Page 17 of The Scientist
“I don’t know. It’s the way you said it.”
“How did I say it?”
“Like you’ve seen him naked.”
Just as I was about to tell her she was nuts, I got distracted by who I spotted over her shoulder walking toward us with a man I’d never seen before.
“Well, if it isn’t Betty,” Stuart said with a sly grin. “We meet again.”
“Yeah, long time no see,” I smiled at him and his friend, who looked like he was breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Hey, I’m Hadley,” I said, introducing myself to his friend.
“Hi, my Peter… Shit… I uh, what I meant was my name is Pete… Peter, actually. But my friends call me Pete. Whichever you want, really.”
“Jesus, Pete.” Stuart slapped his palm across his face and let it slide off his chin.
“This is my friend, Sarah,” I said, chuckling. “Sarah, this is Dr. Strovinski’s roommate—”
“Stuart Benowitz,” she finished before I got the chance. “We’ve met.”
“You have?” I asked, perplexed.
Stuart’s eyes darted around as he fidgeted with his watch.
“Yep. On faculty night right before you got there,” Sarah said, fixing him with a steely glare. “He asked me what department I worked in and when I told him music and performing arts, he said he wasn’t surprised because I looked like a work of fine art.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Nice. Very original.”
He put his hands up. “Okay, in my defense… it’s a really easy connection.”
“Not very clever,” I chastised.
“Oh c’mon. What should I have said? ‘Hi, I’m Stuart. I saw you from across the room, and I thought you were very beautiful.’”
“Uhhhh, yeah. That’s perfect, actually,” Sarah said.
“Please. That wouldn’t have worked either. You barely glanced up from your phone when I first said hello.”
“That’s because I was waiting on my college roommate here, who I hadn’t seen in over a decade, to call me so I could go meet her,” Sarah said defensively.
His brow lifted. “You guys were roommates?”
“Not the same kind of roommates as you and Lex,” I said with an exaggerated wink.
He shot me a disparaging look. “Lex should be so lucky. I’ll have you know that I’ve hadseveralwomen tell me that I’m the whole package, ladies,” he said with an arched brow.
“Your mom doesn’t count,” Pete retorted, and I fought to hold back my laughter. I guess the opportunity to rib Stuart allowed Pete to find his confidence again.
“Also, you could be the whole package, but you’re definitely at the wrong address,” Sarah added. With that comment, there was no silencing the laugh that escaped me.
“Give it up, man,” Peter said, slapping a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not going to happen.”
“I don’t remember asking for your opinion, Pete,” Stuart said, shrugging him off.
“You didn’t have to,” he quipped. “It’s on the house.”
“We were about to go in to grab lunch if you guys want to join us,” I said, interrupting their bickering.