Don't Say Anything

39. The Art Show

Will leads me away but stops in front of a little table with nuts, pretzels, and other food I don't know the name of.

"I'm sorry," he says avoiding my eyes. "It just slipped out." I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. He thinks of me as his girlfriend, but didn't mean to call me it?

"You don't have to apologize," I say quietly. I want to be his girlfriend. Doesn't he realize that?

"I can't do the whole dating thing, Jess." So he does know that I want to be more than friends with him. But he doesn't want to be? God, he's so confusing.

"You can't or don't want to?"

"I can't." Well that's a lie because he's already taken me on multiple dates whether he wants to admit it or not.

"Will!" a man calls from a hundred feet away.

"We'll talk about it later."

He's right. This really isn't the time or place to be talking about our relationship.

The man speed walks until he's right in front of us.

"Great job on the paintings, Will," he says shaking Will's hand.

"Thank you. It was quite the hassle, but I think it was worth it."

"Have you seen the exhibit yet?"

"No, we've just arrived. This is Jessi by the way," he says nodding to me. No mention of girlfriend. He must be monitoring his words now. "Jessi, this is Jack."

The president. Well, this is a lot more sudden then I expected.

"It's an honor to meet you." He looks younger than I expected. It seems weird that someone who is maybe in his late forties would be retiring so soon. I guess he probably has enough money to be set for life.

"You have beautiful hair, Jess." He sure is friendly. No one calls me Jess besides Will.

"Oh, uh thank you."

Will stiffens beside me.

"Are we going to be seeing her around the office much?" Jack asks raising one eyebrow. Is that supposed to be some kind of job offer?

"No," Will says quickly.

"Then she's just a friend?"

"Yes, we're friends. I didn't feel like coming alone again this year."

"Ah well, you deserve a good time after all the hard work you've done, Will." I don't exactly know what they mean, but it makes me feel really uncomfortable. I thought the president of the company would be a lot more formal than this guy.

"I'll see you at work on Monday, Jack."

"Of course. Enjoy the art, Jessi," he says before walking off.

"Thank you," I say but he's already immersed in the crowd. Will takes my hand and practically drags me to the stairs.

"That was odd," I whisper as we climb to the second floor.

"He's a really fucking odd guy," Will shrugs.

 "Is he always like that?"

"Like what? Uncomfortably creepy and unnecessarily personal? Yes. I've gotten used to it."

Okay, good. I'm not the only one that noticed that.

"You guys are better friends than I thought." It seemed like he picked Will out of the crowd and came over to him like they were long lost brothers.