"Fine. More money. Better title. Larger team. Are you interested now?"
I laughed.
"Possibly."
The promotion came with a salary increase I would once have immediately calculated against Sarah's dream list. Instead, I increased my automatic investment contribution, replaced the tires on my sedan, and bought a decent espresso machine. That was my celebration. Dave called it tragic. Around the same time, I met Elena Ruiz.
It was not dramatic. There was no instant spark across a ballroom or accidental collision in a coffee shop. My firm sponsored a fundraising event for a children's hospital, and employees were encouraged to volunteer. I was assigned to registration because apparently seniority does not protect you from alphabetized name tags. Elena arrived twenty minutes early wearing navy scrubs beneath a winter coat.
"I'm here to help with the pediatric unit table," she said.
I checked the list.
"Elena Ruiz?"
"That's me."
"You're early."
"Nurse habit. If you're on time, you're late."
I looked at her.
"Risk consultant habit. If you're early, the schedule was poorly designed."
She laughed. That was it. We worked the same event for four hours. Elena was a pediatric nurse at the hospital, thirty-four, divorced, no children, and completely unimpressed by the language of status.
She wore a watch with a cracked leather strap because it had belonged to her grandmother. She drove a ten-year-old Honda that had accumulated enough bumper stickers to become a mobile archive of hospital fundraisers. When I asked if she wanted coffee after the event, she looked at me for a second longer than necessary.
"Are you asking me on a date or networking?"
"Date."
"Good. I hate networking."
Our first date was the following Thursday. At the end of dinner, I reached for the bill. Elena put her card on top of it.
"Split."
I laughed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You have a weird expression."
"My last relationship made shared expenses complicated."
She pulled her card back slightly.
"We don't have to discuss your ex on date one."
"Excellent policy."
"But I'm paying half."
"Also excellent."