we’re on our date, so that box is checked. Now what else?”
“Look I’m really not trying to force you into something you don’t want to do. If you really feel strongly that you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. We’ll just call this the end of it. It’s up to you.”
“Now why would you go and change the terms all of a sudden? You wielded your Alpha power to get everyone to pressure me, why stop now?”
I think its time to be honest.
I lean into her, just a little, enough to let her know that I like being as close to her as possible. “Because, whatever you think of me is wrong, and I don’t know why, but proving that to you is more important to me than forcing you to be on my show. So I’m going to leave it up to you. I’m not going to force you to do anything, but I’d love to have you—I think it would be good for both of our channels.”
She hesitates, and, for a second, I expect her to throw her water in my face or something—not because I deserve it, just because she’s unpredictable like that. But my face and shirt are still dry, and her face has a smile across it.
“That’s all I needed to hear. I’ll do it.”
I think I’m hallucinating. “Really?”
“Really. We can work out the details another time but I’ll do it.”
“I was thinking that it would work really well as a live. . .”
“Later,” she says again. “Remember? Let’s just enjoy the moment right now.”
We are having a moment. I’ve been unsure of it since she got out of that Uber, but now the expression she’s giving me is unmistakable.
“You’re right. And what I’m really enjoying—besides your company, of course, is this margarita.”
“High five to that, it’s delicious.”
She high fives me and it’s a great excuse just to touch her skin, even if it’s only for a split second. I’m feeling this gigantic drink right now, and I can tell that she’s also loosening up even more.
“Another?” I ask. Sipping the last bit of yellow gold that’s at the bottom of my glass.
“Absolutely. Just try and stop me.”
“Waiter? Two more please.”
Our second round of oversized drinks come. I’ve barely eaten anything except a few nachos that we got as an appetizer and some chips and salsa they put on the table. This shit it going right to my head, and I’m loving every minute of it.
“I should probably not drink too much of this,” she tells me. Of course, she tells me that as she’s gulping as much as a straw can hold.
“Why’s that?”
“Umm. . . ‘cause I don’t want to get white-girl-wasted right here in the middle of some Mexican place with a guy I hated as of. . .” she looks at her wrist that has no watch on it. . . “about five hours ago.”
“What does that mean?”
“You hear stories that start like this. Girl drinks too much. Guy pretends to be equally drunk but really he’s just pretending so that his date gets completely hammered.”
She just can’t stop fighting this image she has of me, even with a river of alcohol and good conversation flowing. “This may shock you to hear, but I don’t actually assault women, no matter how much they’ve had to drink. Just for your information. And, so you know, I’m actually drinking as much as you are, and you’re free to stop anytime you like. There’s nothing that’s happening without your permission.”
She looks at me in silence, probably running what I just said through some kind of internal bullshit filter she thinks she has. Lucky for me, I’m being totally honest right now.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, it was over the line.”
“Nothing wrong with a woman watching out for herself. There are a lot of bad guys out there who would do exactly what you just said. I’m just not one them.”
“Now, isn’t that exactly what a bad guy would say?”
“I wouldn’t pretend to understand how they think or what they would say in this situation. All I can do is speak for myself, and I’m telling you that I’m not that type of guy. Watch.” I would normally never do what I’m about to do, but I’m getting a little annoyed with all of the false accusations of who she thinks I am. It’s one thing to not like my channel, but it’s another thing to think I’d take advantage of