"Don't lie to me, you little–"
Dana wasn't sure what happened to her, but she wasn't feeling anything any more. If he attacked her, it wasn't going to be much of a fight. But she was ready to kill, if she had to. She was ready to die. Her stomach felt like it was doing flips fast enough to power an average-sized home.
"I'm not lying, Dana. I think you know that."
"Frankly I don't believe a thing you say, you creep."
"Look, I'm not saying that you're going to like me. I get that."
"You're god damned right I'm not going to like you."
"But let me ask you this. How are you feeling right now?"
"Go fuck yourself," she growled.
It didn't make her feel better, but she couldn't exactly stop herself, either. So she kept getting angrier and tried to protect herself. It didn't work, regardless of what she might have wanted.
"You know what I think you're feeling right now?"
"What? You're so fucking smart, why don't you tell me?"
"I think you're feeling hurt."
Something inside her popped. "Yeah," she said, still trying to hold together her frustration. She wasn't going to manage it, of course, and she knew it. But there wasn't any other option available to her. "Yeah, I'd say I'm feeling hurt. Idiot."
"So what do you want to do about it?"
"Do about it? I'm going to go home and get on with my life. Unless you were thinking that you could talk me into shooting him, or burning the apartment building down, I'm not seeing where you're going with this."
"He hurt you, right?"
"Yeah, I'd say that. What are you, some kind of fucking psychic?"
"So what do you want to do about it?"
"I told you. There's nothing to do about it."
"That's where you're wrong," Colin said. He let the words hang in the air, as if she was going to figure it out at some point, and he was just waiting for that to happen. It didn't.
"Okay, genius. Why don't you tell me what I'm going to do to get back at him?"
"You hurt him back."
"How am I going to do that? I'm not committing some crime over an asshole. I'm not that crazy, regardless of what you apparently think of me."
"Who needs to commit a crime? I'm not talking about crimes."
"Fine. What's your big plan then?"
"You hurt him back. Hit him where it hurts."
"Where's that? Kick him in the balls?"
Colin smiled. "You're closer than you think, actually. He's a guy who's got two things going for him."
"What's that?"
"His future, and his present. Now, if you want to get at his future, maybe in ten years you can come out and start announcing that he sexually harassed you when he's making a run for Senate. Maybe it works."
"That's awfully long-term planning. Why not do that right now, if I'm going to do it?"
"The claim probably won't stand up to intense scrutiny," Colin suggested.
"And it's a scummy thing to do. I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face. I'm not a complete fucking idiot."
"No, I didn't think so," Colin said. He nodded thoughtfully to himself. "But I'm not thinking about hitting him in his political career."
"Then get to your point."
"The other thing he's got going for him is precisely why he won our bet, Dana. He thinks he's irresistible to women, and apparently, he's just about right."
She was starting to see the point he was making, but it was hidden from her in a fog of anger and misery. "Just say what you're thinking. God damn!"
"You could resist him. Show him that you're no more affected by him than you are by, I don't know, a stiff drink."
"And how do you suppose I do that?"
"I'm saying you move on."
"And what? Text him like some kind of psycho to tell him all about it? Yeah, buddy, you're really thinking. He'll definitely think I'm over him if I'm texting him all the time to tell him how over him I am."
"You let him find out on his own."
"And precisely how am I going to do that? It's not like he's closely tied up in my life. Think."
"You could move on to someone else."
"And I'm guessing you have someone in mind?"
"It would have to be someone who would give you an excuse to run into him again."
"And I'm guessing you're going to volunteer?" Dana still felt numb with anger. She wanted to break something. And she could feel something in her gut, something telling her that whether she liked it or not, there was better-than-even odds that she was going to.
"I'm not asking you to seriously date me. What kind of creep would I even be? No, I'm just saying. If you want to hurt lover-boy, you make him think that we're dating. We have a few little good times, and maybe, you know…"
"Yeah, I wouldn't figure on it."
"The only thing is that I'm going to need to be able to sell it. In conversation, you know?"
"Yeah, whatever." Dana's teeth ground together. "Fine. We'll do whatever. I'm not sleeping with you, but let's start now. You can give me a ride home."
He smiled. Apparently, at least for a start, that was good enough for him. He said as much, stood up, and fished keys out of his pocket. "You want to grab something to eat on the way?"
"I'm not that hungry."
"I'm buying," Colin countered.
"Do what you want," Dana answered. Her belly was full of anger. But that didn't mean that she couldn't eat, if money weren't any object.