She quickly explained the numbering system and how it would work, then shouted out numbers that determined who would sit and who would stand.
In the end, Hallie was still sitting.
And so was Jack, who took the table right beside her. He watched as she stuck her purse under the small table, pushed back her hair, and straightened her posture. She looked nervous as she took a deep breath, and he had no idea why he felt like squeezing her hand in reassurance.
Hallie
“I dare you to use an accent,” Jack said out of the corner of his mouth.
“You’re not getting the baseball, so knock it off.”
“We’ll see,” he said.
Before she was even ready, the bell rang. Hallie took a deep breath, and a guy sat down in the chair in front of her. He had a nice face and curly blond hair, and as she smiled and tried to think of something to say, he said, “Hi, I’m Blayne.”
“I’m Hallie.”
“Oh my God, I used to love The Parent Trap.”
She forced herself not to roll her eyes. “Same.”
“So what’s your thing, Hal?” The guy smiled and put his chin on his hand. “Tell me every little thing about Hallister McHalliegirl.”
“Nope.” She fake-laughed and tried thinking of an answer. “I’m a tax accountant, but you first. Tell me about Blayne.”
“I’m a financial planner who lives out in Westfield. I like camping and hiking, anything outdoorsy, and I’m super into yoga right now. Do you like yoga?”
She tilted her head and tried to picture Blayne doing yoga. She could totally see it. “I’ve really only tried it a couple times.”
That was apparently a green light for him to spend the entirety of their micro-date telling her the who/what/where/when of the yoga class he facilitated in a strip mall. He gave her the promo code to get a friends and family discount, and she realized as he expounded upon the benefits of yoga that this speed dating thing wasn’t actually a bad promotional idea.
She glanced to her right, and wow, Jack’s current date was stunning. She was smiling and talking, and he looked absolutely enthralled by her. Hallie wondered—feeling slightly panicked—if he’d already found his love connection.
The bell rang, and Hallie let out a breath. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved that the first one was over or terrified about the next one beginning.
“Your date looked awesome,” Jack said quietly, and when she looked over at him, he was giving her a half smile. “I bet he wears a man bun on the weekends.”
“Blayne was nice,” she whispered.
“Blayne?” Jack rolled his eyes. “I thought Duckie already covered what a stupid name that is.”
“Nice Pretty in Pink reference.” Hallie straightened as a man began to approach her table. She said out of the side of her mouth, “It looked like you were having a good date, by the way.”
“Yeah, no. That girl told me the reason why she’s here tonight is because she’s committed to the goal of getting married in the next year.”
“She sounds perfect, then,” she said, smiling at her next date and saying, “Hi, I’m Hallie.”
“Nope,” she heard Jack mutter before he started talking to his next candidate.
“I’m Thomas,” said her new guy. “So how’d your first date go?”
That made her smile and relax a little. “It was fine, how about yours?”
Thomas had nice hair and good teeth, and he was wearing a Dolce & Gabbana shirt; she wasn’t certain if that fashion choice worked as a pro or a con. She wasn’t sure how she’d expected him to respond, but he leaned a little closer, lowered his voice, and proceeded to rip some poor girl to shreds.
Apparently his first candidate had crooked teeth, split ends, strong perfume, and the audacity to talk about TV shows she liked to watch. He said, “If you don’t have anything better to share than your obsession with the You series on Netflix, maybe you should just stay home, right?”
Hallie squinted and waited for him to say kidding. Because no one could be that dickish, right?
When he didn’t, she said, “I’m actually obsessed with Joe Goldberg, too. I can’t believe you aren’t, Thomas.”
He laughed, but then he tilted his head. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not one bit. I wish I had more time to devote to TV watching. And more time to talk about it.”
He blinked fast, scratched his head, and then said, “Y’know what? I’m going to go get a drink before the bell rings.”