Nerd Girl (17 page)

Ryan dropped me off at Ray’s right next to my car. We agreed that he should just come by my place in an hour and a half and we would walk the three blocks to the restaurant together.

As soon as I walked in my door, I texted Anna that Ryan would be joining us for dinner. I couldn’t predict her reaction if I didn’t give her a heads up, plus she needed to add another person to the reservation.

I was beyond excited to see Dexter. I hadn’t told him that Andrew and I had broken up, so I wondered what he would think or say when he saw me with Ryan. Dexter always had great etiquette. He did his undergrad at Cornell’s School of Hotel Management and I knew even without giving him a heads up that he would be appropriately discrete.

As expected, my phone started ringing five seconds after I texted. I braced myself for Anna’s hysteria and deluge of questions.

“What? When did this happen?” Anna exclaimed excitedly. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything to me earlier!”

“I haven’t really had time,” I said defensively. “Everything just happened in the last twenty-four hours. I’m catching up with you now.”

“So, how? What? Just give me the scoop!” she blurted out in a frustrated rush.

“Well, we bumped into each other yesterday at a work function. You know, one of those big, corporate meetings with hundreds of people.”

“Oh my God! See, I told you—it’s totally fate!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, well, maybe you’re right this time.” I couldn’t believe I was actually agreeing with her on this one. “Sorry, Anna, but I don’t have a lot of time right now to tell you everything. I have to get ready. He’ll be here in an hour. Can you call the restaurant and add another person to our reservation?”

“Okay, fine. Though it’s going to kill me all night not knowing the details,” she complained.

“You’ll live. And Anna,” I said with warning in my voice. “DO NOT harass him and give him the third degree.
Please
try to be normal.”

“Chill out. Okay, okay. I’ll be on my best behavior,” she swore with mocked annoyance.

We hung up and I jumped in the shower. I made sure I exfoliated well and shaved my legs and armpits extra thoroughly. Just in case.

I pilfered through my closet and chose a pale pink summer dress, one of my long weekend shopping spree purchases. It was casual, above the knee, with spaghetti straps, a cinched waste, and a skirt that swooshed. The A-line design accentuated my breasts and tiny waist. I put on my pink and orange espadrilles to match and draped a thin black cardigan over by shoulders. It was just enough to cover me in case it got chilly or to let it rest on my shoulders if it wasn’t.

I gave myself a quick once-over in the mirror and decided to leave my long, straight, dark brown hair down. It fell just below my shoulders and my eyes matched, though depending on the light, they sometimes took on a warm topaz look. My skin was paler than I wanted it to be right now, but fortunately my olive undertones inherited from my Korean grandmother gave me some color. I once read that Keanu Reeves was a quarter Chinese, along with Ann Curry, who used to be on The Today Show. Despite our blue-eyed, European descended dad, Anna and I looked like we could both be in the same family with Keanu and Ann.

Satisfied with my appearance, I tidied up my apartment, making sure to remove my love life work back schedule from the refrigerator. I wasn’t sure where this night would lead, but there was a small possibility that I might invite him in, if only for just drinks. My condo was small, only 850 square feet, and nothing compared to what a VP could afford, but I was proud of it. I was fortunate that it had two bedrooms, since I used the smaller one as an office, but the biggest selling point for me was the rather large balcony in the back. The deck was uniquely triangular and probably almost as big as the living room and dining room combined. I liked to call my style contemporary chic. The furniture was modern with sleek lines, but still cozy, not too artsy. I tended to like cool colors and dark wood. Since my living room was small, I had minimal furniture made up only of a gray loveseat, a coffee table, and one chair with a gray and white pattern on it. My place wasn’t fancy, but it was mine and I had made it my sanctuary.

My door buzzer rang. It was nearly seven o’clock and Ryan was right on time. Instead of inviting Ryan in, I decided to meet him outside of my building.
Hopefully he would come in later.
As I walked down the hall towards the glass door of the entry, I spotted him standing outside. He was facing the street, so he didn’t see me. I held my breath and just watched him for a moment. He was wearing beige pants with a white linen shirt and matching brown belt and shoes. His sandy brown hair held the highlights of summer. He looked glorious and sexy, and as I watched him, I felt my chest tighten. Was this really going to happen with us? Was I prepared for this? We had both done our part to set the wheels in motion. Would he be kind and take caution with my heart or was I only opening myself for more heartache?

As if he could sense my presence, he turned around and saw me watching him through the door and gave me that broad, dimpled grin of his.
Holy heaven, he was one beautiful man.
I finally exhaled.

My dad always told Anna and me that you could tell a lot about a man from his eyes. I couldn’t put into words what made a man’s eyes kind, dishonest, deep or uncomplicated, but when you looked into them, you just knew. It was a gut feeling. Right now, Ryan’s blue eyes looked a thousand leagues deep and they were pulling me in. They were warm and calming and gazing at me with frank appreciation.

“You look beautiful, Julia,” he said admiringly.

I blushed again. “Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself.”

Ryan reached out his hand and took mine, holding it warmly as we walked to the restaurant.

“So, I need to warn you about Anna,” I said, breaking the enjoyable silence of walking hand in hand.

“God, do I need to sit down?” he joked dramatically, making me laugh.

“She’s … well, she can just sometimes be over the top. I think this particular occasion might be one of those times.”

“Consider me warned. I think I can handle her,” he said confidently.

“We’ll see about that,” I mumbled.

We were going to a restaurant called Crowe, which I’d heard was owned by the same people as Betty’s. I always thought it was the oddest name for a restaurant, but that didn’t seem to deter the patrons.

I saw Anna and Ethan walking down the street toward us from the opposite direction as we neared the restaurant. Anna was bouncing up and down in her heels as she rushed to greet us, not taking her eyes off of Ryan. Ethan trailed a few steps behind her, as usual. Ryan looked to me with an amused
I’m glad you warned me now
grin.

I took a deep breath.
Here we go.

We ordered a bottle of red wine as soon as we were seated. When the server returned in a few minutes to present us the bottle, I noticed Dexter coming in through the front door. His timing was always impeccable.

Dexter had dark brown hair that was almost black and matching dark eyes. He was average height, I guess, and thin, but where he lacked in size and stature, he more than made up for in charm and personality. He was that guy at a party that was always attracting people to him with his great exuberance and witty storytelling. He was always fashionably hip, like he was tonight—fitted designer jeans, white button down shirt, blue and white striped summer blazer. He even had a blue and pink polka-dotted handkerchief sticking out just barely from his front pocket and white Converse shoes to finish the look. I loved it. It was so Dexter.

He saw us from the door and sauntered over to our table. “Hi, beautiful! You are just glowing, Julia!” he gushed. “Something is agreeing with you these days.” He kissed me on the cheek before moving on to greet Anna and Ethan, hugging and kissing each of them, too. I loved Europeans and Dexter was essentially one of them after having lived there for the last decade.

I introduced him to Ryan. When he thought Ryan wasn’t looking, Dexter gave me the
hmm … curious, where is Andrew? I know better than to ask
look. I just planted a smile on my face, knowing Dexter would eventually figure it out. He was seriously one of my most favorite people in the world. Dexter’s smile, warmth and exuberant spirit could always lift me out of my worst funk. And he had the best laugh, strong and memorable, and the honesty of it caressed you like a welcome breeze on a warm summer day, making you smile right along with him. I was tickled pink that he was able to join us tonight
and
meet Ryan.

“Dexter, what brings you into town?” Anna asked as soon as he sat.

“Oh, just traveling for work again. And since I was in the country, I thought I’d stop over and say hi to my folks for the weekend. It’s a really short trip. I just got into town last night and I’m heading back to London in the morning.” He looked at his watch. “In about eleven hours, actually …” This was pretty typical of Dexter’s visits home.

“How’s Jamie?” I asked.

“Good, good. He’s Jamie.”

Anna and I both giggled and Dexter rolled his eyes, though talking about Jamie still made his eyes twinkle.

He filled us in on what he called the longest remodeling project ever. About a year ago, Dexter and Jamie purchased their first home, a total fixer upper in need of a major makeover. They’ve been working on fixing it up since then and Dexter regaled us with their latest home remodeling disasters; mainly Jamie’s inability to make progress while Dexter worked. Dexter did business development for a major international hotel chain and he found it difficult to find the time to do both a remodel and work full time. Dexter had always been such a great storyteller and conversationalist, and tonight he didn’t disappoint as he elaborated on the trials and tribulations of home remodeling. We all laughed and joked good-naturedly at Jamie’s expense.

While Dexter was ambitious, intelligent, and meticulous about managing both his personal and professional life, Jamie never lived by a clock. He was an artist and only wanted to create, design and write. They were a classic example of opposites attracting. Asking Jamie to manage a remodel was like asking a comedian not to tell jokes. Knowing full well that Jamie was incapable of doing something so structured, it always made me scratch my head that Dexter continued to trust Jamie with the responsibility. I think it was love. Like a parent loves their child; no matter how many times they might fail at something, they always continued to encourage and support them. Dexter and Jamie bickered like an old couple, but were loyal and dedicated to one other. It was obvious they were deeply in love and would do anything for each other.

“So finally, I made the arrangements to get the plumber into the house and the electrical wiring completely redone, but since then, there has been very little progress on anything else. It’s driving me up the wall. I think I’m just going to have to do it all myself!” Dexter huffed in frustration.

“Isn’t that what you always do?” I asked dryly, smiling empathetically.

Dexter put his head down on the table. “Yes, yes. But I never stop trying.” He lifted his head back up. “So enough about me, how is the wedding planning going? And by the way, I’m so sorry I’m going to miss it,” he said, bowing his head to Anna and Ethan with regret.

Ryan took this opportunity to congratulate Anna and Ethan. “When is the big day?” he asked.

“Two weeks! I can’t believe it. We have final dress fittings tomorrow, and then it will be here before we know it!” Anna said with nervous excitement, sharing a sentimental and knowing look with Ethan.

“Where is it being held?” Ryan asked.

“The ceremony is at Parson’s Garden in Queen Anne, but the reception will be at the Edgewater Hotel. There’s this amazing ballroom there that overlooks the water. Ethan’s only criteria for the reception was that it be someplace with a waterfront view.”

“I really hope the weather cooperates,” I added and crossed my fingers.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I live right next to Parson’s Garden. Beautiful location,” Ryan commented. Parson’s Garden was located on the end of one of the most exclusive blocks in Seattle. If he lived next to the park, then that meant MS was paying him very well.

Anna looked at Ryan and her eyes were wide and bright. “Well, I have a brilliant idea. You should come with Julia to our wedding. She doesn’t have a date yet and it sounds like it couldn’t get any more convenient, literally.”

I tried to kick her under the table, but she saw it coming and dodged it. I was totally mortified. I didn’t want to discuss it further in case Ryan declined and I didn’t want to put him on the spot, either. I gave her a warning look, but she just shrugged and I could tell she thought I was overreacting.

“Anna,” Ethan said in a warning tone.

God, I loved Ethan.
I’m so glad he was going to become my brother-in-law. He was an architect working for one of those big fancy firms downtown and the perfect balance for my sister. Where Anna could sometimes be overly dramatic and idealistic, Ethan was laid back and level headed. He quelled her fears and anxieties and provided the calm and balance she needed to be her best self. Like Anna, Ethan was beautiful, artistic, and creative. They’d been together for over five years and were that cool, hip, contemporary couple that everyone envied and wanted to be around. I mostly cared that Ethan absolutely adored Anna and she crazily loved him back.