Maggie - Anaphylactic Shock
“You don’t have to come on my date,” I called out to Ben while I got ready in the bathroom to meet up with Ethan. “It’ll be weird for you.” I pulled a face. “And for me.”
Honestly, I was beyond exhausted after the first week of school, and what I really wanted was to cancel this date and relax on the couch the rest of the day, but I needed to push myself.
After I almost kissed Ben’s face off in my classroom, I knew I needed to get serious about my dating mission before I lost my mind.
“Oh, I’m coming,” Ben called back from somewhere down the hallway.
“You don’t have to though. It’s just an hour or two. Nothing’s going to happen,” I argued.
“And that’s when stuff happens, Jinx.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, he’s a guy, he’ll protect me if anything happens.” I struggled to pull my tights up and banged my elbow against the counter. “It’ll be fine.”
“He can’t protect you,” he deadpanned.
“Yes, he can,” I argued back, feeling defensive of Ethan while I fixed my hair.
I could hear his snort from somewhere behind the door. “Maybe if you go into anaphylactic shock, not if the mob fucking pulls up. I’m coming.” Then he muttered, “I don’t know why you even want to go out with this loser.”
Those words put me over the top. I threw the bathroom door open and stared at him. He was about five paces down the hall, leaning against the couch in the living room.
“It’s not like I can choose who likes me, okay?” I practically shouted at him.
His entire body stilled as his brown gaze slowly traveled up and down me. His eyes heated, and I suddenly felt way too exposed. Glancing down at myself, my own eyes widened. I totally forgot to put my dress back on. I was standing in front of him in off-black tights and a bra.
Well, I couldn't just waddle away with my tail between my legs now. I stood a little straighter and lifted my chin. “I can’t just go out with my top choice, it’s not that simple. You only have who likes you to pick from. And that’s not very many guys these days, so just shut up and don’t ruin this for me, got it?”
His eyes were still on my body and I swear I was battling a full-body blush. “Then they're stupid.” His voice was pure gravel.
I blinked. “What? Who?”
His dark eyes went to mine then. “Anyone who doesn't want to go out with you.”
My mind reeled for a second, putting together what he just said. “Th-thank you. That was kind of a compliment,” I stuttered out.
He nodded and I practically ran back to the bathroom.
He was my friend, friend, friend, I repeated to myself in the mirror. He was just being nice. That didn’t mean I should throw myself at him.
But I couldn’t help but think of how things had changed so quickly… From him running away when I thanked him, to him freezing up when I did, to him actually nodding and accepting my gratitude.
I wanted to pry. I wanted to ask why. I wanted to ask if he felt the same way. But I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t cross that line in the sand and risk the next few weeks being painfully awkward.
_________
I shouldn't have fought quite so hard for this date after all.
“Well, millennial women fucked themselves over big time.”
I couldn’t hide the skeptical look on my face.
“No, I’m serious, hear me out,” Ethan said with a laugh. “All these women were told to go out and climb the corporate ladder and take the difficult jobs from men, but they spent all their time doing that instead of dating and getting married and having babies, and now they're all gonna be lonely with their cats.”
I looked at him strangely, trying to figure out if he was seriously saying this to my face. I couldn’t even form the right words, I could just feel the rage building inside me. Because I was millennial, and I was still single, and I was nowhere near any kind of ladder– I kept a wide berth of them because of that whole bad omen– I could practically hear my dad’s voice saying, walk under a ladder, and ya might as well be walking to the gallows yourself.
And taking the difficult jobs from men? What in the actual hell?
“All the women in their late 20’s and 30’s,” he continued, “they’re hitting the wall with dating.”
“Hitting the wall?” I repeated. My right eye twitched from the frustration coursing through my body.
“Well, yeah.” He shrugged non-committedly, just like he did when he ordered the appetizer that I said I didn’t want because I hated seafood– he just did not care about my opinion. “Societal value for women plummets after 35.”
I reeled back slightly.
“That’s not news to you, is it?” Amusement shone in his blue eyes. He shoved another bite of caviar in his mouth, but it felt like he just slapped me in the face. He literally just said I’d be worthless in five years.
I shifted uncomfortably and caught Ben’s eye. He sat at the bar wearing his usual black attire with his airpod in his ear, which I knew was a security feed. His jaw was clamped shut and he had a lethal gaze locked on the back of Dr. Whitaker’s head like it was a bullseye.
Just knowing that Ben was seemingly on my side gave me a little courage to speak up. “I think you have some things wrong,” I said, smoothing the cloth napkin in my lap.
He smiled at me in a patronizing way. “Oh? Like what?”
“Every millennial girl I know has been looking for love since they were, like, twelve. What were we supposed to do in the meantime? Play dead? Sit there and twiddle our thumbs ‘til a guy came around? No. We filled our lives while searching for potential partners. You’re pinning an awful lot on the women who grew up in the best era of romcoms and completely overlooking the other half of the equation in this situation. And I’m curious as to what you think a ‘difficult job’ is?”
He gave me a questioning look. “The other half of the equation?” he asked.
Jeez, how could a doctor be this stupid?
“Men,” I deadpanned. “And to say that about societal value is just… It’s just rude.” I took a deep breath.
I could see Ben giving me a nod of approval from his spot at the bar.
“Well, as your looks and ability to bear children go down–”
“What about men’s looks and ability to bear children?” I countered.
Ethan paused, then he threw his head back laughing. I didn’t find what I said all that funny.
“Just a little FYI, as a teacher, I meet with a lot of parents, and the women in their forties and fifties are hot and kicking butt. The men on the other hand… It’s a rarity to see a good-looking dad.”
He stared at me for a second with his blue eyes. “You’re cute, you know that?”
That’s all he was going to say?
The waitress interrupted then to bring over our food– thank God.
As soon as she left, I prodded my ravioli’s, and Ethan perked up with, “Someone’s not worried about carbs, eh? That’s another thing that’s harder for women in their thirties.”
My eyes narrowed. “What is?”
“Well, weight obviously.”
I blinked at him. He definitely wasn’t as attractive as I once found him. Actually, he was starting to look quite ugly to me. “And do you know this from personal experience? Are you a woman?”
I heard Ben snort behind him. He crossed his strong arms over his chest, still practically glaring at Ethan.
Ethan raised his chin with a smile. “You’re quick-witted, sweetheart.” I flinched at that term of endearment. “I like that.”
He continued to drone on about some workplace drama, but I could barely tolerate listening, and I could barely touch my ravioli’s after he said that about weight, and then my stomach started to hurt, bad, and I just wanted to go home.
Ever so insightful, Ben nodded to the door, questioning if I wanted to leave.
I gave a negative head shake. Even though I wanted to go, I needed to force myself to stick through this. No one liked dating. But I couldn't just give up. Maybe I was just being too touchy. And maybe this guy just wanted to argue, some people were like that.