Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.2 - Head Shy (5 page)
Read Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.2 - Head Shy Online
Authors: Kate Sherwood
Evan looks serious. "No, dude, not at all. It's a much more serious process—tea leaves, throwing the bones, even occasionally reading the entrails of a sacrificed chicken. I mean, I may not have gone to business school, but I know a few things."
The car
is
really comfortable, and it's got a well-stocked bar and it's nice that none of them has to worry about driving, so it's relatively painless to get through the truly atrocious traffic, and they make it to the stadium with time to spare. Dan's still not entirely comfortable, but he tries to accept it. They pull into a side lot, apparently reserved for season ticket holders. Dan had never heard Evan mention football until he suggested going to this game, but Chris had been more than happy to explain that the
company buys tickets to any number of local events, supporting the community and using the tickets as rewards for employees or perks for clients. Chris has gone from working for a medium size fish in a small pond to working for a big fish in a big pond, and he's clearly having fun with it. Dan can't really blame him.
They head into the building, and again they seem to be mysteriously bypassing most of the lines. Security barely gives them a glance, although they scrutinize the tickets Evan's carrying pretty closely. Then there's a long escalator, and some stairs, leading them to a long hallway with doors along one side. Most of the doors are open, and Dan peeks into one, gets a look at expansive windows and some stadium-style seats, and then they're at their own door, apparently, and Evan is greeting a young woman wearing a uniform and showing her the tickets, and she opens the door for them.
Chris looks back with a frown. "They call them suites, here. And, shit, Dan, does he not talk or do you not listen? How do you never know where you're going with this guy?"
They're going inside now, and it's a pretty big room, probably twenty or so seats, and there's people already in there, which Dan didn't really expect. Evan and Jeff are greeting everyone, and some of them are smiling at Chris as if they know him, so Dan figures they're from Evan's work. He's confused…
had
Evan said there'd be other people there? 'Cause if he'd said it, Dan certainly hadn't heard it; if he'd known, he would have been pretty reluctant to come, and he wonders if Evan has played him, gotten him here under false pretenses. Which would be stupid, because the main reason Dan wouldn't want to come would be to protect Evan, to keep his unconventional relationship from getting around at the office and
making things awkward with people he does business with.
Dan scans the crowd for any faces he might recognize, but doesn't see any. And then Evan's turning around, looking like maybe he wants to introduce Dan, and that doesn't seem like a good idea, not right now. He turns to Chris. "I'm just gonna go find a bathroom."
Chris looks like he's aware that Dan is running, but he doesn't try to stop him. And Evan and Jeff are too far away. He ducks out the door, and the uniformed woman is still standing there. "Uh, bathroom?" he manages, and she gestures to a sign a few doors down.
The bathroom's pretty nice, which is weird, because he's heard horror stories about the facilities at Candlestick Park, but he figures things must be different at the 'suite' level. That makes sense; what doesn't make sense is that he's part of that world. He pees, and then washes his hands and takes a moment to look in the mirror. The face that looks back at him is a little older, but, damn it, it's the same guy who used to be good at this, the guy who could charm tips and phone numbers out of half the population of a bar, all without giving away a single piece of information about himself. Does Evan think Dan is so antisocial that he needs to be tricked into going to some stupid company event? Dan catches himself. Because, yes, he's
exactly
that antisocial, but it's because he doesn't
want
to schmooze people, not because he
can't
. Not because he's afraid, or uncomfortable, or whatever else Jeff had been spouting the night before…he can do it, and he can do it well, and he doesn't need to be tricked or pressured into it. He takes a deep breath and braces himself, then rolls his shoulders a little, making himself look relaxed and confident.
The bathroom door opens and a man walks in, maybe in his forties, trim and athletic looking in jeans and a 49ers Jersey with a big '16' on the front. He smiles at Dan. "Hi—you're from the Kaminski suite, right?" Dan nods, and the man extends his hand. "Scott Wiseman—I'm Assistant to the
CFO, for the company."
And here it comes—Dan has to figure out how he's supposed to introduce himself. In the damn bathroom. But Dan remembers his little pep talk, and smiles as he shakes the guy's hand. "Hi. Dan Wheeler. I train horses for Evan; well, more for his sister, really." That seems appropriately neutral. And maybe it's a bit weird that Evan would bring his horse trainer to a football game, but Dan's seen enough of Evan's social interactions to know that it's not exactly unprecedented.
Dan shrugs. "I guess he might think so." He smiles to show that it's just a gentle joke. "Nah, he's coming along. It's been a bit of a challenge to find a horse that fits him, but I think we've got it sorted out." He heads for the door; there's only so much talking you can do in a bathroom before it just gets weird. "I'll see you in there?" The other man nods, and Dan opens the bathroom door and steps into the hall. That was a good warm up—he wasn't great, but he's rusty. He'll do better with the next ones.
It's still not time for kick off when Dan gets back to the suite, and people are just milling around, chatting. Dan can tell that both Jeff and Evan notice when he comes in, and try to catch his eye, but he thinks he's a little pissed at them. Or, maybe he's not pissed, he's just trying to show them that they don't need to worry about him. Whatever. He's going to be independent, not clingy. It'll be better for Evan's privacy
and
Dan's selfrespect.
There's a long counter at the back of the room, covered in snacks and booze, and Dan heads for it. A woman's standing there, maybe in her early thirties, long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Dan has no idea what it is, how rich women do it, how this one can be wearing jeans and a plain
button-down shirt and still somehow look like she's just about to step onto a yacht. He doesn't know how they do it, but he has to admit, it's pretty effective. Intimidating. But Smooth Dan is not intimidated by wealthy people, so he smiles at her as she glances up at him, nods at the plate of snacks she's assembled.
"Have you tried any of those? Got any recommendations?" Smooth Dan invites others to share their opinions, and acts as if he's interested. But not too interested. Smooth Dan is friendly, but he's not sleazy. Smooth Dan has a pretty careful balancing act to do and he's a little out of practice.
But he must have got the balance right, because her returning smile is open and warm. "It's all pretty good, actually, but…." she points to one of the trays. “The scallops are my favorites."
There's another woman there now, on the far side of the brunette, and she nods. "Oh, they're good… but the grape leaves? with goat cheese? They're the best."
Dan shakes his head, puts his smile on again. He thinks his face muscles might get tired—it's been a while since they were used quite this way. "Damn, those both sound good. I've got to say, when I was told there'd be food, I was thinking more hot dogs and nachos."
The brunette looks a little startled, then glances at her friend, who looks thoughtful, then nods as if consenting to something. The brunette grins warmly at Dan. "They have to use the caterer for these suites, and it's always great, but, you're right, it's not exactly stadium food. So Bridgette and I… if it's just people from the company here, not if we're entertaining clients… we sometimes sneak down and get a hot dog from the concessions."
"And garlic fries!" Bridgette adds, and then frowns. "Unless there's
clients here. They're delicious, but, damn, I have garlic coming out of my pores for a week after eating them!"
Dan nods. "These are some excellent tips you guys are giving me." He shifts his plate a little, gets a hand ready for shaking if that's how they want to go. "I'm Dan—this is my first time at one of these, so anything else you can help me with, I'd be happy to hear it."
The brunette's smile is warm and genuine. "I'm Kristen. And we both come to pretty much every game, so we know all the tricks. Don't worry, we'll take care of you."
Dan thinks that if he wasn't busy trying to be smooth, he'd probably really like both of these people. And Bathroom Scott had seemed nice enough, too. But Smooth Dan doesn't get caught up in that; this isn't about making friends, it's about making impressions. He pops another couple scallops onto his plate, and checks that Kristen and Bridgette's glasses are topped up before he grabs a beer for himself from an iced cooler. "Great. I'm in your hands."
They lead him over to the seats, and there are three together that they take. Dan goes over his 'training horses for Tat' story, and it turns out that Kristen used to ride, dressage mostly, so they talk about that for a while, and then they talk about their jobs (Kristen is in Community Relations and Promotions, Bridgette's in the legal department), and then the teams are coming out on the field, and the crowd in the box shifts its attention out there. Kristen just comes to the games because coordinating the tickets is part of her job, but Bridgette's a real fan. The 49ers are playing the Cowboys, and Dan's never really been too interested in football, but he
did
spend the first seventeen years of his life in Dallas, and that's not easy to forget about. He decides against confessing his roots to Bridgette—what's the point?
Smooth Dan does his thing all through the first half, and he can
sense himself getting back in the groove as he goes. He can feel his awareness expanding, easing out around him like a fog as he starts reading the currents and personalities in the room. A part of him is chatting with Kristen about her recent vacation in Aruba, but he's also totally aware of Bathroom Scott and his friends across the room, and Chris flirting with a redhead over by the snacks. Evan's mostly watching the game, and talking and joking with people near him, but Dan knows that Evan's watching him, too, trying to make eye contact and check in. And then there's Jeff, who seems to be doing almost the same thing Dan's doing, talking to the guy next to him while monitoring everything else going on. People are circulating, joining one group and then another, and mostly everything's friendly and relaxed, but there's an undercurrent of power, people joking with their bosses but not taking it too far, remembering that it's a work event. Evan gets attention from everyone who comes near him, and he's polite and friendly, but doesn't really engage. Dan had forgotten how tiring it is, to pull out of himself and pay attention to all this crap. And to keep reminding himself to stay smooth, to not let any chinks show in his armor.
By half time, Kristen has introduced Dan to pretty much everyone, catching them as they go by on the way to the buffet, and he's got his own little circle of people to talk to. He doesn't say much, but he's remembering how to do that thing with his eyes, to focus on the person who's talking and make them feel like they've got his full attention, like he finds them fascinating. He knows that people really like that, and he can feel them starting to compete a little, talking louder, telling more outrageous stories, trying to get his attention back on them. It's still friendly, not as tense as he used to let it get at the bar; the people here aren't going to start sending outrageous tips his way in order to win his gaze, so there's no need to ramp things up to that level. Still, it's kind of a kick to realize that he still could, if he wanted to. He's not letting himself pay any attention to Jeff or Evan, but he knows they're noticing, seeing that he's not some helpless
little lamb that needs protecting.
Bridgette slips her hand onto his leg to get his attention, and she lets it linger there, just for a second longer than necessary. "We're making our snack run," she whispers. "Want to come?"
And that makes sense. A little absence to make people wonder where he is, when he's coming back. He used to do that at the bar, make sure that he left the room entirely on his break, even if it meant he just went up on the roof to smoke alone. It was good for the crowd, and good for him, too, because, yeah, this is exhausting. "Absolutely," he grins, holding her eyes as he smiles.
Dan doesn't look around, doesn't make any acknowledgment of Jeff or Evan as he heads out of the room, and, yeah, he guesses that probably means he's pissed. Whatever, that's not something he needs to think about right now. Or ever, maybe. He's sure he'll get over it.
Kristen guides them down a staircase and they're in some sort of utility hallway, and Dan begins to understand why she and Bridgette have been acting like they need to sneak around with all this. He's not sure where they are, but it's pretty clearly not somewhere that most spectators have access to. He glances over at the two women and grins. "I feel like we're spies, or something."
Kristen reaches a door and knocks on it, and it's opened by a blonde teenager wearing an orange and red uniform and a cheap visor. Kristen greets her like they're old friends. "Nicki, hey—can you hook us up?" Dan peers through the door and sees that they're at the back of one of the stadium concessions. Workers are hurrying around in the front, serving long lines of impatient football fans. Once again, Dan seems to be getting
preferential treatment, but Smooth Dan doesn't worry about that stuff. Hell, he likes it.