Chapter 15: NOT WHAT ALWAYS MEETS THE EYE.
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At the lobby, almost everyone was present except Josh. With the way he was hopping around one would think him to be the first one there. It’s been a while now, what did he fall asleep?
I grew restless to see Kate looking down at her wrist watch for the millionth time. We were all sitting, standing and/or leaning…..waiting.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting” Josh hollered as he finally showed up and I immediately forgave him, I was not gonna let anything ruin my mood, not today. And there he was Mr. Black, walking towards us while calmly talking on his phone with his almost natural neutral expression. Looks like someone decided to grace us with their presence.
I turned to look at everyone, expecting some shocked faces but there weren’t any, they all just seemed excited and exchanged knowing looks amongst themselves. Him tagging along might not be a new thing, I mean what do I know, I’m new here.
Kate had called and confirmed our bookings and everyone decided to drive to reach the ‘party’ venue. Aurora towers was one of those multi story luxurious buildings in the city where you get everything at one place, Iike nightclub, gaming area, rooftop dining with karaoke, arcade, ocean view and other things…..not a bad option.
And so we embarked upon what I hoped was a fun evening out.
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After going through the routine of fastening our shoelaces, and me jumping up and down a little on my spot for warm up, we all stood there in the bowling alley which was reserved for us. It was a VIP booking that Kate took care of. But that didn’t mean that the place was deserted, there were a few people busy in their own lanes.
“Alexandra?” To my utter shock, it was Jensen who spoke.
“Just Alex,” I told him reflexively, and he nodded in acknowledgement.
His eyes darted a look towards one shiny lane and then back at me. “What say?” he sure was a man of few words.
I too looked at the bowling pins “You mean…a game?” I asked, just to be sure, slightly smiling but mostly bewildered about the fact that he was willingly speaking to me of all people.
“A match” Jensen corrected with a challenging smirk. “Think you can handle it?” Josh chuckled observing this exchange, he probably thought that I would back out of this hidden challenge.
Okay…I see how it is. He is planning on defeating and embarrassing me in front of all my friends as a payback for being a tough nut. We’ll see who’ll beat whom. “Game on, Mr. Black” I agreed.
“let’s team up” he raised his eyebrows in unconcealed amusement.
“Josh you’re with me right?” I asked, more like stated.
“Now way in hell am I going against Jensen” Josh said and walked up to his friend. Traitor.
“You’ll regret this” I said and pointed straight at him for dramatic effect, Jensen smiled and everyone else laughed.
I raised both my hands in the air and asked Kate “What about you, boss or friend?”
She playfully skipped towards me, “The choice is obvious!”
“Seriously Kate? Don’t you know us?” Josh gloated gesturing at Jensen and himself.
“Oooh, but you don’t know Alex” was all she said.
“That’s my girl, Kate Winters everyone!” I clapped for her and then jokingly instructed, “Nick quickly get onboard with my team, or you’re fired!” Everyone laughed at my silliness, but Nick did it anyway. I think he got used to me and my weird orders.
Carrie and James went to Jensen’s team and Maxence decided to join me, when the teams were even others stayed back so as to maintain the equilibrium of both teams and so it was a team of four players. Some happily remained out of it, they probably just wanted to watch and keep peace with everyone. We ordered drinks and snacks and the game finally started. All 10 pins were arranged in their positions, ready to be knocked down.
Jensen met my gaze and made a subtle gesture towards a lane as he slightly bowed, “ladies first.” he said, I smiled a little, this side of him was new to me and I was borderline surprised.
As I picked up a bowling ball I heard Josh cheering for me. Neat. Jensen had a small smirk on his handsome face, but I was not gonna hesitate to wipe it right off.
Taking my position at the lane I crossed one leg and bent down to roll the heavy ball down the shiny lane. It was like suddenly everything was happening in slow motion, I kept my eyes on the ball and watched as it managed to knock out 8 of the pins to my utter disappointment, while 2 stood unwaveringly straight and stubborn.
I breathed, as everyone quieted down. To get a spare I had to knock them both down, but it was hard, since both pins stood on ends. My next move was very calculated and slightly doubtful, but it worked out fine when the spinning ball knocked down one pin which stumbled across and brought the other one down.
Everyone cheered loudly and I turned to look at Jensen to catch his expression. He surprised me by walking straight up to me, a small smile playing on his lips “Not bad.”
My frame came to an end with a score of nineteen. It wasn’t my best, but I didn’t dwell too much on it. He then walked past me and chose a ball for himself in the next lane, everyone immediately started cheering his name, including my team.
Thanks so much for the support guys.
He had taken off his coat somewhere along the line, relieved the collar button and lost the tie. Folding the sleeves of his white dress shirt up till his elbows, he kept the grey waistcoat on which did nothing to hide the fact that he probably spends a substantial amount of time in the gym.
His biceps and those veins in his forearms flexed as he effortlessly rolled the ball to perfectly curve down the lane and in a blink of an eye knocked down all there was to hit.
Strike!
Everyone hollered, inflating his Jupiter sized ego. I didn’t utter a word, but I did accept that fact that he was good….. really good.
He had that smug look on his face which I didn’t like one bit. Great! Just great, now he might be thinking that I’m an unworthy opponent, that is so not the impression I was aiming for.
He had the next two balls now, and it seemed like he chose them very carefully. He got in the same graceful position and it wasn’t much of a surprise when his movements obtained the same result. I was stunned, there was a huge chance that his frame would come to an end with a perfect thirty. His team’s score was already ahead of ours and he still had a chance left.
The frame however closed with twenty eight, and he seemed pretty pleased about it.
Kate looked at me with a worried expression, she was next and I knew she was good at it but her luck faltered and she managed only nine points for the team.
Josh got another strike. This made me nervous, their score was climbing higher. The difference wasn’t too much, we could still catch up but they were ahead.
Nick sure surprised me when he managed to get a clean strike on the first roll and I cheered, overjoyed for him. His frame came to an end with twenty-five points.
The game went on and it was my chance again. I gave myself a silent pep talk ‘what am I doing? I need to get my head in the game. I own this game, what’s wrong today?’
I set the ball rolling with a fierce determination and sure…..it worked. Strike! Everyone cheered but I kept a calm exterior, smirking a little, I fist pumped as I stepped away to high-five my team, and then to get the next ball.
My frame closed with a perfect thirty. My team hollered, Kate looked overjoyed, Josh looked a little worried and Jensen seemed impressed. Now that’s what I liked to see. Alex was back!
Competition was neck and neck, even attracting some onlookers as the excitement and tension started building up with every passing moment.
I don’t know how it happened, but we ended up winning that game, Josh instantly started complaining, and that’s how we played another game. The nerves, the adrenaline, the excitement and high and the disappointment, we experience everything in that short amount of time. We’ve been at it for a while now, after playing two games the result was inconclusive. Both teams had won one game each and there was a need for a tiebreaker.
Everyone was in high spirits but still visibly seemed tired and mostly hungry and so it didn’t take long for me to get everyone excited about the idea of a nice dinner.
What? I was starving!
Even though we had fun, I really wanted a clear win….maybe next time.
“Good game.” someone spoke from my side, making me jump. “I gotta admit, you’re pretty good at this” I turned to come face to face with Jensen, surprised that he was starting a conversation….with me…..again.
“Thanks, Oh and colour me impressed, you weren’t so bad at keeping up, Mr. Black” I said. Maxence heard that as he was standing close to us and snickered before he walked away. He mouthed “BURN” behind Jensen making me fight a smile.
I realised that returning a compliment with an insult was pretty savage, and maybe I shouldn’t have said that to my boss, but Jensen didn’t seem bothered with my dry humor, instead he smiled a little, but then his brows puckered in a frown.
“Jensen is fine,” he told me and I nodded. First name basis huh? This was progress!
“I can keep up alright, but if you tech me a few tricks I might even improve, I’ve been told I’m a fast learner.” he played along sounding self deprecating, we both knew there was nothing wrong with his technique, he probably lost the first game because Josh had managed to roll the ball straight into the gutter… multiple times.
“Teach you what exactly?” I asked, false confusion in my tone.
“Whatever I’m lacking in…” He said vaguely. “You’re the coach.” He winked.
Was he flirting? No way! Absolutely not. That’s just crazy. Or is it? Wow, I’m so delusional. Maybe something is wrong with his eye.
“You should work on your aim, there’s definitely room for improvement.” I said, just teasingly. “Consecutive strikes are a no go… maybe tone it down a little bit?”
“I see…” He nodded, “You should give me pointers, I have a lot to learn from you.” He joked along. Wait… he joked?
Am I losing my mind? “Of course, but I wouldn’t want you to be too perfect you know…these days it’s frowned upon.” I joked, faking a haughty demeanor. The wee bit of awkwardness that I felt melted away by the minute as we talked.
“Imperfection. Noted.” He nodded, looking dead serious.
Everybody started walking out of the bowling arena and as decided, to the restaurant which was on the top floor and we both followed suit.
“So, you won’t mind a tiebreaker huh?” He asked as he found his way back to the smug world. That’s what this was all about? I should have known.
“I guess, but after you’re fully trained, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.” I said sarcastically.
“You’re right, it’s not fair…” he echoed, glancing at me for a second too long, a fading smile lingered on his lips until it disappeared.
Was this another step forward? I couldn’t tell anymore.
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Finally a civil conversation!
What do you guys think? Is it really progress?
Do vote and comment.
Thanks for reading.
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