The Green Ticket (11 page)

“Well, that was nice of her,” I commented as Allie and I walked out together, stopping to grab a mint at the hostess stand.

“Oh, get used to it. Kevin and Dani will pay for all your meals. I haven’t paid for my own meal since I’ve started,” Allie said.

“Really? Wow. That’s sure nice of them.”

“Yep. It’s a nice perk to enjoy. So you can save your breath trying to protest each time. They’ll never accept money from you.”

We reached our cars, and I hit the unlock button on my key fob. “Wow. Okay, then. Thanks for the heads-up.”

“Anytime. Drive safe, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow!” I hopped in my Camry and let the engine run for a minute before putting it in drive. I fished a pair of mittens out of my purse and slipped them on–– the steering wheel was freezing. As I drove towards campus, I reflected back on dinner. I had a great time and was happy that I got along with Dani so well. All the doubts I had about her from talking with Allie had evaporated. Sometimes I forgot that she was only eight years older than me. We had a smaller age gap than me and Alicia. It was strange to think that she was already married, had three kids, a thriving business and a successful husband. I decided that night that I was going to do my best to be just like Dani Dohlman.

Chapter 8

“There she is!” That was the greeting I came into on Thursday night, close to 9:30. I had a full day of classes, then whisked myself over to Blissful for a busy day at work that included a conference call with Kevin and a quick lesson on how to close down the cash drawer each night. I was scheduled to get off at eight –– which was closing time –– but with all the closing duties, it was impossible to get out right on time. Not only did I have to make sure the cash drawer balanced, I also had to make sure that the credit card receipts were filed away, all treatment rooms were cleaned and ready for the next day, all the windows were washed, floors vacuumed, salon floor swept, no appliances left plugged in, and the computers were shut down. Then I also had to prepare for the following morning, which meant pulling client folders, making sure enough towels were stocked in the closet, and any and all scheduling conflicts were dealt with. On top of being on my feet all day, dealing with clients, staff, learning the scheduling ropes, conference calls…I was exhausted. And I needed to get homework done for Bater’s accounting. And sleep. I craved sleep.

“Alex, you are going to flip. Just die. Crack a smile would you. What’s wrong? Want a marg?” Carmen held out her drink to me, but I just shook my head and threw myself on the couch next to Lila, snuggling against my roommate and closing my weary eyes.

“Hi, everyone. I’m just tired, sorry. What’s up? Why am I going to flip?” I suddenly shot up straight, looking at Lila. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

“What? Are you joking me? Why would you think I was pregnant out of all of us?” Lila pouted. “I would put my bets on Emma.”

“Why me?” Emma shouted, but not looking the least bit offended.

“Don’t make me pull a Fergie and spell promiscuous,” Lila responded.

We all laughed, but I still didn’t know what the big news was. “Well, if no one is pregnant, what’s the deal? What have I missed?”

Hannah finally joined the conversation, her blue eyes sparkling. “Someone has a crush on you!” she said in a singsong voice.

“What? Me? Who?”

“Henry!” My four friends all shouted at me, practically causing my hair to fly back.

“Henry? He so does not have a crush on me. I almost threw up on the guy. Something tells me that doesn’t exactly equal crush.”

“But you didn’t throw up on him. That’s the important part, Alex. You simply showed him you like to have a good time, like your drinks, and can pass out like a good girl at the end of the night. He never even knows you vomited, like, seven times. Or that you had to clean Hannie’s car for her because your puke was all over it. He doesn’t know any of those things!” Carmen was trying to help me look on the bright side.

“How does anyone know he has a crush on me? And why do we have to keep saying crush? We sound like we’re in high school again,” I said, trying to figure out if the rumor was true. Could he really be interested in me?

“Well, Peter and I went out to eat tonight.” Hannah’s story was interrupted by a series of hoots and hollers from all of us. “Girls, really? You did that the first time I told this story.”

“I know, but it’s just so exciting! My matchmaking skills are genius. I’m already picking the wedding colors, and I think I look fabulous in purple,” Lila said, blowing on her nails and rubbing them against her jeans.

“Let’s just calm down a bit. Anyway, as I was saying, Peter took me out for dinner tonight and we of course started talking about the Halloween party. Which led him to ask me if you had a boyfriend, because his friend Henry is into you!”

“That’s frickin’ awesome! Amazing! I can’t believe it, really. I thought I made such a fool of myself,” I said, flashbacks from the night coming back to me. The beer, the shots. The games of pool we played and how I had hugged him on a whim. Then me falling to the kitchen floor and passing out. I shook my head to get rid of those later-in-the-night thoughts. “Well, what all did he say? And excuse me for being so rude. How was your date? Tell me about that first!”

Hannah launched into her story, saying how Peter took her out to dinner at Bon Sejour, a fancy schmancy French restaurant in the heart of Witte, where reservations were hard to come by. Turned out Peter was pretty well off, his dad being a successful investment banker who started his company in Truvista, then moved all his accounts to the booming Des Moines area, and now owned and operated his company in the booming Witte area. Hannah said she and Peter hit it off immediately at the party, at ease with one another right after meeting. Their date sounded horribly romantic, one that exceeded any date expectation I had ever conjured up, and made me just a touch jealous. But I was happy for Hannah, how could I not be? She was one of my best friends; she deserved all the attention and affection that came her way.

“I have a good vibe about this Peter. I do, Hannah. I knew it right when I met him that he was the guy for you,” Lila said, the jealousy easy to spot on her face too. Not that any of us would begrudge Hannah. Carmen, Emma, and I were all single, and Lila’s relationship with Joel had been constantly strained. We all wanted our fairy-tale ending. Nothing wrong with that.

“I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself. He’s a year older than me, getting ready to graduate soon. And then there’s the whole he’s going to move away to continue on to get his DDS, so we would be living in different cities. And this is all brand new. I’m not about to rush anything,” the ever-practical Hannah said.

“Yeah, but you’ll be going to U of I as well just a year after him. That’s really not that long when it comes to true love,” Lila said, her eyes sparkling. I just knew she was giving herself major props for setting Hannah up.

“You guys will have the smartest babies ever,” Emma chimed in.

“Oh, please. And hey–– this story started with me telling Alex about her possible Mr. Right, not mine.”

“Ooh, yeah, can we get back to me now. Can we, can we?” I pleaded, ready to break out in hives if Hannah didn’t tell me what Henry was saying about me soon. I did the good friend thing, I let her have her moment. My turn.

“Well, it was when we were talking about the Halloween party. Peter just came out and asked if you had a boyfriend. I told him no, obviously, and he said that Henry couldn’t stop talking about you the rest of that night. And get this–– another girl at the party there tried to hit on Henry, and he totally ignored her! She even tried to ‘pass out’ in his bed,” Hannah made quotes with her hands, “and Henry left her there and went and slept on the couch. Can you believe that?”

“All because he was interested in Alex? Who very well could have had a boyfriend, because he didn’t know for sure yet. Wow. That’s kinda hot,” Emma said.

“That’s fucking way hot! Are you kidding me? What guy pushes away a willing girl–– who was probably dressed all slutty thanks to Halloween–– for someone he barely knows? Why the hell did you girls get so lucky at the party?” Carmen asked, pretending to pout.

“Hey, I saw you talking to Max most of the night,” Lila pointed out, causing the rest of us to nod and murmur in agreement.

Carmen brushed her hand through the air like she was swatting away a fly. “That was nothing. I am definitely not interested in skinny little Max. He was just fun to talk to, that’s all. Trust me, nothing romantic or sexual there.”

“Anyway, getting back to Alex once again,” Hannah broke in. “Henry asked Peter to ask me to ask you if I could give Peter your phone number to give to Henry.”

I somehow managed to get the gist that Henry was asking for my number and squealed in pure schoolgirl excitement. “Yes! Of course! Holy crap, this is insane! I thought I totally blew it after the passing out and falling off the chair episode in the kitchen. I can’t believe he really wants my number!”

“Well, believe it, girl. I’m going to text Peter right now.” Hannah punched in a few buttons on her phone, and the five of us sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Do you think he’s going to call now?” Emma whispered, causing the rest of us to giggle.

“Do you have your phone on you?” Lila asked.

“Ah, no, it’s in my purse. Oh, no. Where’d I put my purse?” I jumped up and scrambled to the kitchen table, finding it empty, then flew into my room where my pink bag sat on my bed. I quickly dug out my phone, right when it started to vibrate and light up with an incoming phone call from a number I didn’t recognize.

I ran back into the living room shrieking at the top of my lungs. “I think this is him! I think this is him!”

My friends started shrieking right back.

“Answer it!”

“Hurry!”

“He didn’t even wait five minutes!”

“This is so exciting!”

“Hello?” I answered, waving my arm to shush the hyenas, who were now all laughing at our outburst.

“Hi, could I speak to Alex?” Henry’s deep voice came through the line, sending chills along my spine.

“This is,” I spoke confidently, careful to make sure my voice didn’t stutter. Never let a man know they intimidate you–– a rule I learned from Emma.

“Hi, Alex. This is Henry Landon. From the Halloween party.”

“Hi, Henry! How are you doing?” I spoke with a bit too much enthusiasm before I could catch myself. Never let a man know how excited you are that he called, because he should be calling. More Emma wisdom.

“Oh, doing okay. Still trying to put our house back together after last weekend,” he chuckled, and I imagined his blue eyes sparkling as he laughed.

I shook my head, trying to get a grip on myself. I didn’t think I’d ever been bitten by the love bug quite this bad. And so soon. “Oh no! That has to be awful.”

“I guess that’s the price we pay for hosting. We don’t have to worry about drinking and driving, but our house is a mess for at least a week after.”

“I bet it reeks too. I can’t imagine how much beer and booze got spilled everywhere.”

“You got that right. I stashed a bottle of cologne in my car because I’m afraid if I ever get pulled over, the officer will think I’m drunk because the brewery smell has seeped into my clothes.”

We both laughed and the girls all smiled at me, even though they had no idea what we were discussing.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask if you had any plans for this weekend. I know it’s really short notice but I was planning on going back home, but those plans fell through and now I’m here all weekend. I was just going to see if maybe you wanted to, like, grab dinner or something on Friday or Saturday night. If you want to, that is,” he rushed to say, suddenly sounding awkward.

“I do! Yes, I do actually,” I blurted out before I could say something coy like “let me check my schedule first.” I wanted to go on a date with Henry and I obviously couldn’t hide it.

“Hey, awesome! Which night works better for you? I know just the restaurant to go to, but I need to call and make reservations. Hopefully we can still get in. I know they’re pretty busy on weekends.”

“Well, I work both Friday and Saturday this week, but I’m off at seven tomorrow and six on Saturday. So that will give me enough time on either day to get home and get, er, ready.”  I wasn’t sure what the rule was on telling a guy all the work you needed to put into getting ready for the perfect first date. “Maybe let’s make it Saturday.” That extra hour could come in handy.

“Saturday it is. I’ll pick you up around 7:30. Would that be okay?”

“That would perfect.” Oh, God, by the time I got home from Blissful it would be approaching seven already. I hoped all the girls could help me out, because I was going to need it.

Henry and I finalized our plans and I gave him my room number at Wacker, and then he was off. And I was in a daze that I had a date with Henry Landon in two very short days.

“We’re going out on Saturday!” I screamed as soon as I hung up the phone, prompting immediate cheers and hugs from the girls.

“Wait a second. Saturday? What’s with the super short notice?” Carmen asked.

“He said he was supposed to go back to his hometown this weekend but his plans fell through.”

“Oh. I guess that’s okay then. Yay, a date for Alex!” And the screaming began again until we were all out of breath laughing.

“You guys have to help me though. Are you all around on Saturday? I’m only going to have, like, forty-five minutes tops to get ready once I get home from work. And he didn’t say where we were going, only that he hoped he could still get reservations. Do I go fancy? A dress? Chic casual? Who’s going to do my hair? Thank God I just got a facial!” I was officially freaking out. Only forty-eight hours stood between me and my date, and I did not feel prepared. 

“Al, don’t worry,” Lila said. “We all helped Hannah for her date, and we will all help you for yours. I did have plans with Joel, but I’ll just cancel. It’s okay,” she broke in as I started to protest, “it’s really okay. I’m not sure how much longer I can take this whole smothering act he’s got going on. This will be a relief, really. You’re doing me a favor. And who else can give you big sexy hair like I can?”