First Sight

by Donohue, Laura

  Marissa had emailed everything to Jennifer before we left last night. She’d been more than pleased with the work we’d done, and everything was off at the publisher’s now and finally out of our hands. The relief was palpable in the air, and the light-hearted atmosphere at our table made it feel more like a Friday afternoon than a typical Thursday. A couple of the web developers who’d been updating the website for publication were celebrating at a table near us, but I was seated as usual with Travis, Marissa, and Elizabeth.

  Travis had his arm casually slung around my shoulders, and I realized that it was the first time that our team had eaten lunch together since Travis and I had started dating. His fingertips absently caressed the skin on my arm, and I snuggled closer to him as we relaxed and finished eating.

  “You two look so cute together,” Marissa said, pausing in the midst of popping a french fry in her mouth.

  “I have to agree,” Elizabeth said with a smile.

  “And we have you to thank, right?” Travis teased.

  “Well, sort of,” Marissa said, looking thoughtful.

  I grabbed a fry and tossed it in her direction.

  “Hey!” she protested. “What was that for?”

  “We have you to thank,” I scoffed playfully.

  “Hey, Elizabeth and I have been planning this for months,” Marissa said.

  “Elizabeth, too?” Travis asked, confused.

  “Oh, they were both more than happy to discuss it with me,” I said with a grin. “Some more so than others,” letting my eyes come to a rest on Marissa.

  “Well, hey, it all worked out,” Travis quipped, leaning down to give me a quick kiss on the lips.

  “Oh, you two,” Marissa said, jokingly rolling her eyes. “All lovey-dovey….”

  “What’s up, guys?” Jeff asked, stopping by our table on his way out.

  “Hey man,” Travis said, reaching over to shake his hand. “You guys headed out?”

  “Yeah, I gotta get back to fix some broken link on the website—it’s always something, right? We should’ve gone out to happy hour instead so that we could’ve had a few drinks.”

  “I’m not above drinking during the lunch hour,” Travis joked.

  “Maddy and I are meeting a friend of ours for dinner, so we’ll be sure to have plenty of drinks then to make up for it,” Marissa teased.

  “A friend, huh?” Travis said eyeing me with a twinkle is his brown eyes. “Anyone I should be worried about?”

  “Not unless you’re worried about Marissa and Emily,” I said with a laugh.

  “I’m always worried about Marissa.”

  “Well, on that note, I’ll catch up with you all later,” Jeff said, waving goodbye as he headed out the door.

  “I heard that,” Marissa said, playfully raising her eyebrows at Travis.

  “How are things going with Rob?” Elizabeth asked, effectively changing the subject.

  “Ugh, don’t ask,” Marissa groaned.

  Elizabeth and I exchanged glances. “What happened?” I asked, confused.

  Marissa proceeded to start telling us about her latest date with Rob, which hadn’t gone exactly as she hoped. Travis caught my eye and grinned, and I knew that some things would never change. We’d probably be sitting here a year from now listening to Marissa tell us another story about another guy she’d just started dating, no doubt simultaneously complaining about some fault she’d found with her latest suitor. She’d yet to find her so-called perfect guy, although it definitely wasn’t for lack of trying. She seemed to have more dates than anyone I knew, but she was also quick to judge.

  This time around, Rob had wanted to split the check after they’d gone on several dates together, and Marissa had been offended. “He asked me out,” she argued. “Doesn’t that mean he should pay for the date? Right Maddy?” she looked over at me pointedly.

  “Well, I guess technically, yes. But it’s not like this was your first date. You’ve gone out several times and are seeing each other, right? I mean if it was the first or second time he asked you out, I think it would be polite for him to pay. But after you’ve been dating awhile, it makes sense to split the checks. I mean he can’t just keep paying for everything forever.”

  “Well, he could,” she replied, sounding miffed. “He just doesn’t want to.”

  “What’s the big deal anyway?” Travis asked, looking a little puzzled. “You have a job; you want to spend time together. Wouldn’t you pay your own way if you were going out with Maddy or one of your other friends? Why should the guy get stuck paying for everything?”

  “It’s just the principle of the matter. He asked me out on another date.”

  “So, are you going to see him anymore?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Marissa said with a sigh. “I like him, but I’m just getting frustrated already.”

  “Why don’t you just wait and see how it goes?” I asked. “I mean if you really like him….”

  “Maybe. He better shape up though.”

  The rest of us burst out laughing.

  “You keep him in line, Marissa,” Travis joked.

  “All right, I can see lunch here is over,” she said as she stood up. “Elizabeth?” I exchanged glances with Elizabeth, and she shrugged. It was obvious that Marissa was annoyed at both Travis and me, so Elizabeth headed back with her while Travis and I lingered behind.

  I gathered my things, and Travis put his arm around my shoulders as we slowly walked back to the office. “Marissa was sure in a good mood today,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

  “Don’t I know it. And you’ve only been here a few months. The rest of us have been listening to her dating stories for over a year!”

  “You have my sympathy,” he said, nodding seriously, a gleam in his eye as he attempted to keep a straight face.

  I playfully jabbed him with my elbow. “I know you’re happy you missed out on all that.”

  “Maybe a little,” he said with a laugh, pulling me even closer. “So anyway, you already have plans tonight?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Yeah, I promised Emily that I’d go shopping with her to buy a wedding present for her cousin. And we were planning to meet for drinks and maybe dinner beforehand.”

  “Oh,” Travis replied, his face slightly falling.

  “But hey,” I said, touching him lightly on the arm, “Why don’t we do something tomorrow night?”

  “Okay,” he said, the smile returning to his face. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Well, I was just at your place last weekend. Why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow? I’ll even attempt to cook for us.”

  “That sounds good. What can I bring?”

  I thought for a moment, unsure of what I even planned to make for dinner. “Wine?”

  “Sure,” Travis said with a gentle laugh. “I can bring a bottle of wine.”

  We stepped onto the elevator in our building to head back up to our office. As the doors closed behind us, we found ourselves alone for the first time all day. Travis placed both hands on my waist and leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on my lips. “Mmmm, we definitely don’t get enough alone time at the office,” he mumbled.

  I reached up and cupped his face in my hands, holding him to me. I could feel the slight stubble on his jaw beneath my fingers and, as I stood up on my tiptoes to kiss him back, his warm mouth against my own. “Tomorrow,” I whispered. His warm brown eyes met mine, and I felt a nervous thrill shoot through me. It was already Thursday afternoon, but it felt like Friday evening could not get here soon enough.

  Travis took my hand as we stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall, coming to a pause in the doorway of my office. “I’ll see you later, okay?” He gazed down at me, and a smile came to my face as I looked up at him.

  “Okay.”

  He let go of my hand, and I watched as he walked down the hallway. He glanced back before he ducked inside his office and winked at me. I smiled and felt myself blushing that I’d been
caught watching him. Of course, he’d looked back, too. No, I thought happily to myself, tomorrow definitely could not get here soon enough.

  ***

  “You’re not going to believe some of the stuff they registered for,” Emily said later that night over margaritas. Marissa had bailed on happy hour but was meeting us later, so it was just the two of us enjoying drinks. We were perched on barstools at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, not far from where we planned to go shopping. The interior was warmly lit, with tiny white lights swooping in strands from the ceiling. A sombrero was perched on top of the counter behind the bar, near a stack of clean glasses, and Mexican blankets were artfully draped on the walls. Loud music blasted from the speakers, and even louder people around us laughed and called out to one another, downing Coronas and margaritas of their own.

  Emily shook her head in disbelief as she spoke, the light catching on her gold chandelier earrings. She had on a black halter top and dark denim jeans, and I noticed a few guys walking by eyeing us appreciatively. I’d come straight from work but had taken off my blazer and was wearing a deep purple top with short fluttery sleeves and dark jeans. Normally I saved denim for casual Fridays, but since we’d stayed so late at work the night before, I’d decided to make an exception and dress down at the office today. I glanced down at my black wedge sandals, wondering if they would be comfortable enough for walking around and shopping later on. A few guys near us roared in laughter over something, and I watched as one of them slapped another on the back. I leaned closer to Emily in order to hear her over the noise in the bar. “Really? What types of things do they want?”

  Emily swirled the tiny red straw around her margarita glass then picked the glass up to take a sip. “The china, for example, is like $80 a piece—not $80 per place setting, but $80 per piece! I mean come on, who can afford that?”

  I laughed. “Isn’t all china that expensive? But I know what you mean, who wants to give a single $80 tea cup or something as a wedding gift? I wonder if anyone could actually afford to buy them an entire place setting.”

  “Exactly. Now you see why I haven’t gotten anything off the registry.”

  I reached over and grabbed a tortilla chip, scooping up some of the fresh, homemade salsa, before taking a bite. “That is hard—I mean you want to give them something meaningful, not one dish in their massive china collection.”

  “I know, right? But I can’t really afford any of the other things they picked out. Who would even use stuff that expensive anyway? I’d be afraid I’d break it.”

  “I think that my entire set of dishes was $80,” I said, laughing. “I mean it’s not china or anything, but it’s pretty and it works. Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.”

  “Another round?” the young bartender asked, interrupting us. I looked up at his close-cropped haircut and youthful face. He looked a little stressed out, and I imagined it must be tough to work nights like this. He probably made good tips, but it had to be exhausting when it was this crowded.

  “No, we’re on our way out,” Emily answered. She flung a $20 bill down on the bar and grabbed my arm. “It’s on me.”

  We stood up, and a blonde college student in a sequined pink tank top and white denim miniskirt rushed over to us. She practically tripped over her sparkly platform heels, and some of the cocktail she was carrying sloshed over the glass and onto her shoes. “Are you guys leaving?” she asked before glancing down to assess the damage. “Damn it!”

  “Yes,” I said, trying not to gawk at her outfit.

  “Great! We, like, couldn’t find any seats,” she said, gesturing to a brunette girl following behind her. The friend was wearing a black dress that barely covered her rear end, and I watched as she struggled to climb onto the barstool in her revealing outfit. I exchanged amused glances with Emily and heard them talking loudly about how cute the bartender was as we walked away.

  “Did you see those outfits?” I asked, laughing.

  “I tried not to look! That was scary.”

  “Maybe they were underage and were trying to look more sophisticated.”

  “Sophisticated? Well, it totally wasn’t working.”

  I giggled as I followed her through the crowd until we were outside. “Please tell me that we didn’t dress like that when we were in college.”

  “Uh, we didn’t dress like that?” she said, sounding less than sure. “Who cares, we were young then. Let’s go find something for my cousin.”

  “Where to?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure—department store?”

  I followed her down the block towards the upscale mall nearby. We headed into one of the large department stores and wandered around aimlessly for a little while. I pointed out items they probably didn’t need, like house-shaped cookie jars and generic, oversized glass paperweights. “Or how about this?” I asked, holding up a silicone pot holder in the shape of a cow’s head.

  “Uh, definitely not,” Emily said laughing. “You obviously don’t know my cousin.”

  We finally ended up in the fine china section, and I spotted a sleek stainless steel tray with elegant edges that sloped outward. The display model showed it with martini glasses and a cocktail shaker, but I imagined it would be useful for a variety of things. I grabbed one of the boxed trays and held it up questioningly for Emily to see.

  “Hmmm…,” she said, walking over. “I actually like that.”

  “And would your cousin?”

  “I think so….”

  “See? That was easy.”

  We walked over to the register, and Emily handed the salesgirl a credit card. “What time’s the wedding?” I asked, leaning against the counter as I waited for her to pay.

  “Half past five in the evening,” she said, quoting from the formal invitation that she’d shown me earlier. “The reception is right afterward at some fancy-pants hotel. It should be nice though—sit-down dinner, champagne toast, open bar.”

  “Maybe you’ll meet a cute groomsman.”

  “Ha! We’ll see. I mean I certainly wouldn’t complain if I did,” she said with a sly smile. “What about you? Do you and Travis have plans this weekend?”

  “Yeah, he’s coming over for dinner tomorrow.”

  “You’re cooking for him?”

  “Yep. And why I offered to do that, I have no idea.”

  Emily laughed as the cashier handed her the wrapped package, and we turned to walk away. “What are you making?”

  “No clue.”

  “Well, good luck with that,” she teased. “It sounds amazing.”

  “Yeah, let me know if you think of any ideas,” I said wryly. “I probably should have thought it through before I invited him over. Next time remind me to suggest dinner out. Now I’m going to be stressing out over what to make. I’m fine with cooking for myself, but it seems like a bigger deal to be making dinner for him—like I need to prepare a fancy gourmet meal or something.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll figure something out.”

  I laughed, remembering how I’d said that to her earlier about picking out a gift for her cousin. If only having your new boyfriend over for dinner was as simple as shopping for a present. As we made our way out of the store, my phone beeped with a new text message. I glanced down at it and saw that Travis had texted me.

  Are you still out with Marissa and Emily?

  “Travis?” Emily asked.

  “Yeah, he wondered if we were still shopping.” I quickly typed a message back.

  Yeah. Call me tonight?

  His reply came a few seconds later.

  Okay. XOXO

  “What time is Marissa meeting us?” Emily asked.

  “She said around 7:00,” I said, glancing down at the time on my phone. “She’ll probably be here any minute now.” Just as I finished speaking, I saw Marissa in the distance waving as she headed our direction.

  “Did you meet up with Rob?” I asked as she approached.

  “Yeah, we grabbed a quick drink, talked over
some stuff. We’re still on for this weekend, so we’ll see what happens. But hey,” she said, her eyes growing mischievous, “you’re the one who’s got the hot date with Travis tomorrow night.”

  “I don’t know if I’d call it a hot date,” I said with a laugh, “but he is coming over for dinner.”

  “We definitely need to find something great for you to wear.”

  “It’s just dinner. I have tons of clothes.”

  She rolled her eyes at me and leaned closer. “I was thinking something more appropriate for after dinner. Something that no one else will see?” she hinted.

  “Marissa!” I protested, laughing. “Nothing is going to happen. And really, you don’t need to announce it to the entire world.”

  “Oh, it’s just Emily, and she already knows about you guys.”

  Emily shrugged in surrender and grinned, not offering me any help against Marissa’s agenda. Although I had to admit that I’d been wondering what to wear tomorrow evening and what, if anything, might happen between Travis and me, I hadn’t exactly envisioned Marissa and Emily being part of that plan.

  “Well, you should at least get a cute new sundress or something to wear. I saw lots of new spring clothes last weekend.”

  “I thought you were in Florida?”

  “I was—they have stores there too, you know.”

  “And you would find them,” I said, flashing her a grin.

  “But of course,” she said innocently.

  “Well, it couldn’t hurt to look,” I said.

  “This will be so fun!” Marissa exclaimed, ignoring me. “We can look at the spring dresses; I totally want to get something, too, you know, to wear out with Rob. Then maybe we’ll head over to Victoria’s Secret.”