fast enough to lie, and I don’t really want to anyway. “Café Blue,” I sigh.
“Café Blue! I told you I wanted to try that place. Why didn’t you tell me you were going there tonight? I could have met you.”
“I’m sorry. It came up last minute, and you’ve been so busy.”
“Not too busy to eat dinner.”
“Have Jonathan take you sometime,” I suggest.
“He’s working so late these days. I don’t want to eat dinner at ten o’clock.”
I glance up and see Katie entering the restaurant. “Look, I’m sorry. We can come here another time. I really have to run.”
“Wait. Tell me how your date with Derek went?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Derek is done. But I don’t have time to explain right now. I’ll call you later, okay? What’s a good time?”
“There are no good times anymore,” she says.
“I’ll call you when I get home,” I tell her before ending the call.
I put the phone away in my pocket. I am now roped into another overpriced dinner at Café Blue. I wave to Katie and turn back to Jason, who isn’t there. I swivel around, but I cannot spot the grey shirt and the perfect hair. I sigh in defeat. Once again, forces beyond my control are conspiring against me.
“This place is so cute.” Katie beams as she grabs my arm and looks around. “Let’s get a table by the front window so we can people watch.”
I scan the bar once more, wondering how he has completely disappeared, and then I follow Katie toward the maitre d’. Katie, as always, is perfectly put together. Her tall slender form is covered in a silky daisy print dress that flutters just above her knees. Her curtain of dark blonde hair neatly surrounds her face and shoulders.
Katie was a psychology major in college where we met freshman year. She now uses her great insight into the human mind as a human resources manager for a large bank in town. That’s also where she met her fiancé. Because she was the one who hired him, she felt it would be a conflict of interest to date him and turned him down for over a year before he moved on to another big banking firm in town. They still talk about that tortured year of furtive glances and repressed feelings. I’m happy for Katie, although I have my doubts about Mike. Katie got married young and then suffered through a terrible divorce about three years ago, and now she seems ready to jump back into the pool again. I have to give her credit for that.
“What are you drinking?” she asks.
“Chardonnay,” I reply, taking a careful sip this time. “And I was talking to a cute guy at the bar until my sister called and he disappeared.”
Her eyes widen and she glances back at the bar. “Really?”
“Yeah, but he probably moved on to a girl who could drink and talk at the same time.”
Katie turns back to me. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head and open the menu.
The company is enjoyable even if the dinner isn’t. Katie is a beautiful girl and she really has no idea. She is good-natured and optimistic to a fault. In fact, her only real fault is the way she is constantly trying to fix me up--with anyone. Finally a few months ago, I put my foot down. She’s been very good ever since, but I can feel her chomping at the bit. This is the same issue over which Katie and Bryn had their falling out. At least, that’s what Bryn claims.
I’m a fairly picky eater, and I typically agonize over restaurant menus and drive waiters crazy by making special requests once I finally do decide. But tonight, without much thought, I simply order the same salad and roasted chicken I had last time. It is the cheapest and safest item on the menu. Katie eyes me with surprise at my definitive and speedy decision. She orders a pinot grigio and the salmon. I’m tempted to warn her off the salmon, but I can’t come up with a good excuse quickly enough. Fish can be iffy at good restaurants. At this one, it’s a definite risk.
Our waiter this evening looks more like a gawky teenager than a grown-up trying to earn a living. His face is pocked with acne, and he seems far too young to be working, especially in the evening.
Katie’s wine appears quickly enough, then the waiter either disappears or ignores