“Oh Eric, I’m so sorry.” She could imagine what life must have been like for him, during and following the prom. No doubt his date had viewed him as a cheapskate. Word must have spread around school through Ellen’s friends about the disastrous night. The little of the fallout he did mention was probably the tip of the iceberg.
Eric exhaled slowly. “I’ve never told anyone about that disastrous night. Not even Michael knows all of it.”
“You trusted me enough to share it,” she said, and leaned toward him, bracing her head against his shoulder. “It means a great deal that you would.”
“I’ve shied away from relationships ever since, letting school and then work consume my time and energy. I don’t know how to do them.”
“You seemed to be doing just fine with me.”
He grinned then, his look shy and expectant. “Are we in a relationship?” he asked.
“Do you want us to be?” she countered.
He turned and studied her for a long moment. “More than I should admit…What about you, Carrie? Would you like to be?”
She started to answer, when he cut her off, “Before you say anything…”
“Yes,” she returned, eager to reassure him. After Justin, Eric was a diamond in the rough. A prince, as far as she was concerned.
“Yes?”
“Yes, I’d like that more—”
“To be clear,” he said, butting in again, “I’m a geek. And a workaholic; I rarely go out.”
“Would you be willing to…go out?” she asked.
“With you?”
She smiled. “Is there someone else you’d rather spend time with?”
“No, no way,” he rushed to tell her. “I’d only go out with you.”
“Good,” she said, and squeezed his hand. “There’s a movie I’ve been wanting to see, and I’d love it if we could go together.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I’ll need to check with my team about the time away.”
“Of course.”
He leaned back and seemed to relax. “This would be a date, right?”
“Yes, it will, and I won’t require a corsage. All I need is you.”
Eric wrapped his arm around her elbow, dragging her closer to his side. “You have no idea how firmly you have me, Carrie.”
* * *
—
She’d done her best to encourage Eric to attend at least one of these events at The Heritage, hoping to draw him out of his condo for more than their evening chats.
Laughter echoed from the book club discussion as she returned to her desk, and Carrie smiled. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the chat and the refreshments. Her personal phone rang, and she reached for it, irritated to be interrupted while working. It could only be Justin.
Justin had contacted her every day for the last week, wanting to get together. He seemed oblivious to the fact that she was no longer interested in maintaining their relationship. That was a decision she’d made, following their last outing, when they cycled around Green Lake.
Her eyes had been opened. This was a dead-end relationship. As Carrie and her mother had discussed, Justin was like Peter Pan. He would forever be chasing his shadow, searching to find himself, taking advantage of others, and taking his mother’s generosity for granted, sponging off her.
As she suspected, the call was from Justin. “Carrie,” he greeted her with enthusiasm, as if he’d been waiting all day to hear the sound of her voice. “How about a movie later?”
“I’m working.”
“You work, like, twenty-four hours a day. Don’t you get time off for good behavior?”
Carrie didn’t find his humor amusing. Since he didn’t seem to be getting the message, she decided to spell it out for him. “I appreciate you asking,” she said, although she strongly suspected she would have ended up paying for him as well as herself. “I believe it’s better if we don’t see each other again.”
“You mean you’re moving on? Are you breaking up with me?”
“We aren’t actually a couple, you realize. We’ve had some good times and it’s been fun. But I have other interests now and feel you should look for someone else to pay for your lunch or movie ticket. I’m busy.”
He seemed to have trouble believing her. “Come on, Carrie, you don’t mean that.”
“I do. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me during work hours.” Something she’d already repeatedly mentioned. Or contact her at any other time, for that matter, although she didn’t say it.