Margie shuffles some papers on her desk, pulling out a sheet and handing it to me. Once again, the words blur, but my mind knows exactly what it says. The words ‘job offer’ and ‘position’ jump out very clearly. “As you can see, we’re offering you a job. This is away from the intern competition going on. You’ll be a level II account manager with a secretary and five accounts. It’s very rare we offer a job like this to a graduating senior, but your knowledge, work ethic and ability to step in and do work outside of your project has spoken volumes to the senior managers.”
“Thank you, Margie.”
“No thanks are needed, Ben. You’re a rarity, and we’d love to have you on our team. The job would start on July first, giving you time to move and settle after graduation.”
I nod and look at the letter again. All the right words are there, making this a dream come true. “Can I think about it?”
“Of course. In the meantime, I want you working on the pharm project. We need fresh eyes on it.”
“You got it.” I leave her office, but inste
ad of going back to my desk, I take a walk down the hall, wishing I had my phone because I need to call… Elle. She’s who I want to call and tell my good news to, but I can’t. I won’t. Our conversation will have to wait until I’m home and we’re face to face.
Back at my desk, Talia watches me as I come down the aisle way. “How about dinner tonight?” I ask.
“Sure, I’ll ask the others. What time?”
I shake my head. “Just us.” Talia’s eyes light up, and she nods. “I’ll make the reservation.” As soon as I sit down, I glance quickly at Talia, but can only see her shoulders. My guess is she’s hunched over, typing on her phone, telling whoever the recipient is of her message that I asked her out. It’s a ballsy move, but one I knew she’d say yes to.
The rest of my day goes by seemingly. Even though Talia needs my assistance on our project, I manage to familiarize myself with the pharmaceutical file. Margie and I will meet and go over a plan of action to increase their brand awareness.
Once five o’clock hits, I’m packing up most of my stuff and waiting for Talia. Not once since we started, have we left at closing time. It’s probably my fault, and my desire to be the best at everything I do, which seems to have paid off with the job offer. I can’t wait to tell Brad, but again, I think it’s something I’ll do when I’m home. Taking the job seems like a no-brainer, and I’d be stupid to pass it up.
“Where are we going?” Talia asks as she steps out of her cubicle. She places her arm in mine, something she’s done from the first day we met.
“I made a reservation at Delmonico’s.”
Talia stops walking and pulls my arm, making me stop as well. “Ben, Delmonico’s is too expensive.”
“It’s fine, and we deserve a nice treat. Our time is almost up, might as well enjoy it.”
“If you say so,” Talia says, but there’s hesitancy in her voice. She’s right when a restaurant doesn’t list their menu prices, you know it’s way over your budget. But I want to celebrate, even if I can’t tell her why. Maybe once the winner of the competition’s announced, I’ll give Talia my news.
To save a bit of pocket change, we take the subway. It’s crowded, more so than usual with everyone being off work at this time and either heading home or going to hit happy hour. After our stop and once we’ve climbed the stairs to somewhat fresh air, my phone chimes. The number is unknown, which prompts me to look right away. “Shit,” I mumble.
“What’s wrong?” I show Talia the message from the restaurant, canceling our reservation. “I didn’t even know they could do something like that.”
“We were on a waitlist but told to arrive either way.”
“Huh,” she says, not looking impressed. Strike one for Ben. I look around to see what is near. Truthfully, I’m not upset because it’s money I don’t have to spend, but I did ask Talia out and want to make good on request. “Pizza?” I point across the street to the parlor.
“Perfect.”
What should’ve been a nice long dinner, turns into a quick thirty-minute stop. I’m horrible at the dating game, and maybe that’s why I never dared to ask Elle out. Nope, I’m fairly certain I never asked her out because I was afraid she’d say no.
Instead of heading right home, Talia and I decide to walk around town for a bit. It’s a nice night, but a bit on the chilly side. That’s the one thing I haven’t gotten used to, the weather. While it’s hot back home, New York is still in their spring stage, and the temperature fluctuates too much for my liking. I miss the warmth of the L.A. sun and honestly can’t wait to get back to it.
When we reach our neighborhood, we both stop at the Chinese restaurant and look at each other. “Are you still hungry?” I ask. Talia nods, and we walk in, ordering a few items to take back to our apartments.
“Do you want to come over and watch a movie?” she asks.
“Yeah, that sounds great,” I tell her as I reach for her hand. This feels right. Pursuing something with Talia is the right step for me, but doing so means I need to come clean about Elle.
Outside our apartment building, I pull out the key to our security door and hold it open for Talia. She pauses in front of me. “Thank you for tonight.”
“I’m not sure why you’re thanking me. Nothing has gone as planned.”
She shrugs. “Sometimes broken plans make the best dates.” Talia stands on her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. The kiss is warm. Her lips are soft… and everything is wrong because when I close my eyes, I see Elle. In fact, I hear her saying my name, which is ridiculous. When Talia pulls away, I hear my name again. This time I look around, and that’s when I see her, standing on the sidewalk, staring back at me.