How do I look?

Parking was nearly gone by the time I arrived at the place Eve selected for our Friday night gathering. I snagged the last space in an adjacent parking lot. As I walked toward the building I passed Blaine’s SUV and saw Paul and Eve’s so I knew who to look for once inside.

It was busy. I checked the high-top tables near the bar for familiar faces and stepped carefully through the maze of seated and standing people. Beyond the bar was table and booth seating. I spotted Eve’s hair first, then I saw Blaine seated opposite. He noticed me a moment later and stood. I smiled, as I always do. He had his jaw set to Not Going to Smile and maintained eye contact with me. I wondered what he was up to. He gave his shoulders a shrug and touched the button on his suit jacket as if he were going to close it. He touched the knot a his throat and slid his hand down the length of the tie. I caught on then to what he was doing and paused. He turned his palms outward as if asking Well, how do I look?

I looked. Slowly. From head to toe, back again. It was meant to be playfully scrutinizing but that only lasted until my brain engaged, or disengaged maybe, and I took a breath and let it out slowly. He smiled then. He’d gotten me.

As I slid into the booth. Eve said, “I don’t know what that was about, but I did see it.”