John was in the middle of another long day of investor presentations, which involved visiting pension managers and explaining why they should invest in his new fund, when Barbara called and asked how his day was going.
“Busy,” he said. “Hand grenades everywhere.”
“You should try and get out for a walk, the weather’s beautiful. Maybe wipe the shrapnel off.”
“What’s up?” John asked curtly. The weather was getting warmer, but he wasn’t interested in advice on how to survive his day.
“We’ve got a book launch on Friday night. Are you free?”
“Umm,” he stalled. All he really felt like doing was going home and crashing on the couch in front of the TV.
“Do you already have plans?”
“Just checking my day planner.” He knew he hadn’t organized anything. He fought the urge to conjure up a quick lie. “Yeah, I’m free.”
“Thanks. And a favor …”
John drummed his fingers on his desk. “Yeah,” he said, frustrated without even having heard it.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a friend for Mandy, would you?”
“Who’s Mandy?”
“The author.”
“What? Sorry, no.”
“What about Mac?”
“Babe, you don’t want to go there. Setting up people is dangerous. No good ever comes of it for the person who plays Cupid.”
“It’ll be fine. Besides, there are virtually no single eligible men in their 30s in New York anymore.”
John rolled his eyes. “There’s plenty.”
“Well, for Friday night we just need one.”
When the working week came to an end, John got home 20 minutes before Mac and Mandy were due to arrive. Mac initially refused the set-up, demanding to see Mandy’s full bodied photo even after John had put forward the argument Mac owed him for all the monotonous nights John spent with clueless, wafer-thin, barely 21-year-olds over the years. Fortunately the snapshot had gotten him over the line.
John showered and dressed in the white shirt and blue tie Barbara had pulled out for him. Checking himself in the mirror though, he wasn’t sure.
“Does this look all right?” John called from the bathroom. “Maybe I should just wear a shirt and jacket without a tie.”
Barbara appeared in the doorway, putting on earrings. “You look great.”
She was wearing a paisley dress, where swirls intermixed with circles and the flowing silk chiffon draped down, meant to blow in the wind. Sophisticated lace hemmed the bottom, from where Barbara’s slender legs appeared.
“Do I need the tie?”
“It looks suave.”
John felt a bit too “worky” in his Monday to Friday uniform. He changed into a dark gray shirt and black tie under a black jacket. John went back to the mirror. He was happier, if not happy.
The buzzer rang—Mandy had arrived. She looked nice enough, although the photo had been pretty forgiving to her actual dress size.
The introductions out of the way, Mandy sat down and Barbara fetched some nibbles from the kitchen.
YOU ARE READING
Big Time
FanfictionBig Time was originally the back-story of Mr Big from the TV series Sex and the City. It followed 10 years of Big's life from a carefree thirty-year-old banker to a married man, through his subsequent divorce, before he met Carrie in the first episo...
