Christian

As much as I hated to admit it, I felt this incredibly strong connection to Eloise, a connection I had never felt before with any woman. Perhaps this was the connection I’d been searching for my entire dating life. Not only did I feel it the moment I laid eyes on her at Hellcat Annie’s, or the moment we had sex in my bathroom, but sitting on the wall and talking to her made it even stronger. I couldn’t explain it and I didn’t want to think about it anymore. She wasn’t interested in dating anyone, and as hard as it was, I needed to respect that. I wanted to know what happened in her last relationship and there was one person who could tell me.

The next morning, after grabbing some coffee and getting settled into work, I called Claire into my office.

“What’s up, Christian?” She cheerfully smiled.

“Have a seat, please. I have a question about your friend Eloise.”

She sat there with a narrowing eye.

“I’m not sure I can answer your question, but try me.”

Leaning back in my chair and bringing my ankle up to my knee, I spoke, “What happened in her last relationship?”

“Excuse me?” She cocked her head.

“I’m assuming he hurt her pretty bad. Bad enough that she doesn’t want to date anyone right now.”

“You mean date you, right?”

“Me or anyone else. Is it just me she doesn’t want to date?” I cautiously asked.

“To put your mind at ease, Christian, no, it’s not just you. Eloise doesn’t want to date period. As for her last relationship, it wasn’t even a real relationship. She and the guy had been talking for a few months, went out a couple of times, and then he decided they were getting too close. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for her. She’s never been lucky in the relationship department. All the guys she attracts are total assholes.”

I raised my brow at her. “Including me?”

“Oh, God, no. Of course not. It’s just the timing of the two of you meeting was wrong.”

“Yeah. Maybe it was. Thanks, Claire.”

“Sure.” She nodded with a small smile as she got up from her seat and walked out of my office.

I picked up a pen that was lying on my desk and started twirling it between my fingers. As much as I needed to respect her decision about not wanting to go out with me, giving up wasn’t an option. To be honest, I didn’t even know where the hell all this was coming from. I didn’t chase women. They chased me. But Eloise was different. And even though I really didn’t know her, she possessed something I couldn’t explain.

****

Eloise

I didn’t get home until two a.m. Thank God, my photo shoot wasn’t until eleven o’clock. Natalie and I hit up three different bars and I gave my number to three different guys. As I was sitting on the couch drinking my coffee and trying to wake up, my phone dinged with a text message from Mobile Man.

“Good morning. How did your quest go last night?”

“Good morning. Three different guys have become my victims. Now to patiently wait for the text messages to pour in.”

“Good for you, tiger! Just wanted to check in. I have a busy day. Catch ya later?”

“I have a busy day as well. Catch ya later, Mobile Man.”

After finishing my coffee, I headed into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for my photo shoot. Today’s shoot was for Vibe magazine, photographing their spring collection for next year. They had a regular photographer they used, but he had a family emergency and had been in Europe for the past month, so they called upon me to take his place until he came back. I had about thirty minutes until I needed to get ready to leave, so I opened my laptop and started to look for some other bars I could hit up tonight. While I was researching, an ad popped up for a singles mixer over at the Loews Hotel, which was being held tomorrow night. Why didn’t I think of something like that sooner? My fingers started typing away in the Google search bar: Single Mixers in New York City. Jackpot! There was Date & Dash, Weekend Dating, Flirt Fete, Eight at Eight, and a lot more festivities around the city. Excitement overtook me. As much as I wanted my friends to go with me, I couldn’t ask them since they were already in relationships. Except for Natalie, but she was getting ready to leave on a trip with her mom to Hawaii. So, I would be going solo.

I sent the models on a break about halfway into the shoot because I could tell they were getting tired and hungry. Pulling my phone from my purse, I noticed I had three text messages. All from the guys I met last night.

Frank: “Hi there! It was great meeting you last night. Are you free for dinner this week?”

Ron: “Eloise, it’s Ron from last night. You up for a drink later?”

Mark: “Hi. It was great meeting you last night. Drinks and dinner sometime soon?”

I immediately replied to all three messages.

“Hi Frank, I’m available tomorrow night. Say seven o’clock at Tavern on the Green?”

If I played my cards right, I could squeeze in a drink with Ron and dinner with Mark in the same night.

Hi, Ron. Drinks tonight at Didjo’s? Around six o’clock? I only have a couple of hours.”

Ron: “I’ll meet you there. A couple of hours is good to start. See you at six.”

Hi, Mark. It was great meeting you too. I’m available tonight for dinner. Why don’t we do Tavern on the Green at eight-thirty? That way, I’ll have time to get ready after work.”

Mark: “I can do tonight at eight-thirty. See you then.”

I smiled as I closed out of my messages. See what I did there? I didn’t give them a choice. I took control, which only gave them about ten seconds to think about it. If I would have let them choose the day, time, and place, it would have given them too much time to think and the possibility of a prompt date would have decreased.

After the photo shoot ended, I looked at my watch and it was five o’clock. It would take me at least a half hour to get home, which meant I only had about twenty minutes to get ready to meet Ron. As I was running the brush through my long brown hair, my phone dinged with a text message from Mobile Man.

“Good evening. How was your day?”

“Busy, but good. How was yours?” I asked.

“Also busy, but not too bad. Plans for tonight?”

“Actually, I have two dates.”

“Two? What are you doing? Seeing them at the same time?”

“LOL. No. I have drinks with Ron at six and dinner with Mark at eight-thirty.”

“Ah. You’re quite the little lioness, going after her prey. I sort of feel sorry for these guys.”

“They’ll be fine. It’s all in the name of research.”

“I can still help you with your research. Where are you meeting this Ron guy for drinks?”

“Wouldn’t you love to know? The last thing I’d need is you coming up to us and telling him how you’re the guy I text every single day.”

“It would be fun, though.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Going to a strip club for my friend’s thirtieth birthday.”

“Ah, lots of tits and ass for you tonight.”

“I guess so.” He sent the winky face. “Have fun on your dates tonight. I need to jump in the shower.”

“I will. Thanks. You too. Do me a favor and don’t pay extra to have sex with one of those strippers. God knows what you’ll catch.”

“Lol. I wouldn’t touch any of them anyway. They aren’t my type. Catch ya later, Digits.”

“Catch ya later, Mobile Man.”