Book Club

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Callie Hyde Part 3

Having never set another human being on fire before, I'm at a loss for what protocol dictates at this precise moment. I know the odds may be extremely slim but what I'd really love is if no one actually noticed what I just did. However, as I look up and see the combination shellshock/death glare coming from Katherine right now, I'm not holding out much hope.

"That girl is on fire!" Katherine spits out. "And in case you think I mean that in the cool Alicia Keys way, I don't. I mean you actually set that girl on fire."

"I should go," I say as I slowly slink backward.

In a flash, Katherine reaches out and grabs me by the shoulder. "Don't even think about it. Somebody has to go over and make it up to him."

"Something tells me I'd be barking up the wrong tree," Patrick offers.

Holly scoffs. "Yeah, like you would know!"

"Well, why don't you go over and take care of business?" Patrick counters.

"I would but I'm about to get hit on by a cute guy." Holly points out a guy across the room who, from what I can tell, is showing zero interest in our direction.

"You mean the obvious closet case who hasn't looked over here all night?" Patrick asks.

"Just wait."

Sure enough, just moments later, the waiter brings Holly a glass of champagne compliments of the guy. Holly raises the glass in victory.

"Damnit!" Patrick utters.

Katherine is showing no sign she's in the mood for these fun and games. "Can we get back to the issue at hand? Callie, you made this mess, now you're going to fix it."

"How?"

"You're going to go over to him and make sure he's very happy."

I was a little uneasy with what she meant 'very happy.' Although there was no denying I had to try to make things right. "When you say ve-"

"Very happy," she reiterates.

"The thing is, I've never been very good at talking to men in bars."

"You wanted to be part of book club? This is Book Club. Now fix this!"

I am really not comfortable with what is about to happen. And I know people say it's good to get out of your comfort zone but I'm pretty sure they mean a little bit out of your comfort zone. Right now, it feels like I'd need two space shuttles and a teleporter to get back to my comfort zone.

As I make my way through the bar patrons, I can see Tommy sitting on a coach against the far wall. When I finally get his attention, I motion to the empty spot on the couch beside him. He waves for me to take a seat

"I'm really sorry about earlier," I say.

"Don't even mention it!" he replies to my amazement. Maybe this won't be as painful as I feared. "Look, I don't have all night, are we going to do this or not?"

"Excuse me?" I blurt out. I was not expecting that!

"I like you, you like me, lets consummate this already." Well, this was definitely easier than I expected but I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, this is what I was sent over here to do but still, it's really fast. I have to tell him something. "It's all happe-" Before I can finish my sentence, Tommy jumps in again.

"Drop by the office and we'll sign the papers."

Tommy reaches up and takes out his Bluetooth earpiece and it all finally clicks in for me. My heart sinks and a wave of humiliation washes over me. Wow, this was way worse than I imagined. Still, I think I can save the situation by sharing a laugh with him. "You won't believe what I just did. I thought..."