Gio #2
I saw the woman to my left side-eye me. I took a risk on guessing she was French, she looked very similar to the women I’d seen on my many trips there.
The request for that specific wine did seem to pique her interest, but after looking briefly, she turned her attention back to her own drink and continued to disregard me.
Exactly as expected, she certainly wasn’t going to start up a conversation with me, but the way her gaze was lingering on me, occasionally flitting over to me as I waited for my drink, it made me feel that if I could just start any conversation with her, I might succeed where others had failed.
Finally, the bartender returned with my wine, setting the glass on top of a napkin in front of me. “Can I get you anything else?”
I lifted my glass to him and sighed. “This is a good start. Parties like this are so pretentious and lame. I’d rather not do them at all.”
Two seats down from me, I noticed the woman crack a small smile, making her already radiant face a little brighter, but I tried my hardest not to focus on her.
“Yes, sir. I understand. You seem like the type who would work a room at this kind of event,” the bartender said.
“I suppose if I was at all interested in conversing with the sort of fake people floating around.” I took a sip of the wine. “Why do you think I came over here? You’re likely the only person who isn’t going to lie to my face.”
Thankfully, that did it. The woman a few seats down from me blew air out of her nose before looking over and lifting an eyebrow. “You’re a rare breed at a networking event.”
I looked over at her, let my eyes drift up and down her form so that she knew I’d taken stock of her appearance, and then locked my eyes into hers and smiled. “My architect designed the place, but I’d be stupid to let him come here.” I shrugged. “He’s a bit of a brute.”
She nodded knowingly. “A forced attendance. I thought I was the only one.” She turned to take a sip of her drink and I used that moment to give the bartender a ‘get out of here’ look, which he understood and walked away.
Resting her head on top of her hand now, she looked back at me.
“So, what’s your game plan? Do a quick trip around the room, make sure enough people see you, take at least two photos that will end up on the internet, and leave within an hour. ”
My smile grew. “Wow, that’s smart. No. My plan was to sit here begrudgingly for the next three hours hoping that something strikes me down to save me from my misery.”
She laughed. “Helping people work the room in a short period of time is something I’m rather skilled at.”
“If that’s the case, why are you still here with such an expression of pleasure on your face?”
“Because my job is helping other people work quickly. I have to stick around and make sure they can get the job done.”
“That is unfortunate,” I replied. “I’m sorry for that.”
Despite her best attempts not to do so, she got more and more flurry-eyed the longer she sat there.
I kept her engaged in light conversation, never really saying anything that would suggest I had any interest in hitting on her or engaging her romantically.
We were just two souls who managed to happen upon one another, help each other alleviate our stuffy party stress.
I was kind of hoping she’d make the move, but she hadn’t even asked my name yet, so I imagined I wasn’t going to press her that far.
No matter how sexy that would be.
“I’m sorry,” I said eventually, putting on my best aloof and uncaring tone of voice, “we’ve been speaking all of this time and I never asked you your name.”
“Avion,” she responded. “French, like your wine.”
I nodded. “Oh, what a coincidence, and a beautiful name I might add. I’m Giovanni, but most call me Gio.”
“Lovely to meet you, Gio,” she responded, her smile growing. Maybe, just maybe, I’d waded the waters enough to make a move? I looked over my shoulder in every direction and waited for her to say, “Are you looking for someone or avoiding someone?”
“Avoiding,” I said. “My assistant hasn’t sought me out to do some ass-kissing by my dying luck. I’m just hoping he doesn’t come along and interrupt such a delightful conversation.”
“You and me both,” she said.
That felt like a go-ahead. “Just in case,” I said, looking back at her, “would you be willing to give me your number, Avion? Perhaps we can find a less terrible place to continue talking in the future.”
Avion’s eyes flared with excitement at the request, and I felt like I’d won, but then she said, “While I’m sure that would be lovely, I’m afraid I must decline.
You’re obviously very attractive and charming, but if you’re here, it means you’re a little too closely related to my father for comfort.
I won’t get into it, but I’ve learned the hard way not to date within his circle. ”
I tilted my head to the side, furrowing my brow. “Your father?”
“Yes,” Avion responded with an eye roll. “My father, Governor Curtis Narzand.”
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