The Chemistry of Love(13)

I briefly wondered whether my former boss might throw me out if he saw me. I was going to have to keep a low profile and avoid him. I had to focus on finding Craig, telling him my feelings, and we would hopefully leave together.

The thought of actually doing that made my stomach lurch. A waitress walked by, holding out a tray of champagne flutes. Liquid courage would be very helpful. I reached for the drinks and took two.

“For a friend,” I said. Why did I do that? Feel like I had to invent some story? Like how I’d call for Chinese takeout and tell the restaurant that my order was for a family of four when I planned on eating the whole thing myself and spending the entire weekend in a food coma.

Maybe I should try a little honesty along with my other resolutions. “Actually, they’re both for me.”

“Good for you,” the waitress said with a nod. “Whoever he is, you deserve better.”

She was gone before I could protest. If I were a superstitious person, I would think the universe was trying to warn me.

I saw Craig standing in a corner with a group of people. I downed both glasses quickly and placed them on a nearby table. I would have to make sure to eat something later. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunchtime, and I didn’t want to get sloppy drunk.

Craig walked away from the group, and I saw my opportunity. He walked out onto a large patio, and I followed him. He was on a phone call, and I wondered how long I could stand here before it got creepy.

I ran over in my mind what I’d practiced to say to him, wringing my hands together. It was cold outside, but I barely felt it.

He ended the call and turned as if he planned on heading back inside.

My heart thudded hard in my chest. Now or never.

“Craig?”

He looked at me expectantly, and I waited a moment in case my tenth imaginary scenario came true and he would kiss me before I said anything.

Nope.

“Hi,” I said, not sure how to start despite all my rehearsing.

“Hi.” He hesitated, and then his eyes lit up. “Wait, I remember you! The lady scientist. Catalina, right?”

That felt a little like being stabbed. “No, that was my friend. I’m Anna.”

I expected him to say something else, but he didn’t.

His phone buzzed. “Sorry, give me a second.” He smiled, and I wished I was the reason why. He started texting, his thumbs flying across the screen. “This is a buddy of mine who went to USC, and he thinks he can trash-talk my alma mater.”

“Like me!”

Craig looked confused.

“I went to USC. Remember?”

His confusion deepened.

I tried again. “You jumped me?”

Now he looked worried, and I realized that the other connotations of those words were negative. “Two years ago. My car died in the parking lot. You brought your truck over and gave me a jump.”

I’d stayed late that night, and my cell phone had died. I thought I was the last person there, but then Craig had come by in his truck and asked if I needed help. He had been my knight in a white Ford.

He could have called for someone else to come and assist me, but he’d stayed and made sure that I got off safely. He had asked where I’d gone to school and I told him USC, as they had a great cosmetic chemist program. He had made an unfunny and semi-inappropriate joke about USC’s mascot, which I’d felt obligated to laugh at because he was being so nice. We had a great conversation after that, and I’d fallen fast and hard for him.

“Oh! Right!” he said, but I saw in his eyes and heard in his voice that he had no idea what I was talking about. It had been a seminal moment for me, and he hadn’t registered it at all.

My heart squeezed painfully, and I put my hand against a window for support.

His phone beeped this time, and he looked at it. “I have to go. I’ve got to find someone. I hope I don’t get lost. It’s pretty dark in there!” He said it in a teasing tone.

I should have kept quiet. I already felt like such a fool, but I had to go and make it worse. “May the light of E?rendil guide you.”

Craig gave me that look, the one I’d seen so many times throughout my life, and I wanted to kick myself. Still not able to stay quiet, I added, “You know, to be a light for you in dark places when all other lights go—”

But he was already walking away, throwing a “bye” over his shoulder. So much for that dance. And when was I going to stop making Lord of the Rings references to people who had no idea what I was talking about?

Part of my imaginary scenarios had included Craig loving the movies as much as I did. At the very least, I’d hoped he’d watched them.

None of this was going how I’d planned. I stood there, shivering slightly as the cold started to seep in against my skin, wondering what I should do next.

A few minutes passed, and I finally went back inside, feeling very unsure. Someone tapped on the DJ’s microphone. It was Craig.

And he was standing next to a woman who looked like she’d been drawn by a very randy fifteen-year-old boy. She was perfection. Blonde hair, perfect curves, gleaming skin and teeth.

Craig had his arm around her. They looked like Ken and Barbie.

My stomach dropped to my knees.

“Excuse me!” he called out. “If I could have everyone’s attention!” The dull roar of the partygoers quieted down.