Just Business Part I

Photo credit: -MRGT via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

“That’s so interesting,” said Evelyn. “And what do you do in your spare time?”

“Lately I’ve gotten really into rock climbing. I just love the feeling of accomplishment I get from -”

“I know exactly what you mean. I came across this really great rock climbing place downtown. If you give me your email address I could send you a link.”

“Oh. Uh. Yeah, that would be cool. I guess.” Mandy gave Evelyn her email address and Evelyn typed it into her phone.

“Great,” said Evelyn. “Now we can keep in touch. I’m always looking to meet new people in the area, especially other women, you know?”

“Yeah, we should totally have coffee or something sometime.”

“Absolutely. I’ll send you this email and then we can check our schedule and see when we can set something up.”

“Looking forward to it!”

Mandy kept smiling even after Evelyn had disappeared into the crowd.

“Uh oh,” said her friend Jason as he pushed a drink into her hand. “Looks like you’ve been Evelyned.”

“Evelyned?”

“She got you to give her your phone number, didn’t she?”

“Email.”

“Oh, that’s not too bad.”

“How did you know?”

“I saw her chatting with you and I know how she is. When I saw that stupid fake grin on your face, even after she had left, I knew her evil work had been done.”

“Oh, come on, she can’t be that bad.”

“You just got badgered into giving her your email address. Let me guess. Then you suggested you two should get together sometime?”

Mandy averted her gaze and took a sip of her drink.”

“But you didn’t mean it, did you?”

“What’s the harm? It’s not like she’s going to take me up on it.”

“Oh, she’ll take you up on it.”

“Ugh! How many emails can I expect to ignore before she takes the hint?”

“Actually, that’s the only good thing about her. She won’t send follow-up emails if you don’t respond to the first one. At least she’s that perceptive.”

“What if we really could be friends? She seems pretty cool. I told her I like rock climbing and she said she knows this really great rock climbing place. Maybe we could go together.”

“Don’t do it, Mandy. Don’t fall into her trap. That’s exactly what she wants to you think. Then she’ll consider you beholden to her for it forever and ever and ever.”

“Really?”

“Actually I don’t know. I’ve never taken her up on it. When I first met her I was really drunk and made up something about being into S&M, so she sent me some info on this place she had heard about, but I never even opened the email.”

“You told her you were into S&M?”

“Like I said, I was drunk. I can’t be held responsible for the things I made up when I was drunk.”

“Were you trying to come on to her?”

“What? No! You know I don’t bat for that team. Actually, I think she was trying to come on to me and I came up with the S&M thing to try to deter her. It didn’t work.”

Many almost spit out her mouthful of wine. “Are you saying she’s into …?”

“I believe ‘open-minded’ is the term she used.”

“So … desperate.”

“Yep. That’s what she meant.”

“That’s sad.”

“Hey, if you want to take her on as a charity case, that’s your business. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“It’s not a charity case if I genuinely enjoy hanging out with her.”

Jason shrugged. “You’re right. It guess it’s worth a shot.”

To be continued …