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