Read Online Confessions of a Not It Girl by Melissa Kantor - Free Book Online
Authors: Melissa Kantor
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Basically it's like, 'Welcome to Seattle: brought to you by Microsoft.'"
I laughed, too, and brushed my hand over his wrist. There was an article in, I think, Glamour that said men's bodies immediately respond to a woman's touch by producing more endorphins or seratonins or something. It's a subliminal seduction technique.
Josh didn't seem too affected by my touch, though. Maybe the response is also subliminal.
"Is it strange for you being so far away from your corporate sponsor?" I asked.
"Sure. But there's a chip in my head so they can keep track of me at all times."
By now the kitchen had become so crowded we were practically smushed up against each other.
"So you're saying Bill Gates might be listening to our conversation right now?"
"Exactly," said Josh just as someone bumped into him and he fell against me. I sucked in my stomach and stuck out my boobs a little.
"Sorry to be practically on top of you," he said.
"Don't worry about it," I said. It was hard to speak
67
since I was holding in my abdominal muscles so tightly. Josh's face was very close to mine. Why did he always smell so good? Tonight in addition to his usual shampoo-Josh smell, he smelled slightly of the beer he'd been drinking. Listen, I wanted to tell you that I broke up with my girlfriend last night....
"So, are you having fun yet?" he asked, smiling down at me. He had one hand up on the cabinets behind me, and he was holding his beer in the other. All I needed was about five more people to try and cram into the kitchen.
Someone squeezed in behind Josh, whose thigh pressed into mine. I started to answer him. "It's not too--"
"Hey, Jan!" I looked up in time to see Tom Richmond coming toward me. The crowd in the kitchen parted like he was Moses and they were the Red Sea. "How's it going?" he said when he got over to me. I shrugged, and he laughed and put his arms around me and gave me a hug. It wasn't a bad hug, but it was no Romeo and Juliet hug, either.
"Do you know ..." I turned to where Josh had been a mere second ago, but he was gone.
"Do I know what?" he said in a voice that only a little while ago I would have found incredibly sexy.
My dad has this proverb he likes to repeat: When the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers. In the case of Tom Richmond, the punishment is that they waited two weeks to give me an answer.
By then, the prayer had changed.
68
CHAPTER SEVEN
"You've got to check this out," said Tom. He had his arm around my shoulders and was guiding me out of the kitchen and into the living room. I kept looking around for Josh, but it was as if he had disappeared into thin air. When we got to the foyer, Tom turned me toward the steps leading upstairs.
So many people were sitting on the staircase it was like an obstacle course, but once we got to the third floor there was no one around. Tom led me down a long corridor past several closed doors. At the end of the hall he stopped, turned to me, and said, "Ready?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. I had logged so many hours back in September imagining being alone with Tom, now that I actually was alone with him, I felt an uncanny sense of déjà vu.
"Check it out." He pushed open the door and pulled me in behind him.
We were in what I guess had once been Drew's room but was now more like a den with a lot of Drew's stuff all over the place. The lights were off, but the room wasn't dark; it was lit up by New York. The Brooklyn Bridge shimmered and was reflected in the black of the East
69
River, and as I got closer to the window, I thought I could make out people milling around the South Street Seaport. The view was so beautiful that for a minute I forgot to think about why Tom had been so eager to have me appreciate it. But as soon as I saw the Empire State Building, I knew he had taken a page straight out of Rebecca's book.
"Wow," I said. Why was it everyone but me knew how to use the beauty of the New York skyline as an instrument of seduction? Was I the only senior
I laughed, too, and brushed my hand over his wrist. There was an article in, I think, Glamour that said men's bodies immediately respond to a woman's touch by producing more endorphins or seratonins or something. It's a subliminal seduction technique.
Josh didn't seem too affected by my touch, though. Maybe the response is also subliminal.
"Is it strange for you being so far away from your corporate sponsor?" I asked.
"Sure. But there's a chip in my head so they can keep track of me at all times."
By now the kitchen had become so crowded we were practically smushed up against each other.
"So you're saying Bill Gates might be listening to our conversation right now?"
"Exactly," said Josh just as someone bumped into him and he fell against me. I sucked in my stomach and stuck out my boobs a little.
"Sorry to be practically on top of you," he said.
"Don't worry about it," I said. It was hard to speak
67
since I was holding in my abdominal muscles so tightly. Josh's face was very close to mine. Why did he always smell so good? Tonight in addition to his usual shampoo-Josh smell, he smelled slightly of the beer he'd been drinking. Listen, I wanted to tell you that I broke up with my girlfriend last night....
"So, are you having fun yet?" he asked, smiling down at me. He had one hand up on the cabinets behind me, and he was holding his beer in the other. All I needed was about five more people to try and cram into the kitchen.
Someone squeezed in behind Josh, whose thigh pressed into mine. I started to answer him. "It's not too--"
"Hey, Jan!" I looked up in time to see Tom Richmond coming toward me. The crowd in the kitchen parted like he was Moses and they were the Red Sea. "How's it going?" he said when he got over to me. I shrugged, and he laughed and put his arms around me and gave me a hug. It wasn't a bad hug, but it was no Romeo and Juliet hug, either.
"Do you know ..." I turned to where Josh had been a mere second ago, but he was gone.
"Do I know what?" he said in a voice that only a little while ago I would have found incredibly sexy.
My dad has this proverb he likes to repeat: When the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers. In the case of Tom Richmond, the punishment is that they waited two weeks to give me an answer.
By then, the prayer had changed.
68
CHAPTER SEVEN
"You've got to check this out," said Tom. He had his arm around my shoulders and was guiding me out of the kitchen and into the living room. I kept looking around for Josh, but it was as if he had disappeared into thin air. When we got to the foyer, Tom turned me toward the steps leading upstairs.
So many people were sitting on the staircase it was like an obstacle course, but once we got to the third floor there was no one around. Tom led me down a long corridor past several closed doors. At the end of the hall he stopped, turned to me, and said, "Ready?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. I had logged so many hours back in September imagining being alone with Tom, now that I actually was alone with him, I felt an uncanny sense of déjà vu.
"Check it out." He pushed open the door and pulled me in behind him.
We were in what I guess had once been Drew's room but was now more like a den with a lot of Drew's stuff all over the place. The lights were off, but the room wasn't dark; it was lit up by New York. The Brooklyn Bridge shimmered and was reflected in the black of the East
69
River, and as I got closer to the window, I thought I could make out people milling around the South Street Seaport. The view was so beautiful that for a minute I forgot to think about why Tom had been so eager to have me appreciate it. But as soon as I saw the Empire State Building, I knew he had taken a page straight out of Rebecca's book.
"Wow," I said. Why was it everyone but me knew how to use the beauty of the New York skyline as an instrument of seduction? Was I the only senior
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