Page 11 of The Meeting
“Um… need some help?”
He startled and looked over at her, almost looking guilty that she had caught him staring at board games.
He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “I, uh, honestly? I don’t know much about board games.”
“Is this for tonight?”
He raised his hands slightly with his palms face out. “Guilty?”
She giggled. “Well, what were you thinking?”
“I have no idea. I’m not lying when I say I don’t know much about them.”
She walked closer to him and scanned over the selection. “You don’t play board games?”
“I used to growing up. My family would play at night since we didn’t get the best television reception. But it’s been years since I’ve played.” He gestured toward the shelves. “And these games are… different.”
She wasn’t a huge board game player either, so she could understand his frustration. Most of the games on the shelves she had never heard of. She only knew of the few popular ones she heard others talk about, plus a few she had played with her friends. Her family played little in regard to games. Family nights consisted of watching television growing up.
One thing she enjoyed doing was going to Abi’s house because her family always played games. She loved being included and doing sleepovers. They always had the best time.
She nodded toward a section of the classics. “Well, you could always go with a classic.”
“That’s true. Everyone knows how to play Monopoly.”
Her eyes widened briefly before she schooled her expression. “Or, you could pick a newer one and branch out.” She nodded her head toward the games sitting in front of them. She didn’t want to tell him what to buy, but she didn’t want to be caught up in a game of Monopoly that night. The last thing he needed to see was her anger with that game.
He looked at her and smiled. “What do you suggest?”
“How about this one?” She pulled Pandemic off the shelf and held it up before him.
He looked skeptical as he stared at the box. “Is it fun?”
“It’s a lot of fun. Instead of playing against each other, everyone plays on the same team to beat the pandemic taking over the world.”
He eyed it and then looked at her. “So, would you say it’s one of your favorites?” A smile lifted at the corner of his mouth.
Is he flirting with me?She immediately dismissed the idea.
She smiled back. “I would say that, yes.”
Truth was, she had only played it a handful of times, but being that it wasn’t a competitive game against her peers, and she playedwiththem rather than against them to win, her competitive nature wouldn’t rear its ugly head.
“Okay then.” He took the box from her and dropped it in his cart. “I guess we have a winner.”
She leaned back on her heels, unsure if she should leave.
“Shopping for anything in particular or just here trying to make sure I get a good board game?” He held his hand out as he walked down the aisle and she followed.
“I was just looking at prices for bins. I figure when this whole situation is sorted out with my company, I’ll probably have to move my workspace.”
He nodded. “We can fight for you to keep your office.”
“I know. I don’t know that I’ll care to keep it. It’s a bit of a story. I can fill you in on everything Monday when you’re on the clock.” The last thing she wanted was for him to feel like she was taking advantage of him there at the store. They already had an appointment scheduled for Monday, and he deserved to be paid for his time.
“I don’t mind if you want to talk about it now. We should still keep our Monday appointment to go over ways to approach it, but if you want to talk about it now, we can.”
She considered it. It would be nice to get it off her chest, but a part of her still felt guilty. It was the guy’s day off, after all.
