Member-only story
An Evening Unrequited
It wasn’t a date. But maybe in another life it could have been.
“Tell me something about yourself.”
My foot shakes back and forth under the table, bouncing to a rhythm only I know. I can barely focus on the question — what did he just say? — as my anxiety spikes in cadence with my heartbeat.
The man across from me lets out a sigh. “It doesn’t have to be difficult, Shelby. Just take your time and answer me honestly.”
You might be thinking why my dinner partner would be talking to me as if he were my therapist. You would be half right on that count: he’s a psychologist who’s a friend of my brother’s, and he agreed to meet me outside of an office setting to try and talk me down from my ledge of the moment.
Obviously, it’s not working so well. I can barely look into his eyes.
Though that’s not all my fault. My brother failed to warn me how attractive his old college buddy was. Figures, really, since my brother has no sense of things like how hot a person is, no matter if it’s a girl or a guy in the equation.
I wish I were as oblivious as my brother is.
But I digress.
“I’m sorry,” I say as I shred a paper napkin in my lap just to have something to do with my hands.
