6 - Drinks

She smiled back and thought, ‘Everything about you is cute, even your smile. Maybe I will say hi…,’ she laughed to herself, ‘...later.’

She tore her gaze away and started listening to her friends, pretending like she was not affected by that brief encounter.

Celine looked at her watch discreetly, checking the time to see if enough time had passed for her to check and look back at him again. See if he is still interested. Most of the time, when she does this staring game, as she calls it, they get tired and find some other conquest. It was a test. She will not let them get to her that easily. She was not here for a one-night stand. 

Max was indeed still staring at her when she looks up. ‘Let’s see if he follows. I don’t even know what’s come over me, but I’ll make the first move.’ 

‘He doesn’t seem to want to do anything, just standing there staring and waiting. But then again, my friends are too much sometimes, and I don’t want them to tease us or even take a look at him. He’s mine. Whoa! Where did that come from?’ she frowned. 

Suddenly, she was nervous. ‘What if he's still interested and follows me to the restroom? Omg, this would be a first. Why am I so nervous? It’s going to be okay. Just play it cool,’ she told herself. She takes one last drink and stands up, making a beeline in his direction, and stares at him while she walks past. It was an invitation. ‘Come, follow me.’’ Her eyes said invitingly.

-=-

There was a long hallway leading to the restroom that offered a lot of opportunities for them to talk without getting interrupted. The music in this area wasn’t too loud either, so there was no need to shout or get too close to each other.

Max called out to her, 'Excuse me!'

Celine looked back briefly. 'I’m Max, and I would like to know your name, and if it’s not too forward, I would like to ask for your number too,' he finished as he reached her side.

Celine was too nervous, but she wanted to play it cool. She just looked at him and went into the restroom. 'Shit! I froze! Dammit! I hope he’s still out there. Let me rehearse what I’m going to say. Don’t be too easy, and don’t play too hard to get, he might leave,' she instructed herself as she paced inside the room.

When she came out, she was ready to be disappointed. She anticipated that Max had already left, but there he was, leaning against the wall, playing with his phone. He smiled at her when she walked out.

'I’m Celine,' she says with her hand out to take his phone, 'If you stalk me or try to sell me something, I will give your number to the sex hotline.'

He fumbles for his phone as he gives it to her. ‘This girl has the guts to call me out? Sex hotline, really?’

Max couldn’t stop staring. She was more beautiful up close. ‘Her eyes are very lovely, they were the color of melted milk chocolate. I feel like I’ve seen eyes like those before.' He frowned for a bit, trying to recall the exact same eyes he knew he was familiar with. 'She has very long lashes, and her mouth looks so inviting.’  He felt mesmerized as he inspected her thoroughly.

He wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing on his phone. He inhaled to get a whiff of her perfume. ‘I know that smell. Her perfume smells a little like Clara’s scent, but this is a little more fruity,’ he smiles as her smell invades his heart.

Celine was getting conscious of him staring at her face, and she fumbled several times, trying to remember how to figure out how to add a phone number. ‘Damn!’ she thinks, ‘We even have the same phone, but his nearness is making me nervous.’ 

When she finally figures it out, she hears him take a deep breath. ‘Is he trying to sniff me?’ 

She glances at him. ‘He is sniffing me out. Well, I do smell good. Daisy Eau so fresh, really makes you feel fresh,’ she thought, smiling to herself. It took a while to convince herself to get it because she had to splurge. It cost more than a hundred dollars for a small bottle of this perfume, and she thought it would be a waste of money.

She found Lana to be the most common name on his phone, so she just added another Lana in there with her number. ‘He won’t get my information that easy. Let him figure that out himself,’ she smiled, pleased with herself. 

'Heeeey! What are you smiling at?' he asked. 'Don’t think about giving me your boss’s phone number or your favorite chicken restaurant, okay.' he looked at the number she was entering.

She smiles again. 'I promise I wouldn't do that to you. Let me ring my phone, so you know I’m telling the truth,' she said as she tapped on it. He said, 'Okay, that’s good,' as he heard her phone make the sound. He disconnected the call and placed his phone inside his pocket, eager to get back to talking to her.

'I’m Max from San Jose, Northern California. My team and I came here to meet with a client, and since we are doing a lot of transactions with that company, I’ll be here often enough. Would you mind if I call you, maybe go out on a date sometime?'

She was apprehensive. He was from another city, and she may not see him ever again. One-night stands weren’t her thing. Actually, she hasn’t even had a proper boyfriend, and now this relationship might be a long-distance one if this continues. ‘Hmm...,’ she thinks and purses her lips.

Celine wants to marry for life, like her parents. They love each other deeply, and the tragedy their family experienced did not tear them apart. They seemed stronger now more than ever. 

Her dad still blames himself for what happened, but her mom never did. She always said it was a tragedy and that they should rely on each other to be stronger.

Her parents were college sweethearts, and that probably made all the difference. The bond was stronger because there were deeper roots.

She wanted something like that, but she was never lucky enough in love. After the accident, they wouldn’t even let her go out with her friends. They finally let go when she started college, but nights like these were pretty rare. Her dad was still paranoid and did not let her out of his sight.

It took a long minute for her to answer. She thought, ‘I should go out with him, right? I worked so hard to win his attention all night, and now I’m backing out? This might not even go anywhere. Who knows?’ 

She said, 'Sure, call me the next time you’re in town. When are you leaving?'

'We’re not leaving until tomorrow night. Would you care to have lunch with me?'

She smiled, 'Sure, if you can find me.' 

Max frowned, ‘Find her? I know where she works, and I don’t think she knows that.’ He didn’t understand what she meant, so he just shrugged it off. 'So I came here with my siblings and the company CEO. Would you like to meet them?'

Celine looked unsure. 'I know we just met, but if I’m going to see you again, why not get to know you now? It’s going to be fun, I promise.' Max raised his eyebrows in question. She agreed, and he smiled.

He walked her back to the group to introduce her to everyone. He began, 'Guys, this is Celine, we met in the restroom,' and everybody laughed, 'This is my brother Jeremy, my sister Clara and this…'

'Hi Mr. Colfer,' Celine said shyly.