His eyes narrowed and his smile softened into something she couldn’t put her finger on. He said, “Okay.”
They were barely inside the bar when a woman with a microphone started going over the event. She explained it was “typical” speed dating, which meant five minutes per date with a bell notifying participants of when it was time to advance to the next person. Everyone was given a tiny notepad （with the words Love Happens on the front—gag） and pencil so they could jot down the names of dates they connected with so they could communicate with them after the event.
“The ladies will be seated at the tables over there,” the woman said, pointing toward the side of the room where tables were lined up side by side, “and our gentlemen will rotate.”
“Why?” Hallie asked, not really meaning to interrupt. “I read an article last night in which researchers discovered that whichever gender is seated at these events tends to be pickier about their selections, whereas the person approaching is more accepting.”
The woman’s smile stayed pinned on her mouth, but her eyes lost their perk. “Well, wouldn’t that work in your favor, as someone who will be seated?”
Hallie rolled her eyes. “Respectfully, it seems incredibly sexist to have women lined up to receive suitors, don’t you think? Aren’t we more evolved than that?”
She heard Jack snort, and it was then that she realized she should have kept her big mouth shut.
Jack
Jack couldn’t hold in his grin as the participants all looked at Hallie as if she were suggesting they play the game naked or something. They probably thought she was a militant feminist, but he kind of wanted to hear more about the study.
Also, she wasn’t wrong.
“I see what you’re saying,” the lady said, “but this is just the way speed dating is usually done. I can take your ideas back to—”
Jack raised his hand and said, “The odd woman makes a good point. I’d like to sit. Maybe we should randomly draw numbers to decide who sits and who rotates, just to keep it ‘modern.’？”
He didn’t really give a damn who sat and who stood, but he also didn’t want Hallie to be ostracized for having an intelligent, independent thought.
“Um,” the organizer said, sounding exasperated as she looked around the bar, “I guess we can try something new.”
“Very progressive of you,” Jack said, and the organizer grinned at him like he’d just given her a bouquet of long-stemmed roses.
“Yeah, thank you,” Hallie said, which made the organizer’s smile falter. The woman looked at her as if she wished an anvil would fall from the sky and crush her.
“But how will we match up guys and girls when the bell rings?” The woman was beginning to slowly lose her shit. Her eyes shifted around the room and she said, “It won’t work.”
A blonde said, “We can assign a number to each participant, and when the bell rings, each person moves on to the next number up from theirs.”
“No, this is too confusing and we’re scheduled to start in two minutes,” the organizer said, raising the microphone to her mouth and almost shouting at this point. “We’re sticking with our original plan. I’m sorry.”
Hallie looked at Jack and he couldn’t stop himself from grinning.
“Thank you for trying,” she muttered.
“Fuck that,” he whispered. “Now I have to stand the whole time.”
That made her start laughing.
Which made the organizer glare even harder and say, “Maybe we can make the number thing work. Take five, everyone.”
Hallie threw a closed-mouth smile at the girl to her left, who just rolled her eyes like Hallie was a moron, and she said “Hi” to the girl on her right, who gave her a very terse “Hello.”
“This is going swimmingly,” Jack heard her say to herself, under her breath.
Jack wondered if it was strange that he was having a great time just watching Hallie be Hallie. “You little troublemaker.”
“I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
“No, this is funny shit right here,” he said. “And what you said makes sense. Why should the ladies get to sit and choose? I want to sit and have them come before me like the king I am.”
“That is not what I was requesting,” she said with a laugh, rolling her eyes.
God, she has a really great laugh.
“Okay, everyone,” the organizer yelled through the microphone, her voice tense. “We’re running behind, but I think we have it figured out.”