But Jill shook her head. “No vodka for me. I need to pace myself. Just a wine, I think. Cabernet. And a glass of water.”
It was fun to hang out with everyone from the office. Jill realized how much she’d missed it. She especially missed the energy and enthusiasm of their newer recruiters. One of their newest, Stacy, had just landed her first client and had an offer pending on her own candidate, so it would be what they called a ‘double-bubble’， when you had both the job order and candidate sides of the placement. Like real estate, the placement fees were split between the holder of the job listing and the person with the candidate. And that amount was then split with the house, which was Jill and Billy.
While they were all chatting at the bar, Stacy’s phone rang and she looked like she was about to throw up as she went outside to take the call. A few minutes later, she came back, white as a ghost and looked a bit in shock.
“What happened, Stacy? Did your candidate say no?” Billy looked sympathetic.
But Stacy shook her head and took a moment to speak. “No, he actually said yes. He took the job.”
A chorus of cheers erupted, and Billy waved the bartender over and ordered a bottle of their most expensive champagne.
“Congrats on your first double-bubble. It’s time to celebrate.” Billy handed out flutes of champagne to everyone.
“Awesome job, Stacy. To the first of many double-bubbles,” Jill said.
The mood was festive as everyone toasted Stacy and she looked like she couldn’t quite believe what had happened. Jill was thrilled for her. She glanced at the time, to make sure she wouldn’t be late to meet Mac. Billy caught her doing it and frowned.
“I wish you didn’t have to go. Can’t you cancel and reschedule with him? Better yet, don’t go out with him at all.”
Jill laughed. “What do you have against Mac? I think you’d actually like him. He’s a nice guy.”
“I’m sure he is. We just don’t get to see you often enough.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to tomorrow night. Tell me again about the place we’re going to?”
“It’s a small place, but fancy. Everything is top notch. I don’t know what kind of food it is, but it’s all good. You’ll like it.”
“It sounds great. I probably should get going, though. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Jill made her way out of the bar, flagged down a cab and gave the address of the restaurant where she was meeting Mac. It was the flagship location of his family’s steakhouse. The last time she’d been there was over a year ago, with Billy, when they were celebrating a new client and another big placement.
Mac was waiting for her just inside the door and was chatting with a tall man at the reception desk that looked vaguely familiar. She realized why as soon as Mac introduced him.
“Jill, this is my brother, Ryan.” The resemblance was strong.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Ryan led them to a quiet table in a corner. The lights were dim, and the leather and wood were dark. A small candle glowed in the middle of the table. The overall feeling was comfortable elegance.
Jill wasn’t a big meat eater, but now and then she enjoyed a good steak and ordered the house aged sirloin that was coffee crusted and served with a butter sauce. Mac got the same, and they shared a side order of creamed spinach and scalloped potatoes. Mac ordered a good bottle of cabernet and they sipped it while they chatted. It was nice catching up with him. Jill felt like she was with an old friend. There wasn’t any nervousness, and they chatted easily. Mac was especially interested to hear about the changes they’d implemented and the reopening party.
“I should have suggested a party. That was a great idea that Mandy had. And it sounds like it went well?”
“It really did. It let us introduce Paul’s menu changes to a lot of people and once they sampled the food, they were sold.”
Their steaks were perfect, and Jill thought it was pretty much a perfect date except for one thing. Mac was a perfect gentleman. He was funny and attentive and easy to talk to and they had a lot in common as they swapped restaurant stories. It was a fun night, but Jill still didn’t feel any kind of physical attraction. She wanted to want to kiss him, but it just wasn’t there. And she was pretty sure that it would have been by now, if there was anything there. It was frustrating because on the surface, Mac seemed ideal for her.
And he seemed interested too. At the end of the evening, as he walked her to the Uber that she’d ordered, he seemed almost nervous about suggesting they go out again, so she didn’t have the heart to say no.