"I'm telling you, he's a 'kidder.' Stay away from him." Joel spat out the last word as if it tasted bad.
"A kidder? I've never heard him tell a joke," Camila smiled trying to calm her coworker.
"I'm not joking either Camila! You can always tell by their eyes," he visibly shivered, "The way they look at you. Like you're some sort of..."
"Joke?" Camila finished.
Joel slammed a fist into the table. Camila gasped and stood up.
"I... I'm sorry."
"You know how you can tell a child from an adult Joel?" Camila's eyes were full of fire as she looked at him. Joel slumped his shoulders and sat back into his seat.
She left the retort unsaid and walked out of the break room. She hated jealousy. Why did every man think they owned the woman who was nice to them but wouldn't sleep with them?
Joe was a nice guy but there wasn't much beyond that. Having a conversation with him was just so limiting. He had never traveled, he had only had one girlfriend, and she could see his eyes twitching to retrieve data from the net anytime she wanted to discuss any topic deeper than a few sentences.
She honestly didn't know much about Lev's past but she didn't care how old he was. He was damn intriguing, respectful, and on her thoughts more and more lately.
She rounded the corner was surprised to bump into the man she was thinking of.
"Easy there Speed Racer," Lev smiled as grabbed her shoulders to right her after the collision.
"Speed who?"
"Eh, I'm into old comic books. Listen, I don't want to risk losing a chance to another dude in the office. What you say we go out this weekend?"
"Dude? I... Uh.. Yes! I mean yes. I would like to."
Lev smiled and turned to walk in the direction Camila was walking. He hovered his hand above her lower back for a moment before making contact, "I'll have my car pick you up at 7:30 this Friday? I know a great Italian restaurant in the downtown. It's been there forever. Practically a staple of this city."
Wow, he had a car? She had never been to a restaurant. Most people her age had to settle for the stale engineered restaurants. Maybe they would have real drinks there! She started to feel her heart beat a little faster and her blood warmed.
"That sounds great Lev, I can't wait!"