Synthetic Love

Chapter 3

Two and a half weeks later.

"Sooooooo..." Tara sings as she and Saanvi walk into work.

"What?" Saanvi asks.

"Are you excited?" Tara asks.

"Excited for what?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. You're seeing your tall goth hottie in concert tonight."

Since Saanvi had become more acquainted with the area, she and Tara had become fast friends and had even begun hanging out outside of work, which meant that Tara had plenty of juice on Saanvi's thoughts of both Raavi and Chris. Motionless in White had been on tour in Europe for a couple of weeks, but had since come back to the U.S., and tonight they were going to perform a local show that Chris had put Saanvi on the guest list for.

"I am seeing my friend in concert tonight; yes, you're right."

"Vee, c'mon, be real with me," Tara says as they clock in for the day, "You can't tell me that you don't find him a little bit sexy."

Saanvi bites her lip a moment, then looks over her shoulders as if to make sure no one else was listening in on their conversation before turning back to Tara.

"Well...when I first moved in to the apartment, he saw me in the hallway and offered to help me move some of the heavier boxes in, and..."

Tara nods, already knowing what Saanvi was thinking, "Arms?"

"Oh, God, yes," Saanvi says, giving in, "And they're covered in tattoos. I mean, so is the rest of him, but still."

"Well, now you have a new goal for yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Make it your mission to see every tattoo on that man's body."

"Stop it!" Saanvi laughs, "He knows I have a boyfriend and I doubt he would see me in that way anyway."

"I know just how to find out."

"Of course you do."

"Come on! You're seeing him tonight! You can find out if he likes you without him knowing a thing."

Saanvi pauses a moment, then looks at the time on her phone.

"I've got my first patient in ten minutes - tell me everything I need to know before then."

"That's my girl!" Tara exclaims, "Okay, so obviously friends can make eye contact, but look for really lingering, longing eye contact. See if he subtly touches you, like putting his hand on top of yours or putting a hand on your shoulder. If he hugs you for more than three seconds, he definitely likes you - especially if he smells your hair, be on the look out for that. Also see if he mirrors your body language when you guys are talking. Hmmm, let's see, what else? Ooh! They're playing in kind of a smaller club, right? Do you think he'll be guiding you through any crowds at all?"

"It's a possibility."

"Well, if he takes your hand or if he puts his hand on the small of your back to guide you through a crowd, oh honey, he likes you. There's also things like if he leans in towards you, removes things that are in your way, points his feet towards yours - "

"How do you know so much about this?"

"Laughing at everything you say, very obviously trying to sit or stand next to you, remembering little things you said a long time ago, blushing, asking personal questions, allowing you to ask him personal questions, dilated pupils - I could go on, but I think that's a pretty good list of things to be on the lookout for."