Chương 7: Drinks (1)

Suddenly Celine felt this prickling sensation like someone was staring, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw it was her guy in the dark suit. So she stared right back, issuing a challenge. ‘Oh! Hey, there, cutie! Took you a while to notice me,’ she thought. ‘Let’s see who gives up first?’ She was getting braver, not tearing her gaze away. And then he smiled, and so did she. She felt like some communication passed between them in the few seconds they stared at each other.

‘He has a cute smile, maybe I will say hi… later,’ she smiled again as she averted her eyes, playing coy. She never had luck finding anyone here in the club. Most of these men wanted hookups and nothing else.

Half of them are probably married, trying to get an easy lay. What made her think this was going to be different?

‘Oh well, we’ll find out later.’ She took one more look before she turned around and started listening to the conversations happening around her.

After playing what seems like the longest game of cat and mouse ever, she begins again, to better evaluate Max’s level of interest. Whenever she uses this tactic, men grow bored and search for easier conquest, forgetting about her altogether.

It was all a test, of course, Celine would not let them get to her that easily. If they can’t bother to wait for her to pay attention to them, then they’re not worth talking to.

‘I wonder if he’ll follow me if I go to the restroom?’ she thinks, but now feels nervous. ‘God, I don’t even know what’s come over me, blatantly seeking his attention as if I wanted him. As if I knew what I was doing.’

‘But maybe it’s better if I make the first move and come to him instead of him coming to me. I really don’t want my co-workers to talk to him. They’re too much sometimes, and they’d probably just try to hit on him, anyway. I’m not okay with that.’ She frowned. ‘What’s with this guy, anyway? Why am I crushing on him so hard?"

Suddenly, she was freaking out. ‘What if he’s still interested, and follows me to the restroom? ‘

‘Omg, this would be a first for me. What if I get tongue-tied? Omg, why am I so nervous? ‘

‘It’s going to be okay, just play it cool,’ she told herself.

She takes one last drink and suddenly stands up, telling her friends that she needs to go to the ladies’ room. When they offer to go with her, she declines. This is something she wants to do alone, preferably without an audience. If she makes an ass of herself, then no one else is to blame. She makes a beeline for the guy with the dark blue suit purposefully, making eye contact as she walks past him towards the opposite end of the room. Sending him an invitation. ‘Come, follow me.'

-=-

Together

There was a long hallway leading to the restroom, offering the perfect opportunity for them to talk without being interrupted. The music in this area wasn’t too loud either, so there would be no need to shout or get too close to each other. She hated it when drunk men got too close. They had that unpleasant odor of intoxication seeping from their pores, and it disgusted her.

Max called out. ‘Excuse me!’ He ran to catch up.

Celine looked back for a second, but then kept on walking a little slower so he could come up closer. ‘I’m Max, and I would like to know your name, and if it’s not too forward, I would like to ask for your number too,’ he finished as he reached her side.

Celine was too nervous, but she wanted to play it cool. She just looked at him and pushed the door into the restroom.

‘Shit! Shit! Shit! I froze! Dammit!’

‘What do I do now? I hope he’s still out there. No, I hope he left. No. Ugh!’

‘Let me rehearse what I’m going to say,’ she tried to figure it out while she used the restroom. When a couple of women came in, she lost her nerve to go out. She waited until they left so nobody would hear her babbling.

‘Here we go. Don’t be too easy but don’t play too hard to get. We want him interested. Don’t talk too much,’ she instructed herself. ‘Okay, shut up!’

When she came out, she was ready to be disappointed that he left, but there he was, leaning against the wall, playing with his phone. He smiled at her when she came out. ‘So about that number?’ he asked. She liked his persistence.

‘I’m Celine,’ she had her hand out to take his phone. ‘If you stalk me or try to sell me something, I will give your number to the sex hotline,’ she warns.

Max laughs and almost drops his phone as he passes it to her. He suddenly felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Her beauty was even more striking up close. He had surmised that it was the dim lighting and alcohol buzz that was causing such an overpowering attraction, but no, this was something more.

‘Her eyes are very lovely. They look like melted milk chocolate. I feel like I’ve seen eyes like those before, though,’ he shakes his head for a moment, removing the images of other women’s faces from his thoughts, ‘She has very long lashes, and her mouth looks so inviting,’ he thinks as he gazes at her very intently.

He wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing on his phone because she mesmerized him. The distance between them was getting closer, as he started moving towards her inch by inch. He inhaled to get a whiff of her perfume. ‘Hmmm... I know that scent. Her perfume smells a little like Clara’s, but this was a little more fruity,’ he smiles and closes his eyes, taking another whiff. Her scent was invading his heart.

She was becoming conscious of his eyes locked on her face, and she fumbled several times, trying to remember how to figure out how to add a phone number. ‘Damn!’ she thinks, ‘We even have the same phone, but his nearness is making me nervous.’

When she finally figures it out, she hears him take a deep breath. ‘Is he trying to sniff me?’

She glances at him, amused. ‘He is sniffing me out. Well, I do smell good today. ‘Daisy Eau So Fresh’, really makes you feel fresh,’ she thought, smiling to herself. It took a while to convince herself to get this perfume because she had to splurge for it. She recently started working, and splurging on that tiny bottle of perfume was not a good way to spend $100 of her hard-earned money.

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