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They wove through the next set of racks to a new location that looked promising. Marsie still only had the one sweater over her arm.
“Are you telling me opposites attract? I don’t believe that at all.” Her parents were proof that opposites might attract, but they detracted just as fast.
“This is the top for you.” Beck held up her find and Marsie laughed. The shirt was a pretty metallic blue jacquard, but it couldn’t decide how it wanted to be a mix of both edgy and romantic.
“It should either be off the shoulder or have ruffles or have a high neck or an eye-catching collar. It can’t have all the above. Too bad, because it’s a pretty fabric.”
“It’s silk,” Beck said, putting the top back on the rack.
“So it’s probably more than I want to spend.”
Her friend checked the tags. “Three hundred and fifty dollars.”
“If I make it to the sex date with a man, I’ll consider spending that much on a top, but not when I’ve not even kissed a guy. And not on that top,” she said with a vigorous shake of her head.
“Wait? Which one’s the sex date?” Beck was still holding the top. She looked at it, shook her head and hung the blouse back on the rack. “Never mind. You have too many rules. I want to finish talking about opposites attract.”
“What’s there to talk about? Dating someone different from you seems very exciting. Then the sex wears off, and you’re left staring at someone you have nothing in common with while picking at your dinner. Which they made, so it’s nothing you like.”
“Your parents must really hate each other. Everything you’ve ever said about them makes me think that’s them talking.”
“Hate is a strong word.” And, if she were being honest with herself, was probably the right word for how her father felt about her mother. Her mom had always seemed a little sad about the whole thing, like she’d been reaching for an amazing dream, failed, and hadn’t yet managed to fully wake up. Even after more than thirty years.
Beck looked closely at Marsie, seeming to examine every line of her face. Then she went back to flipping through the tops like this was a casual conversation.
They both realized that this had stopped being a casual conversation a while ago. Beck had significant advice she wanted to give; she just needed to figure out how to say it. Finally, she stopped moving shirts around on the rack and put her hands on the metal rung. “It’s not that you’re not looking for someone who is the opposite of you, but that you’re looking for you. For someone with your education and your kind of job, who reads your kind of books and likes your kind of movies. Who’s your kind of introverted and wants to eat your kind of food. Like you’re a sock that got separated from its mate in the dryer.”
Beck suddenly looked sad, like she had a vision of Marsie’s future and it snapped her heart in two. “You’ll never grow. In fact, I think you’ll contract that way. You’ll shrink until you disappear. You need someone to challenge you.”
Her friend’s words hit a little too close to something that sounded true, and the smack stung. “My date wasn’t ever going to be a challenge.”
Jason would, but she was pretty sure he didn’t like the same kind of movies she did. And she wasn’t sure what she thought about his job. He was smart. Why was he doing maintenance in an office building?
You could ask him. Asking him would be inviting intimacy, which she wasn’t sure she wanted. Then she’d have to share parts of herself with him, and his smile might be more teasing than she was comfortable with.
Work was challenging enough.
“I’m not talking about your horrible date,” Beck snapped and Marsie stepped back, blinking in surprise.
“Sorry. That came out more harshly than I meant. That guy sounded like an ass. And there are asses out there. If anything, it should prove to you that a man who scores well on your algorithm has as much of a chance of being an ass as a man who only gets two points for being gorgeous. Date people who don’t pass your algorithm. Grow a little. Be willing to change your mind.”
Beck’s sadness wasn’t only about Marsie, she realized with a flash of insight. “How is marital counseling going?”
