"Oh, that's cool. And you live in the city?"
"Yeah. I live in Russian Hill."
"Oh wow. Fancy Russian Hill. That's nice."
"Oh no. I have three roommates." He laughed. "Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I don't want to turn you off of me."
"Oh no. It's okay. I know what it's like here in San Francisco, the rents are so high."
"Yes they are." He leaned back and smiled. "It's been really nice talking to you, Olivia. I don't know if we're meant to say this, but I'm definitely going to check you on my box. I'd love to see you again."
"You know what, Brandon, it's been really nice talking to you too. I'd love to see you again as well." And then the bell dinged and the organizer stepped forward.
"Hey guys. I hope everyone's having fun. We're just going to pause here for a little bit so everyone can get some new drinks and take a five-minute break. I hope it's going well. And I hope there are lots of connections tonight. If you do make a connection, please leave a review on Yelp and on Trip Advisor and on Google, and any other sites that you know, to look for reviews. We are looking for more clients to help them find love in the beautiful city of San Francisco. Yay to love.." She sang and then walked away.
I rolled my eyes and then looked back at Brandon. "Well, it was good meeting you, Brandon."
"You too, Olivia, you too." And then he got off his chair and walked over to the bar. I turned to Birdy, who was grinning at me.
"Why are you grinning at me like that?" I said, suspiciously. "Well, you seem like you really got on with that guy. How was he? Was he nice?"
"He seemed okay. But he's the only nice guy I’ve spoken to tonight." I looked at her, "Please tell me you're having better luck." Birdy grinned.
"Well, let's just say there are four guys that want to take me out tomorrow night, and I'm thinking about going out with all of them."
"What?"
"Not all at the same time silly, but scheduling dates. Maybe one for 5:00pm, one for 7:00pm, one for 9:00pm, and one for 11:00pm. Oh, wow. I hope I don't get any more dates. I don't want to have to go to 1:00 AM as well."
"Birdy, how are you going to meet a guy for a date at 11:00 PM? He's going to think it's only for one thing."
"Well, that's why I'm going to schedule the best looking guy for the later time." She giggled. "Oh, Olivia, I'm just joking. Of course I wouldn't do that. I'd schedule the better looking guys for earlier, because I don't want them to think I'm easy."
"Oh my gosh, Birdy, you kill me. You kill me. Absolutely kill me. And I want to know which guys you've been talking to because frankly, aside from that last guy, Brandon, they were all duds."
"Well, you know what? Olivia, we're looking for two different things. Yeah. I want a nice guy. I want a boyfriend, but you know what? I'm not going to say no to a free dinner." "Oh, Birdy, don't be one of those girls. That's awful."
"Is it really awful to get some free drinks and some free meals, plus they get my company."
“Birdy, tell me you're joking."
"Okay. I'm kind of joking. I mean, I do want a boyfriend. You know that. That's why we're here. We're here to meet good guys. But if I'm not meeting good guys, am I just meant stay at home, watch TV, and cry into my pillow?"
"Oh no, Birdy. I didn't know that you were crying into your pillow. Have you been okay?" "I mean, I'm fine. It's okay. It's not like I'm crying every night, but you know, I want love too. Magnolia's got love. Jane’s got love. Millie's got love. I mean, you even seem like you've got love."
"I just met Brandon five minutes ago. We haven't even been on a real date."
"I don't mean with Brandon. I mean, with Tyler."
"Tyler?" My voice grew very, very loud. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing." Birdy just rolled her eyes. "I mean, it's obvious to me and to everyone in the office that you guys have chemistry, and have a thing for each other."
"We do not have chemistry and we do not have anything for each other."
"Okay. Let me ask you one question, Olivia.”
"Go ahead."
"Have you ever thought about kissing Tyler?"
"Wait, what?" I could feel myself blushing and I was glad it was dark inside. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, have you ever thought about Tyler in a sexual way?"
"Why would you ask me that?"
"Why do you think I'm asking you that? Because if you've never thought about Tyler in a sexual way, then yes, I will agree. You're nothing more than friends and he is nothing more than your brother's best friend. However, if you have thought about him in any way sexually, kissing him, touching him, sleeping with him, then it is more than just a friendship."
"I don't know how to answer that Birdy. I mean..."
"Oh my gosh, you have totally dreamed about having sex with him." She shouted, "Oh my God, you love him. You love him."
"No, I do not love him. It's a lot more complicated than that. Yes. When I was younger, I had a small crush on him because he was always around, and he was cute, and he paid me attention. But it was nothing more than that."
"So you're telling me you never kissed him?"
I groaned inwardly. "I never kissed him when I was younger, no."
"What do you mean you never kissed him when you were younger?" She paused and her eyes grew wide. "Oh my gosh. So you kissed him when you were older?" She looked at me suspiciously. "Have you kissed him since he's been on this trip?"
"I'm not going to answer that Birdy."
"Oh my gosh. You have totally kissed him." She's screamed. "Oh my God. You love him. You love him."
"Stop saying that. I do not love him. It was one kiss. We were angry. It was an angry kiss, that's all it was."
"What you mean it was an angry kiss. Like angry sex?"
"No. An angry kiss is not angry sex. We were just arguing and fighting, well, play fighting and we ended up kissing. It was nothing."
"Did it feel good?"
"It felt okay." I admitted. "I mean, he has soft lips and he knows what he's doing."
"Wow. So then why are you here tonight?"
"What do you mean? Why am I here tonight? I came here because you asked me to." "Yeah, but if I knew you already had a man, I wouldn't have made you come."
"I don't have a man, Birdy, he's not my man. He's just my brother's best friend that happens to be staying at my place, because my brother is a douchebag, and brought some skanky girl to his hotel room. And Tyler had nowhere to go. We got into an argument last night, which led to us arguing very loudly, which led to us play-fighting, because we were drunk, which led to a kiss."
"Oh, wow. So man, if you get drunk tonight, what's that going to lead to?"
"It's not going to lead to anything."
"Are you sure about that girl?"