Personal Jurisdiction (25 page)

“You have to go. And soon!” Evan said. “It’s a Chicago legend! Oh, and Second City! Please tell me you’ve been there?”

The girls all shook their heads no, and Evan looked pained. “Second City is improv comedy,” he said. “It’s so funny, and a bunch of famous people got their start there. Like Steve Carell and Tina Fey.”

Whitney listened with interest. She loved theater, so going to see a show at either Steppenwolf or Second City sounded appealing to her. Law school had consumed most of her time since she arrived in Chicago, but maybe this summer, with a flexible work schedule, things would slow down. Whitney wondered if Ben would be in Chicago this summer. She knew he was still looking for a job, searching in both Chicago and San Francisco. But, as Jake returned with Whitney’s cocktail, she shook off thoughts of Ben. She wanted to enjoy the chance to spend an evening with people who were not bogged down in the law school world.

“Thanks!” Whitney said. “I know it’s kind of a girly drink, but, what can I say? The coconut rum is delicious!”

“No need to apologize,” Jake said. “You’re a girl. Drink all the girly drinks you want!”

Whitney smiled at Jake and took a long sip from her cocktail for good measure.

“Hey, by the way, have you bought a raffle ticket? If not, you should. There are some awesome prizes!”

“I haven’t,” Whitney said. “How much are they?”

“It’s just a five dollar donation,” Jake said. “Come on, I’ll go with you if you want to get one.”

Whitney nodded, and turned to Elise. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get a raffle ticket.” Elise smiled and nodded, preoccupied with listening to Evan tell a story about the time he spent two weeks touring Italy on a motorcycle.

Whitney started making her way through the crowded room toward the raffle table. As she fought through the crowd, she felt Jake put his hand on the small of her back so they would not get separated. She got chills up and down her spine and smiled. This night was turning out much better than she had hoped. Although she had been a little sad about missing Barrister’s Ball, she was now happy that Elise had convinced her to come here instead.

When they got to the raffle table, Whitney pulled out her wallet and got a five dollar bill.

“You should buy at least two tickets,” Jake said. “I mean, look at all of this stuff!”

Whitney hesitated. She had not been planning on spending more money tonight, but Jake was right. There were so many prizes to win. Besides, it was for a good cause. Whitney pulled out another five and handed both bills to the girl running the table. “I’ll take two raffle tickets, please.” The girl gave Whitney a huge smile and handed her two tickets.

“Here you go,” she said. “The raffle is at 9 p.m. Good luck!”

“Atta girl!” Jake said. “I bet you’ll win something. You seem like the lucky type!”

Whitney laughed, and followed Jake back to the table where she had left Elise and Jamie. Elise was still talking with Evan and Caleb, and Jamie was now having an animated conversation with a man and woman whom Whitney did not recognize. Whitney and Jake joined in with Elise’s conversation, listening to her talk about the time she missed a connecting flight and spent the night in an airport lounge, where she met a boy band from Korea. Whitney rolled her eyes. Elise had some ridiculous stories.

When 9 p.m. arrived, the MC got up and announced that the raffle was beginning. He started calling ticket numbers and handing out prizes from local businesses: a spa package, five star dinners, a gift certificate to a bike store. When one of Whitney’s ticket numbers was called, she squealed in surprise.

“Go see what you won!” Elise said, clapping her hands in delight. Whitney collected her prize, a gift certificate for a massage, and brought it back to their table.

“I told you it was worth it to buy tickets!” Jake said.

Whitney held the certificate up and grinned. “I never win anything! I’m so excited!” Jake beamed as though he had single-handedly been responsible for Whitney’s luck.

As soon as the raffle ended, the fundraiser was essentially over. It was only 9:30 p.m., and Elise wanted to go to another bar to continue the evening’s fun. Most of the group agreed, but Jake begged off, saying that he had to work the next day and needed to get some rest. Whitney decided to call it a night, too. She was tired, and going home now would end things on a high note. Elise did not protest. Whitney suspected that she was interested in getting Evan alone, anyways.

Whitney caught the train home, and smiled as she watched the city whizz by from the window. Elise was right. There were a lot of good options out there.

Whitney’s legal writing class had a huge paper due the second Friday of March. Every afternoon that week, Whitney parked herself at her favorite study table in the library. Thursday evening, as she was struggling to edit her paper, Ben showed up.

“Hey stranger,” he said as he sat down across from her. “I thought I might find you here. I’ve barely seen you all week.”

“I know. I’ve been busy. This paper is killing me.” Whitney had been curious whether Ben had noticed her absence. After the fundraiser, she was more anxious than ever to know if he planned to move things along between them. There was nothing like seeing how many other options were out there to make you feel impatient with the option you currently have.

Ben pulled a bag of peanut M&Ms out of his bag and slid it across the table toward her. “Well, I’ve missed you.”

“Thanks,” Whitney said, opening the bag and grabbing a few of the candies. “It’s nice to be missed.”

“I don’t want to keep you too long. I know that project is a beast. But, what are you doing tomorrow night? Why don’t we grab dinner?”

“Okay, sure,” Whitney said. Elise often made Friday night plans with Whitney, but had been strangely quiet this week. Whitney suspected that had something to do with Evan. Elise had not stopped talking about him since the fundraiser.

“Great. I’ll pick you up from your place at 7?” Ben asked.

“Sounds good.”

“Wear something fun!” Ben said, then got up and left Whitney alone with her laptop and editing project. This was good, Whitney thought. Ben had missed her this week. She felt her stomach do flip flops thinking about seeing him the next day. It had been a few weeks since Ben had showed much initiative to hang out, but their dinner date for the next night gave her renewed hope.

* * *

The next evening, Ben arrived at Whitney’s apartment promptly at seven o’clock. Whitney was wearing black leggings and black boots under a button-down tunic. The tunic, which she had scored from the J.Crew sales rack, was covered in a whimsical pineapple print. Whitney was not sure what Ben meant when he said to wear something fun, but this shirt seemed to fit the bill. Besides, it made her feel like she was dressing more for spring than for winter. It was still cold outside, but it was March, after all! The frigid Chicago winter was slowly losing its grip.

She climbed into Ben’s Mustang and asked where they were heading.

“It’s a surprise,” Ben said.

Whitney was intrigued. “Give me a hint, at least!”

“Nope. Just sit back and relax. We’ll be there before you know it.”

Whitney smiled and settled into her seat. Ben’s stereo was playing Coldplay, and Whitney switched to the radio to find some country music. She hated Coldplay.

“Hey! I was listening to that!” Ben said.

“Not anymore,” Whitney said, as she found a station that was currently playing a Brad Paisley song.

“That’s not even real country,” Ben said.

“Yes, it is. It’s pop country. Which is one
kind
of country. Don’t argue with the Texan about country music.”

“Uh-huh. Fine.”

About half an hour later, they pulled up in front of HUB 51, and Ben handed the car off to the valet attendant. Whitney was a little disappointed. HUB 51 was a decent restaurant, but they had already been there several times. Ben had been acting like he had planned something out of the ordinary.

“Tonight is going to be special,” Ben said, taking her hand and leading her into the restaurant. Whitney wanted to roll her eyes. She did not even feel the usual excitement at his hand holding hers. She could feel her mood souring, but she just smiled at Ben and tried to pretend nothing was wrong. She had to get it together. At least he was taking her out. And he thought he was doing something she would like. He had good intentions. Baby steps.

Ben walked straight past the host stand without stopping, which was a bit strange, and walked to the back of the restaurant where he went down a dimly lit set of stairs into the hallway below. Whitney followed, confused, as he opened the first set of doors in the hallway and stepped inside.

“SURPRISE!” A loud chorus greeted them from the room as they opened the door.

Whitney jumped, and looked around in shock. There were about fifteen people in the large room, all wearing cheesy party hats like you normally find at a kid’s birthday party. Elise was there, with Evan. And Jake! Jamie, Lincoln, and Alex were there as well, along with several other friends from school.

“Oh my god, what’s going on?” Whitney looked at Ben, confused. There was a bar at the end of the room, where a uniformed bartender patiently waited. Tables down the middle of the room held an array of hors d’oeuvres, and booths along the side walls were decorated with brightly colored floral arrangements.

“Happy Birthday, Whit,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. He was pleased with the surprise he had helped to pull off.

“But, my birthday’s not until next week.”

“I know. But next Friday a lot of people will already be leaving for spring break. Besides, we wanted to surprise you, and that’s a lot easier to do a week in advance.”

“Wow…this is amazing. Thank you!”

Ben smiled and gave her a big hug. Others in the party came up to hug Whitney, gleeful that they had pulled off the surprise. Whitney noticed one of the booths held a large, ornately decorated sheet cake with “Happy Birthday Whit” written across the top. Next to the cake was a pile of beautifully wrapped presents.

Ben gave her a little nudge toward the bar. “It’s open bar until 10 p.m., so take advantage.”

Whitney walked to the bar in a daze. She had never had anyone throw her a surprise birthday party, and she had definitely never had anyone throw her a party this extravagant. Elise and Jamie caught up with her at the bar. Elise pointed out a vodka cocktail that she thought Whitney would like, and Whitney ordered one. While she waited for her drink, Whitney turned to Elise and Jamie and put her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe both of you managed to stay completely quiet about this!”

“It wasn’t easy!” Elise said. “I was dying to say something all week! Of course, the fact that you’ve been holed up in the library all week made it a little easier.”

Whitney groaned. “I know. That paper was brutal.”

“So, I’m a little confused,” Jamie said. “You’ve been complaining nonstop about how Ben is not showing any interest in you, but then he throws you this swanky birthday party.”

“This was Ben’s idea? I figured he was just playing along and you two planned this.”

Elise shook her head. “No, this was all Ben’s idea. I mean, obviously we were planning to do something for your birthday, but I was thinking more along the lines of a fancy birthday brunch. Ben came up with this plan.”

“We helped him organize it,” Jamie said. “But he was definitely the mastermind of the party.”

“Wow,” Whitney said. She was not sure what else to say. And now she felt guilty for thinking earlier that Ben did not put in any effort because he was taking her to HUB 51. She thanked her lucky stars that she had chosen to keep her mouth shut about that.

“Yeah, I’d say he’s trying,” Elise said. “I think he’s a keeper.” Whitney could have pointed out that Elise’s views on whether or not Ben was a keeper changed every other week, but it did not seem like an appropriate time.

The girls’ conversation was cut short as Evan and Jake walked up to the bar. Elise gave Evan a big hug, even though she had just seen him five minutes ago. Whitney looked at Jamie and raised an eyebrow, and Jamie just smiled and shrugged. It looked like Elise had finally found someone worthy of crushing on. Jake gave Whitney a friendly hug.

“Whitney! It’s good to see you again! I hope you don’t mind my tagging along to your party with Evan, but he and I are headed to the airport together in a few hours. It was easier to stick together.”

“Of course I don’t mind. It’s good to see you again!”

Whitney spent the next two hours eating and drinking until she thought she might explode. Sometime around 9:30, Ben announced it was time for cake and presents. Whitney was always embarrassed by the cake and birthday song ordeal. She never knew what to do or where to look while people were singing, so she usually just ended up staring at the glowing candles until the song was over. Tonight was no different. Whitney stared at the candles until the group finished singing, and then took a deep breath and blew them out. One stubborn candle did not go out, which prompted Elise to repeatedly sing “Whitney has a boyfriend.”

Whitney shrugged and looked at Ben who smiled back at her before grabbing a cake server and cutting a piece of cake for Whitney.