First Sight (10 page)

Today, however
,
Valentine’s Day
had
rolled around, which this year meant girl’s night
in
for me.
This morning
all of our
coworkers with boyfriends
(
or husbands
)
had
showed up at work wearing cute outfits, ready to go out
to a romantic dinner
as soon as the workday ended.
The whole office seemed to be in a celebratory mode.  One woman had
brought in homemade heart-shaped cookies
decorated with red
and white
sprinkles
, and another
lady
had
arrived with
a dozen
pink-glazed donuts, so that soon even the office kitchen was spreading Valentine’s cheer.
Everyone walking by the door to our office seemed to be in shades of red and pink, and
Marissa
and I tried not
to
roll our eyes.

“Remember
Valentine’s Day last year?”
Marissa
asked
.  “I
had
flowers,
a hot date, a nice
candlelit dinner…and this year I get to hang out at your apartment.”

“
M
aybe
it’s
karma
,” I teased.
 
“
Did you do anything awful during
the past
twelve
months
?”

“Of course not,
”
Marissa
muttered
.  “
Anyhow, the day’s not over yet. 
Maybe I’ll get a
valentine
from a secret admirer
—someone who is totally
gorgeous, of course
.
”

“
Of course
, maybe I will
,
too,” I said
,
laughing.

Even last year when I
was
in
a relationship
, my ex and I didn’t go
all
out
for Valentine’s Day
.
I d
id
remember
wearing a cute dress
, but we
had
n’t gone anywhere fancy, just
met at his place after work.  We spent the
evening
enjoying a bottle of
red
wine, frozen lasagna
that we’d popped in the oven
, and pink Valentine’s Day cupcakes that he’d picked up on the way home.
 
There may or may not have been a little make
-
out session on the couch after dinner. 
But I didn’t need much to celebrate
the holiday
—just, you know, a boyfriend.
 
This year
, however, I w
ould be
at home getting ready for my friends.
Valentine’s Day had arrived on a Friday—
perhaps
the perfect night for a romantic dinner with your boyfriend,
if you had one,
but also
the
perfect
time
for
g
irl’
s
n
ight
i
n.

“
It
will be so
much fun!”
Marissa
excitedly
said
as we ate
lunch, discuss
ing
the evening’s plans.
 
Apparently she’d gotten over her morning funk and was starting to look forward to a girl’s night. 
Marissa
and
Emily
were coming over to
my apartment to
watch movies
, drink lots of wine,
and discuss the men we didn’t have in our lives. 
I was actually looking forward to it
though
—sort of like
being
back in college when we’d stay up
late making popcorn
, gossiping,
and
watching movie after movie on the weekends.

“What will
be fun
?” Travis
asked
, walking in
to the break
room
carrying a take-out sub
and soda
.
  He pulled out a chair and sat down across from me,
his tall frame folding into the
seat
,
but
he
looked over at
Marissa
, waiting for an answer.

She finished taking a sip of her diet coke and
set the can back down on the table before
br
eaking
into a huge smile. 
“
G
irl’s
n
ight
!
”
she exclaimed.

“You
two are
going out
tonight?”
Travi
s
asked, shrugging out of his black leather jacket.

“No, this is
g
irl’s
n
ight
i
n,” I explained.

“O
n Valentine’s Day?” he inquired,
unwrapping
his sub.
  “I thought women liked going out.”

“
Yeah,
if you’re
in
a relationship
,
”
Marissa
said, looking horrified at the thought
of going out without a date tonight
.  “Can you imagine us going out alone? 
With a
ll those couples
?
  U
gh!”

Travis and I exchanged a glance, both amused by
Marissa
’s
tendency to be overdramatic.
 
“I think you’d be okay,” Travis said lightly.

“
Why would we want to go out and look at other happy couples?”
Marissa
asked.  “
It’s not the same if a group of girls goes out together on Valentine’s Day
.  Everyone
will just be staring and feeling sorry for
us
.”

I started laughing. 
“
I doubt that
. 
Besides
, you could have gone out with Gym Guy
tonight
if you really wanted a date
.
”

“Gym Guy?”
Travis asked,
rais
ing his eyebrows.  He paused, his sandwich halfway to his mouth
, looking at me for an explanation.

“
Marissa
’s new guy.
  I don’t know his name, but she met him at the gym
—
Gym Guy
.
”

“
Maddy
,
”
Marissa
interrupted.
“
I hardly think Valentine’s Day is the right time for a
first date
.
  Don’t you think that sounds a bit awkward?
” 
She looked over to Travis.

“You know, I have to agree with
Marissa
on that one,” Travis said
matter-of-factly
, taking a bite of his sandwich.
  “A guy is not going to want to go out on a first date on Valentine’s Day—even Valentine’s week for the matter. 
Way too much pressure.”

I shrugged
and looked at
Marissa
.  “
You could have gone out with
him this
weekend. 
You
seemed upset at the idea of not
having a date
.”

“Of course I’m not
,
”
Marissa
said,
sound
ing
exasperated.  “I just said that I was looking forward to tonight.”

“Good point,” I
replied
with a grin. 
I took a bite of my sandwich and noticed
Travis laughing from across the table
out of the corner of my eye.  I
wondered if
Marissa
noticed
, too
, and decided that I better change the subject.

“And how about you, Travis?”
  I asked.  “
Any big Valentine’s Day plans?”

“No plans for me,”
he said, shaking his head.

“Don’t you have a girlfri
end in New York?”
Marissa
asked innocently.

“No
pe
, no girlfriend.”

“But you probably dat
ed lots of girls,”
Marissa
said knowingly
.
  “There’s got to be someone….”

Travis chuckled.  “Trust me, I’
m
very single.  The closest thing I’ve even had to a date lately was
spending the day skiing
with
Maddy
.”

“Oh,
really?”
Marissa
asked
, raising her eyebrows.

“Sure.  You were
there
with Mike
,
Elizabeth
was with Steve,
and
I spent most of the day with
Maddy
.”

He said it casually, but I suddenly felt myself flushing. 
Of course I’d
been very aware of the fact
that we
’
d been thrown together in the midst of other couples
when we went skiing
,
thus making it appear that we were paired off as well. 
It had felt like we were a couple, spending
most of the day together
, sitting side
-
by
-
side at the bar drinking hot chocolate.
 
Travis
had even insisted on taking
a
skiing
lesson with me when he was already an excellent skier. 
I didn’t think that he had paid
that much heed
to
us being alone together,
though.
 
He was friendly and polite
around everyone
.
 
It wasn’t a date
,
I
reminded
myself, ridding the
idea
from my
head
.  We worked together.  Travis certainly just
thought of me as a
friend.

***

That evening,
I was
collecting
the magazines and books
scattered
around my apartment when the doorbell rang. 
I glanced around the room, making sure I
’d picked up any clutter
.  My eyes swept over the blue sofa and armchair,
which stood out in a nice contrast against the cream carpet and walls.
The sofa
faced the TV
, which was
pushed
up against
a
wall next to the balcony door.  The light wood coffee
table
and end tables were clean, and the walls of my apartment were
currently
bathed in a warm glow from
the candles I’d lit around the room
.
 
I hurried over to my
foyer
, wondering which of my friends
had arrived
first
. 
I pulled open the door to find
Marissa
standing there
,
armed with
the
DVDs
Sweet Home Alabama
and
Miss Congeniality
.
She
had
changed from her work clothes and was wearing
dark jeans and
a
brown suede jacket
over
a
red sweater
.

“Red?”
I asked pointedly when I opened the door.