Kevin was waiting for the elevator to join Uncle Dean for lunch, when someone stood way closer than necessary. Sending a sidelong glare to the tall guy beside him, he realized it was David. With a look of surprise that was comically exaggerated, David started a conversation.
"Hey, you look familiar, where do I know you from?" he paused and put a finger up to his chin, "Oh, I've got it, you know Stephanie Halder, right?" Kevin nodded, and David continued, "We go way back, I thought you looked like one of Denise's friends that Stephanie plays board games or whatever with. I'm David." He held out his hand, and Kevin shook it reluctantly. What is this guy playing at?
"Kevin."
"Pleasure. Do you work in this building?"
"No, just meeting someone for lunch. You?"
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in together while David responded, "I've got an interview, with the COO of the ad agency here. We met one day and just clicked, so they wanted me to come in for an interview. Just a formality really. It'll be a brand-new position if I get it. I just need to meet the other board members and make sure I'm a good fit for the team."
"Huh. Well, good luck with that."
"Thanks man." They got to the floor and David swaggered ahead, Kevin hanging back just a bit. He watched Nancy greet David and page someone in the main office, and she told him to have a seat. When she was done, Kevin walked right up to the desk and began chatting with Nancy. She was in a particularly good mood and he only had to nod along while she continued to talk. Kevin noticed she had some new plants on her desk, and remarked on their cute containers.
"Do you like them? I'm sorry the one I gave you was so plain. You can have one of these if you'd like!"
"No thanks. I have what you would call, a classic brown thumb, and nothing lives very long when I'm in charge of it." Kevin tried to look remorseful, and she told him all about proper care of the various succulents. Kevin was sitting on the edge of her desk by this time, and glanced over to see David smirking at him.
A glass door off the other side of the foyer opened, and one of the other partners walked out, arms open to greet David as if he owned the place. David stood and they clapped each other on the back, and headed into the back offices like old friends.
The door to Uncle Dean's office opened behind Kevin, and Dean stepped out. "Okay, I've got a great plan for lunch today, but we're going out. Nancy, I should be back in an hour." Kevin smiled at Nancy and slid off her desk while his uncle continued, "Come along Kevin, we're having dim sum today!"
*
Stephanie was hosting game night at her place on Friday, but they wanted to play group games, so Kevin was also bringing along Jared and Katy. Denise was bringing Clara as well, to make a group of eight.
Kevin arrived at Stephanie's a few minutes early. When he got inside, he saw she had put a whole collage of pictures up on her wall. He went over to investigate. They appeared to all be pictures from the past five years. Stephanie came over and joined him.
"Notice any familiar faces up there?"
He turned to look at her. "Of course." Pointing at the wall, "There's you, Denise, Drew, Carly."
"I meant this one." She moved his hand to point at a picture on the edge of the collage, and his brain nearly short circuited from the contact. It was the selfie they had taken at Com-Expo, beside a photo of the rest of them all dressed up in costume for a Spellmasters premiere.
He smiled at it for a moment, and the doorbell rang. Stephanie released his hand and went to go answer the door. Kevin turned to stare after her, then joined them all in the kitchen; his mind whirled. Was that a hint?
By the time most of the food was gone and they were finishing their third game, Carly turned the talk to Stephanie's dating life.
"So, what's new with you and the world of MatchedUp?"
Kevin caught Stephanie's quick glance towards him before she looked back at Carly. He looked at his lap while she answered.
"Well, in the past two weeks, I was supposed to meet up with that Steve guy, the healthy cook, and he didn't show and I haven't heard from him again. I've been texting this guy named Matt and he seems nice but super flirty, so we will see what happens." She shrugged.
"Blaine is back in town though, so we went for lunch on Tuesday and then met for drinks after work yesterday." She started to blush just a little bit at this point before continuing, "We've been texting a lot and he's really great. We're going out for dinner next week."
"Of course you are, he's basically Adonis!" Denise quipped, and the rest of the table was clamoring to see his picture. Carly in particular liked what she saw, "Damn girl, he's like, an 11!"
Kevin didn't bother looking at the photo, but sank just a little bit deeper into his chair. He was fairly quiet for the rest of the night, and left quickly at the end of the games. Stephanie looked a bit sad when he left, and he got funny looks from Denise and Jared when he announced his intention of heading home. He'd thought the photo on her wall was a hint, but clearly, she had her sights set on someone else.
Jared texted him an hour after he got home.
Jared: You good? Seemed a little off tonight
He sighed and picked up the phone to write back,
Kevin: Yeah, bit drained. Just needed to be alone to recharge. You guys still coming over tomorrow afternoon?
Jared: Yup. See you then
He turned his phone off for the night and got ready for bed. They were going to watch a Flash marathon all afternoon, and he wanted to go to the gym first thing in the morning. He needed to clear his head, and work the thoughts of Stephanie out of his system.
*
Nearly a week later, Kevin was reading his book on the train with his headphones in when Stephanie sat down beside him. He pulled out one of the earbuds, but didn't close the book. She was talking a lot, but he just couldn't muster the energy to get into conversation. She sat close enough that their thighs were touching; the contact was driving him insane, and she barely seemed to notice.
Every time he looked at her, his heart ached. As fun as the game night had been, he felt bruised, which did not make sense. They'd never been a couple, she had already said she just wanted to be friends, so he knew not to get too attached. His mind recognized that, but his heart couldn't help itself.
After lunch he got a text from her asking if they could go to the bookstore on Sunday. In need of a new book of his own, he agreed.
Jared walked into his office and said something to Kevin, which he didn't hear because he was too busy thinking about Stephanie. When he asked Jared to repeat himself, Jared got a look in his eye Kevin was unfamiliar with, but had the glint of a new scheme in it. Jared sent him home, rambling that Kevin was 'clearly in need of a mental health day, and improper recognition of such would inevitably bring the company to its knees due to negligence and it's just not worth the risk'. Kevin had never been told to leave the office when he was perfectly healthy before, and did not know how to feel. His protests fell on deaf ears, and Jared ushered him right out the door.
"Go home, have a nap and a shower, then wear something nice because we are taking you out tonight. I will pick you up at 7. If you are not ready, I am sending Katy in to play dress up with you."
Kevin did as he was told, and realized when they pulled up to the restaurant at 7:30pm, that they had set him up on a double date. Her name was Angelica, and she was beautiful. She had short blonde hair, and was very petite, wearing a slim fitting black dress and a long silver necklace. She was a co-worker of Katy's, and she was also really into hockey.
When she excused herself to go to the bathroom before dessert, Kevin immediately asked what Jared and Katy were up to.
With a wicked grin, Jared explained. "Just trying to help you make up your mind about Stephanie. Either you try to get over her, and Angelica here can be the first step to help you do that, or you just ask Stephanie out and then you know for sure."
Katy jumped in after him, "I've seen the way Stephanie looks at you. It's kind of adorable. Yes, she seemed pretty into this Blaine guy, but that's just early infatuation. She had dinner with him yesterday, and she said it was good so they will probably do it again sometime, but he's leaving town again for the next few weeks and doesn't know exactly when he will be back. They aren't exclusive though."
Processing a lot of new information, all Kevin managed to reply with was a gruff "when did you and Stephanie get so close?"
"After you left that night. Plus, Denise is seriously funny, and we have a group chat for the neighbourhood."
"What, you talk about me in the group chat?" Kevin felt an irrational anger building up, but luckily Katy cut him off.
"No, not about you. We talk about all kinds of things. It started with a discussion on brunch places in the neighbourhood, and digressed many times since then."
Angelica returned to the table, and Kevin felt untethered. With Blaine out of town it might be his chance, but if it didn't go well, would he lose the whole friendship? Was some Stephanie better than no Stephanie at all? His old friends were involved in her group of friends now too, so what would happen with everyone else?
The stakes felt higher than they had ever been before. On his way home, he began to plan their meetup on Sunday; what he would say, how he would say it, and prayed he wouldn't make a fool of himself or do anything stupid. He had one shot to convince her to be more than friends, and Kevin refused to be unprepared.