It's Who You Know Ch. 01

"Sir?" the waitress asked me. "Would you like a drink?"

"Er, coke."

"Pepsi?"

"Yes, whichever." Why did they always do that? Was there really a difference?

Darren sat across from me, sunlight from the window illuminating one half of his face. He took a good long look at me. I looked back.

His hair was one of those copper brown shades that seemed to change colour where the light hit it. In this case, a little bit ginger. It was neat and short and incredibly straight. He had thick eyebrows, his facial hair a trimmed line along his jaw to his ears. But it was his eyes. Light grey-blue, sharp and penetrating. Like two circles of cobalt metal on his face.

He blinked.

I slid my portfolio across the table to him. He stopped it with a quick reflex of his fingers that only enhanced the feeling of predator and prey starting in my stomach.

I needed to relax. My foot was subconsciously tapping the floor with nerves and I felt Zack's hand on my knee. He said a lot to me with a simple sideways glance.

Darren looked up from some papers to ask a question. Zack answered, pretty much ripping the shit out of me. I burst into laughter and sat back in my chair. God. Yes, I needed to relax. The only thing I really knew about confidence came flooding back to me. Don't take yourself too seriously.

This would be the hardest bit, I knew. The part where we talked all about me. I think Amelia and Zack knew more about me than I did. That was okay. They were pretty accurate. I only butted in to correct a university tale, something about 4am and laptops.

The waitress brought drinks over, and I wanted to laugh at it. What a mismatched table. Amelia's steaming tea. Zack's water. My coke- I'm sorry, pepsi. And was that wine for Darren? Jesus Christ.

Yes, it was wine. He plucked it from the tray and took a sip.

Oh my God.

I think he started to ask even more questions as it settled in his stomach. Maybe that was why he did it. He did seem a bit... tense. Maybe not exactly tense. Just distracted. But he didn't look at his watch once, his phone never went off.

He leant back from the table and his legs stretched out. One of his feet knocked against mine and I retreated them beneath my chair. Okay, if he wanted that space, sure. Wasn't going to fight him for it. He was always looking at me, always watching me. I felt like I was supposed to keep more eye contact with him, but I couldn't hold that steely gaze. Tried, failed.

The conversation finally moved on from me. We began to discuss the business. Now, Darren really came alive. Where he had seemed cold, still, choosing his words carefully, there was a transformation. He could be very expressive, and it was mostly with his hand and arm movements.

He told you his mood with his fingers, whether they gripped something hard or soft. Whether the turns of his wrists were fast or slow. The flash of his teeth behind the picture he was painting to you with his words. He was a very physical storyteller, and if you were lucky, you'd get a couple sound effects.

I liked watching him. Zack and Amelia were so comfortable around him, it was hard not to soak that up. The waitress brought over some plates with light lunch - some sort of herbal bread, salad bits. Not exactly my type of thing but whatever. We sat there eating and talking, and it was probably the best, and easiest, interview of my life.

The strange thing is that at no point was I just told yes, I was hired. At no point was I told to go home and await a call or email.

Amelia was clasping Zack's hands in hers across the table when she saw his watch. "Goodness, it's nearly time for me to get David."

"Nah," Zack said. "I'll get him. You can take Tyler back and get him sorted."

"All right," she said, sifting through a pocket of her jacket for her keys. Zack scraped his chair back and got to his feet with them jingling in his grasp. She looked across at me. "You can drive us there, right?"

I frowned. "Er, yeah." What, they'd all turned up in Amelia's car? They were getting up, so I followed. First David, now this. I felt like a taxi.

Darren collected my portfolio back together and handed it to me, then organised the empty plates and glasses nicely at the edge of the table for the waitress. Zack and Amelia did their lovey-dovey goodbye thing, and he and I exchanged some quick smirks. He'd also experienced the whole third wheel thing, huh?

Then we left. Call me crazy, but I didn't notice anyone paying for anything.

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