Page 46 of Pity Present
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BLAKE
I really need to walk away from Molly and talk to other people. If not for my article, then for my sanity. Yet for obvious reasons, I don’t want to leave her side. She’s so darn lovely that I can’t stand the thought of other guys hitting on her—ones who aren’t good enough for her. As such, I decide to help her find the perfect guy. Then I’ll be free to do my job.
As we approach the man she expressed interest in, I can’t help but say, “He’s short.”
“Last night you suggested a man closer to my own height was the way to go.” She sounds mad and I don’t blame her.
“That was just Ronald. But now that I see how ill-suited the two of you are, I think you should set your sights higher. Literally.”
Reaching the target, I announce a touch too loudly, “Hello! What’s your name?”
The man takes a cautious step backward before answering, “Brian. What’s yours?”
“I’m Blake,” I tell him. “And this is my friend Molly.”
Molly rips her hand out of mine and extends it toward Brian. “Hi there.”
His eyes shift nervously from me to her. “Um, hello?”
“What do you do, Brian?” I ask.
“I’m an engineer. What do you do?” Again, he looks at me and then Molly like he’s not sure who he’s talking to.”
“I design hotel gift shops,” Molly tells him at the same time I announce, “I’m a barista/ novelist.”
Brian’s eyebrows furrow before he asks, “Are you two a couple?”
“No!” Molly screams.
“We’re good friends,” I tell him.
“And you’re here together?” he wants to know.
“No!” Again, from Molly.
“We met here,” I tell him.
Molly steps in front of me as though trying to pretend that I’m not even here. “What kind of engineer are you?” she asks Brian. “Mechanical? Civil? Chemical?”
Brian responds, “Train.”
“You design trains?” Molly asks.
“I drive them,” Brian says.
I don’t even try not to laugh at that and both Molly and Brian stare at me in horror. “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I didn’t mean any offense. It’s just that you don’t meet many train drivers, do you?”
“I do.”I bet you do, Brian.
Molly shakes her head and demands, “What is wrong with you, Blake?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I tell her. “I really didn’t mean to be rude.”
She shoos me away with her hand. “Go. Now.”
I don’t want to leave her here on her own, but I don’t have any choice. “I’ll meet you at the bar in thirty minutes,” I tell her.
