As the door closed behind them, Stephanie started tidying the mess they had made.
"Oh, don't worry about that, I'll get it later."
"I feel bad about it though. We come in, eat your food, drink your beer, and then just leave you with everything to clean up. It'll just take a second."
"Or, since I was the one who invited everyone, you could just sit down, relax, and not clean up yet. Unless you are also planning to leave in the next two minutes."
Stephanie put the can she was holding down, suddenly nervous. "Do you want me to leave right away?"
"Not if you don't want to."
Kevin was sitting on the far end of the couch, so Stephanie sat on the other end, leaning her back against the arm rest so she could face him.
"So, Jared and Katy seem nice."
"Yeah, they're great. Jared's been my best friend for a very long time now, and Katy is the first girl he still acts like himself around which is a nice change. Normally he gets all weird and then drops girls after just a few dates."
"That's good. How'd they meet?"
"Honestly, I don't even know. At some point between leaving work and arriving at trivia two hours later, he met her and convinced her to go to trivia with him. She was wearing a Star Labs t-shirt at the time, which was probably the reason he talked to her in the first place."
"Plus, she's got the Disney princess eyes."
"That too." He laughed, "I was trying to figure out how to best describe them, and that's exactly it!"
Stephanie excused herself to go to the bathroom, and spent some time evaluating her appearance. Her light brown eyes were nothing special, nowhere near as alluring as Katy's. Her lips showed the barest hint of the colour she'd applied earlier, but her mascara hadn't started flaking yet. She pulled the elastic out of her hair and shook out the bun, using her fingers to fluff it up as much as possible. She had spent some time styling it in the morning, and was pleased to see the elastic hadn't left a huge crease. She touched up with just a hint of tinted lip balm, and straightened her shirt before heading back out.
Kevin was looking at something on his phone, but put it down when she came back in the room. His eyes widened as he took in her slightly improved appearance. She smiled shyly and took the seat slightly closer to him on the couch. He looked back at the television, cleared his throat, and they went back to normal conversation.
Talking to Kevin was easy. They talked about family and friends growing up, and he told her all about the situation between his parents and Uncle Dean, and the lunches they share on occasion. Stephanie tried to redirect towards dating by mentioning how funny it was when she found him on MatchedUp, but he chuckled robotically and mentioned a new show he'd been watching on Netflix instead.
Stephanie enjoyed hanging out with Kevin, and admitted he was pretty cute. She thought he was attracted to her, but he seemed to change the subject every time she tried flirting. After being with Mark for so long, she knew she was out of practice, but hoped she hadn't gotten so bad at it that it wasn't even worth responding to.
They decided to watch one episode of the new show together. Stephanie turned to face the tv and curled her legs up on the couch beside her. It was a British sitcom, and she found herself laughing most of the episode.
"You laugh a lot." He smiled at her when he said it, and she thought he was laughing at her.
"Oh, sorry."
She felt dejected by that comment, but he quickly clarified, "No, it's a good thing. You have a nice laugh. I like hearing it."
Stephanie felt herself blushing, and as she looked at Kevin, she noticed the tops of his ears getting a bit more red. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. He cleared his throat again and looked away. Stephanie looked at her phone and realized it was already after 11 pm.
"Well, it's getting a bit late, I should probably think about going home."
"Oh, yeah, okay." He sounded put out, and hope flared in her chest.
She felt like she could stay up all night chatting with him, but didn't want to push too far. She got up and took some of the garbage to the kitchen, and he followed with another pile.
They stood near the door making small talk for another half hour before she finally left. They had been standing fairly close together, but not touching. She was basking in the heat radiating from him and his eyes regularly flicked down to her lips. It could only mean two things: he wanted to kiss her, or there was something in her teeth. She leaned a fraction closer to him when he opened the door for her, but he maintained the distance between them, and Stephanie carried her disappointment all the way to her car. She knew there was nothing in her teeth.
*
Denise called Stephanie in the afternoon, and wasted no time digging for details.
"So, what time did you get home last night?"
"Just before midnight."
"Really? Anything happen you want to tell me about?"
"Nothing. We just hung out. And I've established I must be terrible at flirting."
"I doubt that. Out of practice yes, but not terrible. Maybe he's just dense? Or nervous?"
Stephanie thought about it for a second before responding. "No, I think he's just ignoring it. I thought he liked me, but maybe I was just hoping."
"Hmm." There was a very thoughtful pause on the other end of the line, but Denise didn't seem inclined to continue.
"I just really thought, and hoped, that he would kiss me goodnight. If it was possible to give me an anti-kiss, that's what he did."
Denise made a strangled noise. "I'm sorry, he gave you a what?"
"An anti-kiss. Like, he kept looking at my lips, but when I leaned in a bit, he opened the door instead. He couldn't have been more obvious he wanted me gone." She let out a deep sigh, "I miss being kissed."
It was a full minute before Denise composed herself enough to continue the conversation. "So, what's your plan?"
"Well, I suppose I'll keep trying the app and see what I get. Keep talking to Blaine. It seems like Kevin just wants to be friends, nothing more."
"Or, you could talk to Kevin about it instead of guessing."
"If he shoots me down it'll be awkward, and I don't think we could keep hanging out then. Not enough of a history to survive that. Look what happened last time."
"You mean, the month of sadness and bad dates that could have been completely avoided if you just talked to each other?" Denise's voice did not hide the told you so tone very well.
"I'm scared to do something that will upset the balance and send him running. I don't want to lose him, or his book recommendations."
"Well, it's your life. But if you like him this much you should probably say something. If not, are you let Charlotte have a go at him?"
Stephanie knew she was joking, but the thought of it made her cringe. "Oh hell no. She's way too high maintenance for him! Plus, she hates Com-Expo and all the people in costumes. Thinks it's silly."
"It is silly. That's part of what makes it great!" They laughed, and then discussed her dating profile to figure out who she should set a date with next.
Stephanie was intrigued by Steve. He was 28, with sandy blond hair, and his listed job was an exercise physiologist. His hobbies included hiking, pursuing his master's degree, and cooking.
"Well, hopefully this also means he's good at cooking, and maybe even healthy food!"
Denise responded exactly the way Stephanie expected, yelling "The horror!" while Stephanie sent a message to Steve.
*
Stephanie headed to a smoothie bar downtown to meet Steve. It was in a new complex sandwiched between a gym and a dance studio, and when she walked in the door, she realized it was full of healthy food options. There was a smoothie bar on one side and a vegan wraps and bowls bar on the other.
She was about ten minutes early to their meeting, so she found a seat in the corner and pulled out her eReader. Fifteen minutes later she checked her watch again, looking for any sign of the guy with sandy blond hair from his photo. He said he would be wearing a green coloured jacket, and as promised Stephanie was wearing a blue sweater.
She checked her phone again, but there were no messages explaining his delay. She read for ten more minutes, and when he still hadn't showed up, she went up and placed her smoothie order. She worried it was rude to order before he got there, but it was also rude to leave someone waiting that long without an explanation, or to sit so long at a table without ordering.
She returned to her spot, but didn't open her book just yet. A few minutes later, David walked in and ordered something from the other side. Stephanie immediately resumed reading her book and tried to be inconspicuous. He had a gym bag with him, but didn't look like he had been to the gym yet. She looked up when a shadow fell over the table.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked with a nod.
"Yes, actually it is, I'm meeting someone."
"Oh. I'll leave when they get here. When will they join us?"
"No, he'll just be joining me, because you are leaving. He's running a bit late right now, but I'm sure he'll be here soon." She checked her phone again, but there was still no message. She took a big gulp of her smoothie.
"That's a nice blue sweater you've got on." He took the empty seat anyways.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Thank you." There was too much emphasis on the fact it was blue. The silence was awkward for a few more minutes, while he ate his salad and she drank her smoothie, trying and failing to read her book.
After another ten minutes, all his food was gone and David cleared his throat before speaking. "Well, it looks like you've been stood up."
"Yeah, I'm sure he has a good reason."
"For what it's worth, I'd never stand you up." She continued looking down at her book, and he continued without prompting. "Since you don't have any plans anymore, can I buy you a drink?"
"No."
"Come on, it'll take the sting of rejection out of how you feel. It'll be fun."
She peered at him, trying to figure out why he wouldn't accept no for an answer, and how to turn him down this time. She glanced down at her phone once again.
"Do you want to know a fun fact about me, David? I try not to drink just because I'm feeling a bit hurt, so I think I'll pass. I'm just going to head home, catch up on some work and watch a movie." She gathered her bag and tried to step past him, but he blocked her.
"On a Saturday? Loosen up, let's hang out. I want us to get to know each other more. As friends. It doesn't even have to be a date unless you want it to be."
"Well, my friends would know that I genuinely want to go home, alone, right now. If that doesn't work for you, then that's too bad." She squeezed past him and out the door.
She headed down the street and pulled out her phone to call Denise. Being stood up was a new experience that she wanted to debrief about, and it still bothered her that David was always around. Almost three million people in the city, and her path crossed with one man more than anyone else. There had to be a reason why.