Starting From Square Two. Caren Lissner

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СКАЧАТЬ Gert said. “See you.”

      “Gert!” Erika called. “Let us know if you want a drink.”

      Gert nodded.

      “Your friends are loud,” the guy’s friend said in a low voice.

      “They’re really nice people,” Gert said.

      “You must be nice to defend them,” the first guy said.

      “It’s the least you should expect someone to do,” Gert said, “defend their friends.”

      “Anyone who has a rule like that,” the first guy said, “I’m all for.” He smiled. He had a small scar on the bridge of his nose. It looked cute.

      “Todd defends me, right, Todd?” the second guy asked.

      “Yeah, I do,” Todd said in an authoritative voice. “Two more guesses.”

      “You’re a treasury officer,” Gert said.

      “Hey, is that an Untouchables reference?”

      “Yes,” Gert said.

      “That’s like my favorite movie. How’d you know?”

      Gert said, “I just knew.”

      “Brian, isn’t that like my favorite movie?”

      “It’s like his favorite movie,” Brian said.

      Erika and Hallie hadn’t gone to the bathroom as promised. They were staring at Gert.

      Hallie elbowed her.

      “Why don’t you introduce us?” she asked.

      “Oh,” Gert said. “Todd and Brian, this is Hallie and Erika.”

      “Hiiii!” Hallie said, pulling her stool around so that she could see them better. “What do both of you do?”

      “I was just trying to guess that,” Gert said.

      “I’m a stockbroker,” Brian said. “But Todd’s the one with the interesting job.”

      “I think stockbrokers are very interesting,” Erika purred.

      “Well, Todd’s job is more interesting,” Brian insisted.

      “He can’t drink,” Gert added. “So I guessed that he’s an officer of the treasury.”

      Hallie and Erika looked clueless.

      “The Untouchables. They went after alcohol during Prohibition….”

      “That movie rocks,” Brian said.

      “Oh, right!” Erika said. “Wasn’t Kevin Bacon in that?”

      “Costner,” Brian said.

      “Yeah,” Erika said. “My ex-boyfriend was into that movie. He married a girl who keeps a Web log.”

      “How many more guesses you want?” Brian asked Gert.

      “One more,” Gert said.

      Todd pursed his mouth. He had dark hair, a little curly behind his ears.

      “Truck driver,” Gert guessed finally.

      “Close,” Todd said.

      “Oh…I give up.”

      “I work for Norfolk Southern,” Todd said. “I’m a conductor on a train, and we get twelve hours on and twelve hours off….”

      “Those are freight trains, right?”

      “Yeah, and you have a couple of guys on each run, one driving and one making sure everything’s okay. It’s too dangerous to be drinking off-duty, because they could call you all of a sudden to come in. So they don’t let you drink at all, ever.”

      “That’s too bad,” Gert said. “I mean, if you think it is.”

      “Nah.” Todd shrugged. “I did enough of that in college. It’s okay.”

      “So, Brian, how long have you been a stockbroker?” Erika asked.

      “Since college,” Brian said. He looked at his watch and nudged Todd. “I think we’d better get going.”

      “Yeah, we’re meeting friends,” Todd said. “It was nice to meet you, though.”

      Gert didn’t know if he meant all of them.

      “So…” Todd said “…if you have a number, I mean, would you mind if maybe I gave you a call sometime?”

      Gert thought about it. There couldn’t be much harm. Besides, the practice would do her good. She searched in her purse for something to write on—it had been a while since she’d done this—and finally came up with an inky business card. She scribbled her home number on the back.

      Hallie and Erika looked on, concerned.

      Then, the men were gone.

      “The only person to even talk to a normal guy was Gert,” Erika whined in the subway in the wee hours.

      “Neither of you would have even talked to Todd,” Gert said. “You didn’t like that he’s a train conductor.”

      “Well, I did like Brian,” Erika said.

      “Based on what?”

      “I don’t know. He was cute. So thanks for not helping. You were like, ‘I’m taking Todd and that’s it.’”

      Gert sighed. “I wasn’t taking him. He just seemed like a nice guy, so I talked to him.”

      “Why didn’t Brian like me?” Erika wailed.

      “Maybe Todd only wanted my number so he could call me to get yours,” Gert said.

      “Well, if he calls, don’t give it to him,” Erika said. “They were short.”

      Now Gert knew the truth: Hallie and Erika were single because they were crazy.

      “How did you know to mention his favorite movie?” Hallie asked.

      “Oh,” Gert said. “There’s a canon where guys are concerned. Marc was always quoting lines from that movie. If you quote certain things, you can slide right into their conversation.”

      “What kinds of things?”

      “Do you really want to know?”

      “We’ve got nothing to lose.”

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