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Seb turned the dial on the radio and backed out of the Priory drive. Taggie kept her gaze on her hands twisting the frayed hem of her oversized sweater. She did not look back at Rupert, but she knew that he was still there, watching her leave.
Seb always had the rock station on whenever he drove Taggie around. At first she thought he played music to avoid conversation, but she learned after a few carpools from Venturer events that he loved to chat and blast the music. She had thought him to be so sweet and subdued when she ran into him at work or work parties, but in every other context she was learning that Seb was rather boisterous and very chatty.
Taggie told her parents about Seb at breakfast that morning, giving them the opportunity to object before their first date, but they were predictably disinterested. Now, if she had said Rupert’s name instead of Seb’s when explaining why she would be out late, that would have been quite a different scene.
As the Priory disappeared into the dense woods behind them, Seb peppered her with questions over the staticky riffs of The Kinks. He was curious to know what she felt about the current happenings at Venturer. Their conversation was rather lopsided. He was the one pulling information out of her and she wasn’t sure what to pull out of him in return.
Regardless, she appreciated that he wanted to know her thoughts about Venturer, and he never demeaned her observations or labeled them naive as Rupert or even her father was keen to. He made her feel like an equal, which she didn’t not like. He was also rather gorgeous, which couldn’t hurt.
Underneath his questions, as they wound along country roads toward town, Taggie could tell that Seb was battling against a question he had yet to ask. Taggie, while not book smart, was getting better at reading people and she could see him weighing the pros and cons of bringing up another man on their first date. He wasn’t an idiot; he had interrupted something between Taggie and Rupert in the drive.
But, she hoped if she kept rambling off gripes with clunky flier designs and Declan’s allergy to real work, maybe Seb would forget about the man left standing alone behind them.
She was having a hard time forgetting him herself. In fact, she was determinedly not thinking about Rupert Campbell-Black. That was all that she was thinking about— not thinking about Rupert.
Not thinking about how he called out her name, as if to ask her to stay with him and ditch Seb.
Not thinking about how she might have stayed with him if he asked.
Not thinking about how today had been one of the best days of her life, just spending time with him.
Not thinking about what she would say if Seb asked her if there was anything between her and Rupert.
Certainly she would have to lie. But she was a terrible liar and he would know immediately that she was in love with the rake who was old enough to be her father.
Would Seb think her to be foolish? A lost cause? A bad person?
It was absolutely overwhelming.
She slouched in her seat and sighed.
“Everything okay?” Seb hummed and cast a quick sideways glance.
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
“It’s just…” she slumped until the seatbelt pinched under her chin, terrified to tell him the truth in the sentence she left unfinished.
If her mother saw her now she would slap her for being so childish and unappealing in the presence of a man. This was a person she was supposed to seduce and make irrevocably obsessed with her, per Maud’s approach to life. And yet, here she was throwing a tantrum. How embarrassing, she could hear mother chiding her.
After a few moments of silence and a slouched sighing Taggie, Seb pulled off into a patch of grass and turned off the car. With the music gone, silence rushed in.
“I am going to take you home.”
“No. No.” Taggie pushed herself upright and wiped a few tears that had fallen without her awareness.
“Oh Tag!!” Seb reached for her face, eyes wide. If Declan found out he made Taggie cry, Seb’s burgeoning career with Venturer was likely dead in the water.
Taggie quickly shook her head, and pushed his hands away.
“I’m fine. It’s just a long day handing out flyers. I’m completely fine.” She looked out the window. “I want to go to see a film. It will be a nice distraction.”
Seb stilled.
Well, maybe she was not so good with people, because when she turned back to Seb she could see in his expression that she had committed some kind of horrible dating crime. He was wounded.
“I didn’t mean to say something wrong,” Taggie cautioned.
“It’s fine.” He awkwardly shifted to face the road. ”So you need a distraction?”
“Yes?”
“Well, I can be a distraction”. Seb pulled together a weak smile. “Let’s have a fun distracting night.”
“Seb, I am so sorry. I really don’t know what came over me.”
It had been a wonderful day.
Seb dared to look at her. “If you are still up for it, I very much want to spend time with you, Taggie O’Hara.”
He seemed so earnest, Taggie felt evil for causing this mess, for falling in love with Rupert Campbell-Black.
It was Taggie’s turn to scrape together a smile. “I want to spend time with you, too.”
He turned the key, the car rumbled back on and the radio blared to life, picking up in the middle of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, by The Rolling Stones.
Taggie almost laughed.