Page 44 of The Lessons

Dammit.

I couldn’t believe I’d asked him his sign. He probably thought the question was so lame. And now, that I was so lame. Which I was. Because I was checking my phone constantly.

I wondered if I should just text him. I mean, he had given me his number first, right? When we’d met at the library. Plus, he’d texted me…

Fuck, I couldn’t text him. I mean, really—what would I even say?

Hi, just me. Just thinking about that thing you did. You know, your lips on my V.

Hey, Andrews, thanks for the O.

Glad to know you’re a Leo. Wanna roar in my vagina?

God, I’m such a disaster,I admonished myself as I put my phone in my purse and tried to refocus on the conversation in front of me.

“So then, I was, like, ‘put it in,’ and he was, like, ‘Itisin.’” Justine covered her mouth like she’d just divulged a juicy secret.

“No!” Paulina shouted a little too loudly.

Folks at the other tables started to turn around to look at us.

“Oh, my God,” whispered Renee, covering her eyes.

I took a big mouthful of my Cobb salad.

Justine nodded solemnly. “Yes.”

“That is so disappointing. Hollis is so hot.”

“Who’s Hollis again?” I asked while covering my mouth full of greens.

“Hottie from Senza Corp, the company on the floor below.”

“We’ve been talking to each other in the elevator for, what, three months?”

“Six,” Renee corrected.

“Six months! And he finally asked me out last week. To say he was a little disappointing would be to put it mildly.” She grabbed a breadstick off the table and broke it in half before holding it up.

“So disappointing,” Paulina lamented.

“Seriously,” Renee echoed. “Remind me to shut up next time I complain about my husband. I’d hate to be out there in the game right now.”

I stuck another giant bite of salad in my mouth.

After lunch, my boss Cathy swung by my office.

“Hey, Natalie, I just wanted to check in and see how things were going on the customer development project. Do you think we’re on track to present next week?”

“Oh, absolutely. In fact, I printed a draft of the summary for you. Hang on, I know it’s here somewhere.” I flipped through the papers on my desk. I had printed it this morning before my meeting with the designers, or at least, I thought I had.

“You know what? I’ll email it to you. I thought I printed it, but I must have not.”

“No problem, Natalie. Email works. Saves trees and all that.” She made a flappy gesture with her hand. “Everything else going okay? Getting the support you need?”

I really did luck out with Cathy. She was proving to be a great boss. I mean, who asks that?

“Yeah. I am. Thanks, Cathy. Everyone’s been great. I’m going to send you that summary now.”

---