Sign Me Up by Dulcie Dameron
Jamie
unlike any other day in existence because I KISSED MY BEST FRIEND last night, I insisted Daria and I forego the farmer’s market and go straight to brunch with Briar.
She’s been shooting me weird looks all morning, even after Briar showed up with her sweet disposition. “So, what’s this all about?” Briar asks before taking a sip of her iced coffee. “You never skip the farmer’s market.”
I pull my lips in, shifting my eyes from one friend to the other.
“Spit it out, Jamie!” Daria’s wide eyes as she leans into the table toward me are my undoing.
“Parker and I made out last night!” I bring both hands up to cover my mouth as I take in my friends’ reactions.
Daria purses her lips, fighting a smile, and sits back in her chair. She points a perfectly manicured finger at me accusingly. “I knew it! I knew this was why you came home so late and had ‘When You Kiss Me’ blaring when I woke up this morning.”
Briar squeals in delight. “This is so exciting!” She starts slapping my arm over and over. “Tell. Us. Everything! Was it amazing? Was it all you hoped it would be? Gah, he just seems like he’d be such a good kisser.” She presses both hands to her chest like she’s about to faint.
“It was so good,” I say, letting my smile break free. “Like, I can’t even explain it with words.”
Briar squeals again while Daria covers her ears. “Okay, we get it, you’re excited.” D chuckles. “Now, let’s get the nitty gritty details.” She zeroes in on me with her signature intimidating look. “Who started it? You or him?”
I fold and refold the napkin on the table. “Well…I may have started it.”
“I knew it.” Again, Daria smirks like she’s privy to everything. “I knew you wouldn’t last long as soon as you admitted your feelings to us.”
I throw up my hands. “I couldn’t help it! The man dressed like a character from my favorite book for me, even reading the series to get fully into character, then asked me to dance at the Halloween party, in front of everyone, mind you,” I add, turning toward Briar, who practically faints at that detail, “and I just got swept up in the moment. Besides.” I skip my eyes to Daria. “You’re the one who told me to put the moves on him. You got in my head!”
She flashes me a satisfied smile while her eyebrows dance up and down.
“But there’s more,” I say, biting my lip. “After I kissed him, he froze and I feared I’d royally messed up.”
“What happened?” Briar whispers, leaning in like she’s hanging on my every word.
“He pulled me out into the hall by the elevators and asked me if I kissed him.”
“How could he not have known?” Daria’s voice rises with skepticism.
“He knew,” I say. “I think he just needed me to…I don’t know…admit it. Besides, I only kissed his jaw.”
“Aww,” Briar simpers, “his jaw.”
Daria rolls her eyes with a smile. “Okay, so what did you say?”
“Well, at that point I really did think I messed up, so I begged him not to hate me. And that’s when he told me he wanted me and pressed me up against the wall.”
“Ahhhhh!” Both of my friends squeal now, gaining the attention of people walking past our quaint little table by the sidewalk. I purposely chose outdoor seating at our favorite café for this exact reason, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Now we’ve got literal passersby thinking we’re nuts.
“Shhh,” I shush my friends. “Keep it down. People are staring.” They immediately school their expressions. “Okay, so we’re kissing, and then I suddenly get the urge to drag him into the elevator where we continue making out until Stefan opened the elevator doors and caught us.”
Both my friends’ mouths fall open.
“Your boss caught you?” Briar asks while Daria winces.
I sigh and fiddle with the straw in my coffee. “Unfortunately, yes. And then he proceeded to tell us that we needed to discuss it in his office on Monday.”
Briar scrunches up her nose. “Yikes. That can’t be good.”
“I’m just resigning myself to the fact that I’ve lost my chance at the interview with Paris. I figure if I tell myself that now, it’ll soften the blow once he actually delivers it.” I’m keeping my tone light, pretending like the situation doesn’t bother me as much as it does…but inside, I’m reeling with the possibility that kissing Parker might’ve lost me the most important assignment of my career thus far.
Daria reaches over the table and squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry, Jamie. I know how badly you wanted it.”
I offer her a reassuring smile. “It’s really okay. I don’t regret kissing Parker, even if it was the final nail in the proverbial coffin for me.”
Briar giggles as she opens her menu. “Well, let’s order and you can give us all the juicy details about that kiss,” she says with a wink.
For a moment, my heart lightens. Because what I said was true. Even if kissing Parker made me officially lose this interview, it was still worth it. But I can’t deny that there’s a twinge in my chest that still wishes things could’ve turned out differently, especially when I’m not even sure I’ll have a job after our meeting on Monday.