Prank Date [✔]

Part 11

I had just wrapped up two bottles of Merlot for the last customer, put the glasses into the dishwasher, and was about to close up the tasting room for the day, when the door opened again.

Seems carving the Halloween decorations will have to wait. I put on a friendly smile and turned around.

The large frame of my friend Seulgi filled the doorway.

My smile grew. I willingly let myself be engulfed in a bear hug that lifted me off my feet. I gave Seulgi a gentle slap on the shoulder.

"Have you finally given up that awful brew and decided to try my wine?" I asked.

"Oh, no." Seulgi lifted her hands. "Keep your wine. I'll keep drinking beer, thank you very much."

Grinning about our old joke, I went to get the beer that I kept in the fridge just for Seulgi. I turned the sign on the door to display "closed" from the outside, got myself a glass of Merlot, and took a seat next to Seulgi at the bar.

"Where's Irene?" I asked.

The mere mention of her wife's name put a smile on Seulgi's face. Seeing my friends so happy warmed my heart, but at the same time, it made me long for the same kind of happiness.

"Still at work," Seulgi said. "She's got a PTA meeting. I'm picking her up in half an hour. Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I'd look in on you and see how you're doing."

I had heard that excuse often in the last year. "My vineyard is outside of town, surrounded just by other vineyards, so how come you and Irene and Nikki are in the neighborhood so often?"

"Maybe we like the fresh air out here," Seulgi said.

"Fresh air. Sure. That's why you're sitting in a tasting room when you don't even like wine." I shook my head.

"Well, maybe it's not just the fresh air." Seulgi made eye contact and held it. "We worry about you."

I touched Seulgi's shoulder. "I'm fine," I said. Then, when I realized how much I sounded like Jennie, I added, "Really. You don't have to worry about me, okay? I'm keeping busy with work."

Seulgi leaned down to be at eye level with me. "Work's not everything. You need to get out more. What happened with that brunette you met for dinner? You seemed pretty excited that she agreed to go out with you. So how did it go? Will you see her again?"

Only then did I realized I hadn't talked to any of my friends since that first dinner with Jennie. I had spent more time with Jennie than with my other friends recently.

"I've seen her several times already." I answered.

"Really?" Seulgi beamed at me. "That's great. It's high time that you started dating again."

I waved her aside. "It's not like that."

"So she's not your type after all?" she asked.

No, that wasn't it. Jennie was more reserved than the women I had dated in the past, but that made her only more special to me.