Starting... NOW

“Hey Y/N. May I sit?” he asks, offering you a new drink in his hand. His face shows a hint of nervousness.

“Sure, Bill,” you answered, surprised, taking the drink from his hand and pulling the chair beside you so he can sit.

“No date tonight, huh?” Bill beat you to asking the same question you wanted to ask.

“I’ve ran out of my supply of wedding dates,” you joke and a short laugh escape his mouth. “I see that you are without one as well.”

“Yeah, I don’t really have a supplier of those. It’s hard enough to work for one you know,” he uses your joke back to you and you both laugh.

You both chat a bit about your work and you asked him about his kids and how you all coped during the pandemic. You both were grateful that it was over and people could finally go back to work and do gatherings like this one. You made sure not to mention his last relationship, even though it’s been several months since the breakup. You laughed at his jokes and you’re glad he also laughed at yours.

The song on the dance floor changed from upbeat to a slow song. He suddenly stands up and offers his hand to you saying, “Shall we?” You smile and take his hand while standing up and you both make your way to the dance floor. You place your hands on his shoulders while his take your waist. You both sway to the music, looking at each other and smiling. You notice the hint of nervous in his face again. Finally, he speaks up.

“Pete Davidson’s been asking about you, you know?” he says, spoiling your current happy mood.

“Is that why he was looking at me a while ago while he was talking to you and Mulaney?” you ask.

“Yeah. Mulaney and I agreed to wingman him tonight.”

“Why were you the one who approached me? Are you like, scouting for him or something?”

“Mulaney asked me to, because he thought we bonded and talked easily back when we met on SNL. I’m supposed to ask what you think about Pete then give them a signal if it’s okay for him to come here and take over this dance with you.”

You didn’t answer him. But you gave him a confused stare while gathering your thoughts. You were disappointed of the fact that he just approached you to set you up with his friend.

“I’m sorry. I told them it was a bad idea and that Pete should just approach you on his own but they insisted that I do this. Pete told me he’s really shy, I don’t know what was that about.” he looks at you with guilt on his face but you also notice something in his expression that you can’t seem to put a finger on. “So... What do you think about him?”

“I think he’s an interesting person. But the thing is, he’s not really my type. I think he’s still a kid, you know, not in age because I don’t mind that but yeah.”

“Oh,” he then tilts his head to the side and signals a thumbs down behind your back. You stop swaying and turn your body to look at Mulaney and his wife back at the table with Pete. The three of them just wave to both of you, which turned into a thumbs up while they flashed their big smiles. Not exactly the reaction Bill was expecting to see.

“What the fuck is happening?” you ask with a confused look, turning back to Bill. 

“I don’t know,” you see in his face he’s now as confused as you are.

Your confused look suddenly turned into a smile as realization comes to you, “I think they actually meant to set you up with me.”

“Whaaat?” he says, still showing his confused look. He looks back at his friends who are still doing a thumbs up at him then back at you again, letting it sink in. He then smiles at you.

You let out a small chuckle as you look him in the eyes and start swaying to the music again with him.

“No protests on your end about what just happened?” he asks you. He never thought his friends would do this to him. He’s been focused with catching up with work after the pandemic and has not really thought about jumping back to dating again. Not until this moment, and for him it actually seems perfect that it was you whom his friends chose to set him up with. He knew he liked you when you first met and worked together because you were easy to talk to. He finds you smart, pretty and funny and thinks that any guy would be lucky to be with you. He admits to himself that he was actually flirty with you back then; he just never thought this would actually ever happen.

“No. What happened was weird, and I’m not sure if it’s the booze which, for the record I only had two, but I’m... totally digging this. How about you?” you answer with a smirk on your face. You felt confident for a while, but got nervous because what if he wasn’t interested in you and was just actually helping Pete like he thought he was?

“I actually thought it was ridiculous setting you up with Pete. I mean, he’s dated Kate Beckinsale so I think it makes sense that he would ever take an interest in you. But you know,” he gestures his hand back and forth to you and him, “I would say this makes so much more sense.”

You blush at his last comment. “Well then, Bill, if you’re not doing anything tomorrow, would you go out for coffee with me?” you realize the song switched to an upbeat one but both of you are still doing a slow dance.

“Let me check my skedj hmm...” he teases you, making a face as if he’s trying to remember something. You laugh at the word ‘skedj’ and at his weird but cute expression. “Coffee and dinner would do, Y/N.” he winks at you. “I’ll get your number after we bust our moves to this awesome song.”