EXES AND OH'S

Playing Games

We just looked into each other's eyes for a whole minute. 

It's like the whole world stopped spinning, and everything was going into slow motion. And here I go again — me, thinking so fucking hard of Levi totally caused this physical manifestation of him right before my eyes.

"Ch-Charlie?" Levi stammers and breaks the mirage. And he too, looks so fucking gobsmacked. "Hi."

My subconscious is doing another inner dialogue with myself: fight or flight. 

But no, I promised myself to keep on fighting life's battles — and this encounter is an inevitable punch-up that I'll have to face somewhere down the line, anyway. I straighten my back and scrape my throat as I try to regain composure.

"Um, Levi... Hi." I greet him back, our eyes still locked on each other. And as if sensing the tension, Levi's the one who drops his gaze down at my dress — my sixty-three-hundred-dollar-dress which is now stained with a bright pink and yellow cocktail mix. 

I look like a fucking mess, and I certainly don't want this motherfucker to think that I am still a mess. I fucking got my shit together, and I have to show him that. 

I can play this fucking game.

"Hi," Levi repeats and looks back at me. God, I could just roll my eyes and smack him in the head right now. It seems he's at a loss for words, and I honestly am too. 

I don't know what to do first; shall I run to the bathroom to fix myself? No, I'll definitely ruin my dress if I run this stain under tap water. Shall I re-schedule this business meeting? I probably have to. But Kurt would definitely kill me if I let this deal slip. And just because of what? An ex-predicament? I have matured enough to act and be professional. 

Yes, that's right. This is just a business meeting in the first place. That's how this will end and I don't have to make a fucking big deal out of this.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Levi mumbles under his breath and blinks profusely, still looking so shocked.

I lift my hand and offer a handshake. "I own Social Wire. I'm—I'm actually here to meet with Beth de Luca."

"You own Social Wire?" Levi repeats like a complete idiot and stifles a soft chuckle, closing his eyes for a brief second, as if he couldn't believe what he just heard. A surprised expression crosses his face, as if he just realized something. "And... wait, so — Kurt Richard Swallows is Kurt? Like, Kurt, Kurt?"

"Yes, Kurt. He's the co-founder." I say smugly, even sticking up my chin. Why is he reacting like this, like me and Kurt aren't capable of making a big life achievement such as this?

And what, like it's hard? Fucking asshole. 

"I'll pay for the fancy crystal glass, by the way. Just put it on my tab." I look at all the broken glass on the floor and gracefully scoot down to pick up the large, shattered pieces.

"Charlie, hey, you don't have to—"

"Ow! Motherf—" 

All my lady-like demeanor dissipates in thin air as soon as my fingers graze on the broken glass. I jerk my hand back to look at my index finger, and see lots of blood gushing from an open wound, some of it even splattering on my dress. I clutch my purse under my arm and stand up, feeling like passing out any moment now. 

Oh boy, that's a lot of blood.

"Jesus Fuck, Charlie!" Levi exclaims and steps closer to me, grabbing my hand to check the wound on my finger. "Aaliyah, can you please kindly call someone to clean up all this broken shit?" He calls the bartender. And now I'm kinda wondering if he meant the broken shit was the glass... or me.