Free Who You Know by Theresa Alan Page B

perfume. After the first time my Dad and I got mauled with a barrage of hugs, we made sure we were well hidden during the meetings. Happily, this phase of my mother’s didn’t last long. How much can you discuss hugging anyway?
    You know, I know we’ve never met, but writing you is very therapeutic. You have a good head on your shoulders. I have no idea what you look like physically, but it’s hard for me to imagine not being attracted to you. I’m already hot for your brain.

    Smiling, I printed off his e-mail and put the print out in my purse to take home and save with the others. He’d echoed my thoughts exactly. Maybe meeting online first was actually better than meeting in person. We were free from the prejudice of outward appearance and could focus on each other’s personality. I definitely liked his personality. I loved how he was there for his brother, helping him through this difficult time. He was so sweet, so sensitive, so articulate, so funny.
    Sharon appeared at the door of our office, rubbing her swelling belly. “Thank God it’s Friday! So are you going to join us for drinks after work? Well, of course I’ll be drinking ginger ale,” she said with her I’m-a-pregnant-woman-and-don’t-you-forget-it smirk.
    Sharon had asked us earlier in the week to join her and her husband for some drinks after work tonight. Jen and I had held off letting her know if we’d go, always hoping something better would come up, which it hadn’t. I didn’t feel like going out, but I knew I should. Now that I was no longer safely coupled off, I got invited out less and less, and when I did go out, I felt freakishly, alarmingly single. But how was I going to meet anyone if I spent every weekend with takeout and a romance novel?
    â€œYeah, I’ll probably go,” I said.
    â€œYeah, yeah, me too,” Jen cooed.
    Back when I was with Gideon and still had a semblance of a social life, there were five of us couples who would regularly go out after work for drinks, barbecues, and dinner parties. Sharon and her husband, Mitch; Lydia from sales and her husband, Dan; Pam from marketing and her husband, Joe; me and Gideon; and Jen and whoever her beau du jour was. If she and Dave were separated, she would date one of the vast stores of guys she kept in reserve, all of whom were madly in love with her. Her seamless transition from one boyfriend to the next assured her continued invitability at all outside-the-office functions, whereas I had been mired in an abyss of solitude for nearly two years. No one liked adding a single person to the mix—I was like a neutron threatening to rage out of control without a balancing proton to keep me in check. Now, with both Lydia and Sharon pregnant, I could see that I was drifting farther and farther from normalcy. I wouldn’t have anything intelligent to add about diaper rash remedies or the breast milk/formula debate, and soon, no doubt, Lydia and Sharon would tire of me and my only friends would be Oprah Winfrey and Danielle Steel.
    â€œSee you two tonight then,” Sharon said and turned to leave.
    I rang Pam’s extension.
    â€œPam, what are you doing tonight?”
    â€œWorking. That’s what I’ll be doing all weekend. This Expert account is going to be the death of me,” she said with a laugh. She didn’t sound bitter or angry, but I could hear the fatigue in her voice.
    â€œWell, we’re going to Rios. Maybe you can stop by for a drink if you don’t get off too late.”
    â€œI appreciate the offer, but if I don’t get off too late, I’d really like to spend a quiet night with my husband.”
    â€œOf course, I understand. Hey, how are the kids?”
    â€œGood, really good. Rebecca’s in her second month at Cornell. She was a little homesick at first, but she’s really enjoying it. Jackson has two more years at Columbia. Audrey’s into your usual sophomore