Page 18 of IRL: In Real Life
This was more than screen chemistry. More than projection. More than two people standing in good lighting with enough familiarity to pretend there was substance.
This was real enough to make the rest of the room feel briefly decorative.
We talked another fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. Long enough for me to know I wanted more. Long enough to know that wanting more still didn’t prove anything.
That was the discipline part.
One good conversation didn’t mean a damn thing if a person couldn’t carry themselves past it. I knew that. So did she, if the intelligence in her face was reading me right. That was part of what made this feel worth respecting. Neither of us was rushing to perform destiny because the vibe was good in low light. We letit be what it was. A real conversation. Real chemistry. Something that hadn’t needed help from a filter, a caption, or a room full of people pretending not to clock it.
Still, by the time Kendra slid back in with a look that said all right, enough, make a lap, I already knew the evening had changed course for me.
“We’re about to make a round,” Talia said.
“Of course you are.”
“You saying that like you know me.”
“I know enough.”
Her mouth curved again. “That sounds like confidence.”
“Could be.”
She shifted her clutch higher under her arm. “You always this sure of yourself?”
“Only when I’m right.”
She looked me over once, slow enough for me to feel it and direct enough to make me respect it. Like she was still thinking. Still deciding. Still letting me know the door wasn’t closed, but I hadn’t earned my way through it either.
“Mmm,” she said, soft enough for only me. “We’ll see.”
Then she was gone with Kendra, a sweep of perfume, black fabric, and gold catching under the lights as they moved deeper into the room.
I watched longer than I should have.
Devon found his way back to me three minutes later and didn’t even bother hiding his grin.
“You look gone, nigga.”
“Watch yourself.”
“I’m serious.” He leaned in a little. “That woman right there?”
“Relax.”
“I’m not the one staring at her like networking just changed your life.”
I took a drink and said nothing, because what the hell was I supposed to say?
My body had gone tight and alert the second I touched her. Her laugh up close had done something I was already irritated enough to resent. Talking to her felt better than it should have that fast. And the best part of the whole thing wasn’t even how fine she was, though God knew that had its own argument. It was how easy it had been to stay in the conversation because she actually had somewhere to go with a thought once it left her mouth.
I kept all that to myself and let the room move around me.
Later, after another drink and a handful of conversations I barely registered, I saw Talia near the front again with Kendra beside her, her clutch in one hand and no drink in the other. She was leaving.
She caught my eye from across the room.
It wasn’t a full goodbye. Just a look. A little nod. The kind of acknowledgment that understood itself perfectly well without theater.
