Dating For Decades (10 page)

“Hardly.” Luna laughs. I glare at her. “Sorry.”

“Anyway, welcome to the group. Do you want to start today and tell us why you’re here?” Everyone has a reason they joined and I’m very interested to hear his.

“We just jump right in, don’t we?”

“Well, if you don’t want to share with us, then why
are
you here?” This is how I start with every new member. If he’s going to be part of the group, I’ll treat him like part of the group. No special circumstances, no beating around the bush.

He cocks his head and slides his tongue along his lips. “Okay, then. You’ve got me.” He sets his glass on the floor. “There’s not too much to say.” He crosses his leg and grips his knee. “I’ve had a few long-term relationships, even been engaged once, but I really haven’t found someone I can settle down with.”

“But if you were engaged, weren’t you planning on settling down with her?” Monica offers up what everyone else is thinking.

“Yes, but things didn’t work out and now I’m going on pointless dates since I can’t seem to meet anyone worth taking on a second date.”

“And what makes someone worthy of a second date with you?” I’m curious of his criteria to take someone out again.
 

“Whoa.” Keith throws his hand in the air like a stop sign. “Is she always this crass?” He points to me as he questions the group.

“What? I’m not crass. I’m straight-forward. There’s a difference.”

“Is there?”
 

For once I can’t say anything. I’ve gone through life proud I can speak my mind and not sugar coat things. Shannon and I are always honest with each other and that’s perfect for our relationship. Maybe, though, not everyone can handle such honesty. Or perhaps Keith doesn’t really understand the concept of sarcasm.

“Enough about me. Tell us why these dates don’t work out.” I don’t want to sit here and listen to everyone judging me, even quietly in their heads.

The circle of women wait for his reply, their eyes fixated on him like he’s a cult leader and they his followers. I mean, he’s handsome, sure, with his light brown hair, strong jawline, and angled smile. But what else does he have to offer?
 

“Who knows?” He shrugs and that smile that captivated his audience only moments before transforms into a frown. “I can’t seem to stay interested.”

Okay, so it’s
him
, not them.

“I’m searching for someone I can debate with. I want to share my ups and downs and argue with her. I want that person that when something exciting happens, she’s the first person I can’t wait to call. I want my best friend. I haven’t been able to find her yet.”

“So, wait.” Luna can’t understand Keith’s reasoning. “You
want
to fight with your significant other?”

“I didn’t say that. I want to have debates, great conversations, fascinating discussions. I’m tired of all these couples sitting at dinner on their phones. Talk to each other. Have a conversation. People are so engrossed in their technology these days they forget to be
people, to date
.”

Everyone turns to me. “What?”
 

“Cassie never puts her phone down.” Cheyenne moves closer to Keith again. “She lives on that thing.”

I’m glad I kept it in my purse tonight. Most times I have it on my lap, but for some reason, I forgot to take it out. “Okay, enough about technology. You said you were engaged. What happened there?” I’ve never gotten close to that, even in the vicinity of it, which is fine because I don’t want an engagement, wedding,
or
marriage. I’m not against meeting someone special and falling in love. Eventually. The possibility sounds appealing, I can at least admit to that.

“Her job. She moved to New York to pursue a career in the publishing industry. I didn’t want to follow. The big city isn’t for me.”

“A job? Who moves for a
job
?” Cheyenne bites her cookie and pieces fall to the ground. Guess I’ll be sweeping later, too. “No way. I like what I do, but there’s no way I would let my job control me.”

“She always wanted to move there. When we first got together she told me. I guess I never thought she would go.”

“I’m sorry, Keith.” Luna is leaning against her knees with her hands under her chin, batting her eyes. Gross.

I clear my throat in an attempt to distract Luna from her daze. “Are you out on the scene now?”

“No. Not dating anyone right now.” He winks at me. “How about you?”

“None of us are attached right now.”

Luna is quick to jump in and state her relationship status. I roll my eyes at her. I may date a lot of guys, but she really throws herself out there.
 

“Okay, everyone, now that we’ve all met Keith, does anyone else want to share?”

I listen to Cheyenne and Luna both share stories of recent dates. Keith listens and offers up some advice. They hang on his every word. I’m quite annoyed, actually. Usually, I’m the one they look to. I’m the one in control. This is new territory for me and I don’t like it.

When the meeting ends, I start cleaning up the refreshments as Luna and Cheyenne huddle around the new member of our group. They’re acting as though they haven’t seen an attractive man in years.
 

“I thought the meeting went well.” He joins me at the refreshment table and starts picking up cups after his groupies drift away.

“I think so, too.” I stack the leftover napkins on top of the plates. I put my bag somewhere so I can take the remaining supplies home.
 
“There’s no need to help me. I’ve got this.” I like cleaning up after the meetings. Everyone leaves and it’s only me and the quiet. Once in awhile I hear the laughter of the people leaving other meetings in the building as they head home. But I sometimes clean up, sit down on one of the folding chairs, and read something on my Kindle app. I think it’s the only time I can truly clear my mind besides yoga.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll help. I want to.”

This is new. Even if I wanted the women in the group to help, no one has ever even offered. Once the meeting wraps up, they rush home or to other plans. I suppose I’ll make him feel more welcome if I agree. “Well, thank you very much.” I hand him a bag to put the trash in. The company may be nice.

“How long have you been running the group?”

“A couple of years.”

He opens the bag so I can toss in a few cups. “Well, if you can commit to anything in life, I guess that’s it.”

“Very funny.” I stick my tongue out and pull it back in realizing one, it’s juvenile for someone almost in her forties, and two, I’m flirting. I swear flirting is ingrained in my personality. “I enjoy it. It helps to talk with other people.”

“As opposed to staring at a computer screen?”

“Even funnier. You’re quite the comedian.” I snatch the bag from him and twist it shut. “My job happens to be
in
technology. I
need
to be on the computer.”

“
All
the time?”

“It’s not all the time.” Although it probably is. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though, even if other people think it is.

“Thanks for letting me join the group. I really appreciate it.”

He joins me as I walk over to the larger trash can by the door and toss the bag in. “Don’t you have any lady friends you could discuss your woes with?”

“Don’t you have any other lady friends besides this group?”

“My friend Shannon. That’s pretty much it. I’m sort of close with my cousin, but she just got married.”

“Is that why you started the group?”

“I started it when all of my friends were marrying themselves off or being coupled and having babies. I’ll admit I felt a little left out, even though I never want to be married. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to be in a relationship.” Why am I sharing all this information with him? He
is
easy to talk to, but I’m usually not so forthcoming. He’s like a human vacuum, and he’s pulling all the dirt out of me. Before the end of the night, I’ll probably have told him the color of my underwear.
 

“I get what you mean. A lot of the men I know are married as well. I’m forty-two and single. Most single men my age are that way because they’re divorced. Most I know have kids too.”

“Kids. I don’t intend to have any of those.” I shake my hand, waving off any curse that comes with the word kids. Even though I’m on birth control, it’s a real fear. The best way to scare me is to show me a positive pregnancy test and have it be mine. I know if it happened, I probably would feel different and become an all-star soccer mom. But, if I can avoid a jam-packed schedule of school activities and feeding an additional mouth, I will.
 

“My best friend has two boys and they’re quite a handful. They’re great when they’re somebody else’s.” I’ve sat with them a few times when Shannon ran an errand or two and I barely thought I would make it through the hour. People say it’s different when they’re your own, but I don’t want to test that theory.

He moves closer to me and touches my arm, making me suddenly aware of my heartbeat. “I can appreciate that. My brother has a set of twins. They’re eight and think they’re going on seventeen.”

I inhale him at that moment, the rich aroma of his cologne tickling my nose. Even coming from the gym he smells amazing, and I’m transported to the lake with the sweet and salty scent. I open my eyes once I realize I closed them.
 

“Are you okay?”

Shit. My smell session didn’t go unnoticed. “Yeah. I’m fine.” I take a glance around the room and I think we cleaned everything up. “Thanks for coming.” I put an end to this weird silence that lingered between us.

“Like I said before, thanks for letting me. And thank you very much for the job. Work has been a little bit slow.”

I got the impression from his reviews online he keeps pretty busy, so this is a bit of a shock to hear. “I hope you’re good.”

“Oh, I
am
.” He knocks his elbow into mine.

Is he flirting with me? I don’t think that would be so bad. But while we’ve never had a man in the group, I’m constituting a rule: no dating within the group, just like at work. It can only mean trouble.
 

Chapter

Thirteen

Keith arrives at my office two weeks later on a Monday morning right on time. He seems a little out of place in my office wearing his blue jeans and T-shirt that has his company name written on it. Everyone here fancies up in their suits or skirts, even in the IT department, so he sticks out. Though next to Lucas, he’s the only one in the department who makes me turn my head. Everyone here is super young, with the exception of me and Terrence. I’m surrounded by children practically straight out of college. It’ll be nice to work with another person who has a little bit more experience in life.
 

“I hope you had a good weekend, Keith.” I greet him with a handshake. He’s been to two meetings now and everyone seems to like him. He’s okay, I guess. I can tolerate him just fine. I’m still getting used to a masculine presence in the group. The other women fawn over him like he’s the answer to all their problems. I’ll admit he’s nice to listen to, but I don’t want him pushing me away as leader of the group.

“It was okay. I’m doing some work around the house, so I was able to get that done. You?”

“Nothing exciting. Same old, same old.” And that’s certainly the truth. I worked, but that’s a normal night for me. My emails never seem to stop, and there’s always some fire I have to help put out. People can complain all they want about turning off cell phones and putting down the tablets, but the truth is, I work almost all the time. I need mine. Shannon jokes that it’s an extension of my body, but really it is.

“If you want to point me in the right direction, I can get started.” He crosses his arms and his muscles round even more. Is he flexing and doing this on purpose, or are they like this in their natural state?

I take the plans Lucas drew up from my desk. I unroll them on my desktop and Keith stands next to me. I didn’t expect him to smell this good. Even the cotton from his shirt relaxes me. He’s got my attention.
 

“Here’s what we’re looking to do. You’ll have to reroute the wires from here,” I reach across him and brush his arm. “To here. Is that something you can easily do?”

“Definitely.” He scratches the top of his nose and points to where I’m pointing. I don’t know if it’s an accident that his fingertip touches mine. “Although I think it may be a better option if I start here.” He moves my finger to the left a little bit and I tingle in places I shouldn’t be while at work.

“Start where?” Lucas enters my office, his hands in his pockets as though this is
his
office. Smug.

“Lucas, I’d like you to meet Keith. He’ll be handling the electrical portion of our project.” I cross-point to each of them.

The two shake hands and I swear one of them grunts. I’m not sure which one. “Hi, Lucas. I was just telling Cassie that I think we should move this over here.”

“You’re the electrician.” Lucas doesn’t look at Keith. He only shrugs and turns to me like he’s not even in the room. “Hey Cassie, since you missed out on our meeting the other week, I thought maybe you would want to go out tonight for drinks and discuss this further?”

“Is there anything left to talk about? Since we’re going ahead with everything, I’m pretty sure we’re all set.”

“There are some other projects I want to discuss with you. I thought instead of going straight to Terrence, you and I could go over them first. I know how upset you were when he and I made the decision to move ahead with this without your input.”

Oh, so
now
he’s considering my opinion. I pick at my shirt pulling off lint that really isn’t there. Keith doesn’t need to know how things work around here. He’s here to do his job, not get dirt on how incompetent Lucas wants to make me look. “Is this something we can discuss in your office?”

Lucas looks between me and Keith again and nods his head like a secret code exists between them. “Why don’t you just come out with me tonight? I feel bad about last week. I’ll buy.”

I don’t have anything going on tonight unless watching
Dancing with the Stars
counts. I look forward to my Monday nights in front of my TV on my iPad watching celebrities dance. Lucas is staring at me, waiting for a decision, and his hypnotizing eyes plead with me. What if it leads somewhere other than work? When we’re here I can be professional and his age is forefront on my mind. Take us out of this building and he’s some guy I’m with at a bar or restaurant. I can’t miss out again, though. “Fine.”