Are you asking me out on a date?” he finally asks with only the slightest head turn towards me.
I decide to answer this question as truthfully as I can. “I’d like to spend some more time with you away from work, and away from fake dating scenarios.”
“So, it’s not a date?” Jake says, still frustratingly empty in the expression department.
“Not if you don’t want it to be,” I say. And I realise this much is true. If Jake isn’t interested in me like this, then I would still like to be friends. I want that so much I’m prepared to try and find a way to nuke the other feelings that have been bubbling up in the last week.
“I’d love to have dinner with you, Rami, but I’m afraid I can’t,” Jake says, and my stomach wastes no time in plummeting to the ground. “At least not on Friday. I have literally just agreed to have dinner with Derek and Harry, having just informed them I was bullied into agreeing to have my 40th birthday party in the most sumptuous venue. I would try and rearrange but Harry is jetting off to Lisbon early on Saturday and I am honestly quite looking forward to gloating about how impressive it is my party will be at Clapham Manor House. Thank you for that, by the way.”
“Pleasure.” I nod. While I’m relieved I’m not getting rejected because Jake doesn’t want to have dinner with me, I don’t enjoy the reminder that he has such a busy social life. I let myself wince a little before I ask my next question, feeling like I’m revealing a lot about myself, about how dull and lacking my own social life is. “How about Saturday night?”
If Jake is confused or put off, he doesn’t let it show.
“Let me check,” he says raising his phone and swiping and tapping. “Shit, no can do. My friend Dana is in town. She’s only here for the weekend then flying back to Barcelona on Sunday so I really can’t move it around. Sorry.”
It should be a comfort that he does sound sorry, but I don’t feel comforted at all.
“How about Sunday? I could do brunch or lunch instead of dinner?” Jake’s suggestion helps me feel a little better, but my answer quickly mitigates that reassurance.
“I can’t,” I say. “Sundays I spend with my family.”
“You can’t miss one?” Jake doesn’t sound pushy or condescending, more curious.
“No, I’m sorry, I can’t.”
Jake takes a moment to consider his response and that blank look returns to his face.
“I understand,” he says. “And I think that’s very admirable.”
