"Are they cute?" I managed to relax a bit.
"Really cute!"
"Good. I hope they'll be a pleasant surprise."
"Speaking of pleasant surprises, what do you think about me sending Nathan Real first?"
"He was so pretty, yet—"
"I remembered how you never stopped talking about him and his crazy blue eyes." He wouldn’t let me finish.
"Yes, but..." I tried to find the words to describe our strange encounter.
"But what?"
"I thought I'd fantasize about looking into his eyes as our lips detached from a surprised yet undeniable, passionate kiss, but he actually didn't do anything for me."
"What do you mean, didn’t do anything? He set the bar for the drop-dead-gorgeous definition, Naomi!"
"I agree, but still. He hugged me, and… Nothing."
"Were you looking at him when you talked? Are you freaking blind, woman?"
"Nick, I agree he's one of God's better creations, but he hugged me very close as soon as he came near, and I don’t know what to tell you. Other than he didn’t do anything for me."
"Well… Maybe that's the problem? Exactly how immediately did he hug you?"
"His arms were wrapping my waist even before we said our hellos."
"Ugh!" His disgust of Nathan's directness suddenly made sense to me. "That could be a serious turn-off, but let's blame it on the excitement, or because he was the first to come up, okay?"
"Hmm…" I thought about what he said.
"Please, Naomi, I'm begging you. Please don't send him home tonight. Even if he isn't your future husband, you owe me, and I'm begging you to let me see him just for a little longer."
"I owe you?"
"Damn right!" Nick seemed fierce and quickly turned to looking helpless. "Pleeeeeeeease." He put his hands together and got down on his knees for a proper groveling session as I burst out with laughter.
Nick took his time, and that allowed me to catch my breath before meeting the remaining five men. I knew he wanted to get things going and I remembered me asking him to speed things up, yet I was happy to see that Nick stood there with me and got me talking about each and every one of the men who went into my apartment, without even once hinting that our time was running out.
"Tell me what you thought of Logan?"
"Umm… He was sweet. Very sweet, actually. He was so flattered that I remembered what he wrote in his application and to tell the truth, I really liked him."
"And what about Elijah?"
"Oh, Elijah caused some red warning light to flash brightly in my head."
"Are you seeing red lights already? You've known him for less than a minute, freak. What could he possibly do to trigger that?"
"It's not something he did, it's… I just think he takes the competition side of our project a little too seriously."
"Well, I don’t think you can judge him for that. He was waiting in that lobby surrounded by nine other men, each with the same goal, and you standing three floors up from them."
"Yes, but still... My initial instinct about him suggests that he's not here for the right reasons."
"How on Earth can you draw such a conclusion from such a short conversation?"
"Well, I asked him what he was most excited about, and his response was 'meeting a supermodel.' I must admit it was a little disappointing."
"Or refreshing."
"What?"
"Disappointing or refreshing? I mean… The guy was being honest, real, and exposed to you. He's excited about meeting you, just like all the other guys who stood with him downstairs. Don’t kid yourself, Naomi. They all talked about it. He was just the only one who shared it with you, and, seriously, would you rather he lied to you?"
"Of course not!"
"So don’t be so quick to make up your mind about any of them, Baby Girl. Think about how easy it was for you to believe those who said they're excited to meet the woman of their dreams. You didn’t even think about the possibility that they might be lying. It's easier believing what makes us feel good, huh? Let that be a lesson for you for the rest of this project."
Nick’s words hit me hard.
Was I smitten by those who said what I wanted to hear while seeing warning signs in those who said nothing but their honest truth?
"Let's talk about the next guy, Omar." Nick pulled me out of the confusion into a new discussion.
"No, that's not right. Michael was the next one to come up after Logan, Nick. Oh, what a great choice he was!"
"Oh, right. Michael..." I swear he was drooling.
"In my opinion, Michael will be the surprise of this project. I bet he'll be one of the last three guys." I wondered if I was guessing or praying for that to happen.
"Really?" Nick's grin hinted how pleased he was to find out his taste in men matched mine.
"Yes, really. I can already imagine how I'm going to sob when I'll have to make a decision about him in the final stages."
"So you don’t think he's the one. You still have some doubts about him."
"No doubts whatsoever. I can promise you right now that I'll be clinking my glass with his tonight. I'm also guessing I'm going to like him a lot."
"Which brings us to Omar."
"Omar…" I think I was purring like a cat, remembering his mocha-colored skin and dazzling brown eyes. "He's a bit of a mystery, but a particularly attractive mystery."
"You should have seen him downstairs."
"Oh, yeah?" A curious smile spreads across my face. "Tell me all about it. What was he like with the other men?"
"Well, everyone was walking around anxiously from one corner of the lobby to the other, making sure they looked manly and intimidating, telling anyone who would listen about their achievements in life and trying to impress the competition, but not him. Omar was sitting in a chair he had pushed to the far end of the lobby and messing around with his phone from the second he got here till the second I asked him to go up."
"What, like… In an asshole kind of way?"
"No, I don’t think that he’s an asshole. It actually seemed to me that he couldn’t care less about competing with the others."
"So, like in an arrogant kind of way?"
"No. Not arrogant, either."
"So, what's his story?"
"I just felt that he didn’t give a damn about the other men, that's all."
"You see? Now there's a guy that's here for the right reasons! He didn't see a need to have a conversation with them, because he's here for me!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Call me crazy, but I love it!"
"Why is that crazy?"
"Because if you think about that kind of behavior when we'll be going out together, you'll realize that it can be a little problematic."
"Or maybe it'll be perfect for you!"
"In what way?"
"Maybe what you need is a man who'll sit quietly beside you and let you be at the center of attention?"