Page 61 of The Valentines Day Proposal

“Well, that’s interesting,” Eve said. “Isn’t it, Katy?”

Eve would you stop with all that? Katy wanted to ask so badly. “Yeah, it is.”

There was a long pause where the conversation had fallen flat. Eve backed out in her seat and stood up. “I’ll be right back. Gotta go to the ladies room for a moment. You too can keep on talking while I’m gone.”

Rob nodded, helping Eve to push her chair back under the table. “Okay.”

Katy continued smiling at Rob while Eve headed back toward a dim hallway that led to the restroom at the very back of the bar. Just as Eve slipped out of sight, she looked at Katy and held up both thumbs. Katy scorned her friend with just a look. Eve zipped on down the hallway when Rob turned and looked.

Rob turned back to Katy. “Well, your friend Eve seems….interesting.”

Katy scoffed. “Yeah, well, that’s one way to put it.”

Rob picked up on Katy’s uneasiness, but there was something about her that made working his way to their table all worth it. He looked at the time. “Well, I had better go ahead and pay and get going.” He smiled at Katy. “I hope I didn’t scare you too much.”

Katy giggled, feeling a little bad about the situation because of how she might’ve come across. “Scare me? Rob, you didn’t scare me.” This guy actually turned out to be nice to talk to, Katy thought. Can hold a good conversation and is actually interesting.

“Hmm,” Rob said. He stood up, glanced back toward the hallway, then at Katy. “I’ll be right back.”

Katy nodded then watched as Rob headed over to the bar. She sat nervously, wondering what he was going to come back and say. In some ways, she solaced in the silence while Eve went to the bathroom.

“Thought too soon,” Katy mumbled to herself. Just then, Eve came walking out of the hallway with her head high and her eyes eyeing any man in the room who appeared to be single.

Eve came back over to the table after looking at Rob up at the bar. “So, what happened, Katy? You didn’t scare the guy off, did you? You know how you can be.”

“Eve, I’m going to choke you when we leave here,” Katy said. “I swear I am.”

“What, you don’t like him?” Eve asked. “He’s nice. He doesn't seem creepy or like a serial killer.” She giggled. “Heck, the serial killer could be you, really. What a perfect disguise. A school teacher who stays single is secretly cutting heads off and keeping them in a secret location at the back of her parent’s massive property. Sounds like a good move, though, Katy.”

Katy chuckled then she saw Rob headed back over to the table. “Yeah...and the story ends with this teacher cutting her childhood friend’s off and it being the first one found at the back, by the creek.”

Eve had just been about to come back with something sarcastic when Rob approached the table once again. The two women looked up at him.

“Well, it was nice to meet the two of you,” Rob said. He extended his arm to shake Eve’s hand then he looked at Katy, clearly directing his words at her. “It was certainly nice to talk to you and you really should try to get some of your traveling goals out of

the way while you’re still in your twenties.”

Katy giggled and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Here,” Rob said, handing Katy his card. “Here’s my card. If you’re interested, maybe we could go out to dinner sometimes.”

Katy, surprised and taken aback but a little excited, accepted the card and took a glance at it. “Well, thank you, Rob.”

“No, thank you for letting me come and sit with you guys,” Rob said. “And I went ahead and took care of the bill for you too. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh,” Katy said. “Well, thank you. I appreciate that.”

Eve followed up with her thank you. Rob said his goodbyes one again then headed for the door. Once he stepped out onto the street and disappeared, Eve leaned in with a big smile on her face. “See, wasn’t he nice? Serial killers don’t pay for your drinks.”

“Eve, let me just finish my drink so we can leave,” Katy said. “Thank God I drove my car.”

***

Despite how overbearing Eve could be, she truly was a good person to talk to. Even when Katy was nervous about something, or even scared, she came to her side with positive reinforcement. After leaving the Blue Lagoon, Eve insisted they walk around downtown a bit before heading home. It had only been 7:30 – the sun had barely been set for fifteen minutes as they zigzagged through the narrow streets, skyscrapers and condos hugging either side.

“So, since tonight seems to be all about me dating, Eve,” Katy asked, having walked the last block in silence with so much on her mid. “I want to ask you what you think about the Brennon situation.”

Eve’s ears perked up and she was anxious to give her point of view. “Okay, great. What do I think of it? In what way? I remember you telling me about how you two had a little late lunch, early dinner or whatever you wanna call it. I told you he seemed nice based on what I saw of him on the patio. You yourself said you’ve known the guy for most of your life, right?”

---