Ask Helen and Jack to Lunch, to Make Amends

“Hey,” you say, catching Helen’s attention as you begin to walk up the steps. “I don’t want there to any hard feelings after today, do you want to grab lunch and ask Jack if he wants to join in too?”

“Isn’t that sweet. You boys better make up real good,” Helen laughs, and she waves Jack over. A red-headed girl follows along beside him.

“What’s the tea?” she asks. “Is our pretty boy planning to fight Jack for Helen’s heart?”

“Christ Mal, Alex just wanted us to all get lunch together,” Helen says, shooting Mallory a hefty glare.

“Call it a peace offering,” you say, spreading your arms. “And of course, you’re welcome to join too Mal.”

“Naturally. By the way, my name’s Mallory - only my friends call my Mal,” Mallory says. “Like seriously, there was a guy in high school who I wouldn’t let call me ‘Mal’ until the day we graduated. So you can call me Mal,” she finishes, winking.

Mallory

Lunch is at the dining hall, where they’re serving up lasagna with some suspicious looking mystery meat. While you go for it, Helen and Mal both opt for the safer vegetarian version. Jack helps himself to a large portion of both.

“So you’re a chem major? What are you doing in this econ class then?” Helen asks you.

“I’ve got distributional requirements to get out of the way,” you say, “but also, it’s good to keep an open mind, right? Isn’t that the whole point of coming to a liberal arts college? To meet new people and learn new things?”

“Well, I can tell you that I am here to do neither of those things,” Mal says. “Like Jack, I’m just here to get a prestigious degree that will help me sell out to a bulge bracket investment bank.”

“Sounds a little soulless,” you say, and Mallory cracks a grin.

“No, you’ve got it all mixed up,” she says. “I’ll own your soul in twenty years, so really, I’m going to be the one with plenty of soul to spare.”

“Twenty years? I’ll do it in ten,” Jack says, cutting his lasagna into neatly portioned squares.

“Hmm… sounds to me like somebody’s going to be getting a leg-up from daddy,” you say. “What’s he? A senior vice president?”

“A vice president? Who do you think my father is? He breezed through that position fifteen years ago; he’s the head of the Real Estate group at Citi,” Jack says matter-of-factly, sticking a piece of lasagna into his mouth.

“And now you know why I’m friends with this guy,” Helen says. “Can’t wait to get fast-tracked to that internship!”

“Et tu, Helen?” you say. You remind yourself that nobody’s perfect.

“I was joking,” she says. “Management consulting looks more like my cup of tea, so I’ll have to do things the hard way, without Jack’s dad helping out.”

“That’s your idea of a better job?” you ask. “You know, something that you could go home and not feel terrible about?”

“Well you don’t really go home, since you travel five days out of the week,” Helen says, “but yeah, I’m sure I’ll feel a terrible crushing sense of guilt when I stumble into my hotel room at night if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That took a dark turn,” Mal says, giving Helen a sarcastic quick hug. Jack rolls his eyes.

“I wasn’t done speaking,” Helen says, waving Mal off. “What I mean is, since I’ll be so cranky when I return to that hotel room, there better be a nice guy waiting there for me, on the phone, ready to comfort me.” Her gaze flickers between you and Jack as she says this.

“The phone’s a century out of date,” you say, warming up to her again. “Come on, any decent guy will at least be on Skype, and even that’s old-school.”

“I’ll be a banker, Helen, odds are that I can finagle my way into being in the same city as you. Why go for a phone call when you can come back to a room ready with wine, chocolate, and a bubble bath?” Jack says, all smooth now.

“Surely you can do better, Alex,” Mal says.

“Oh come on, anybody can play Jack’s card. Come to my room anytime and I’ll have wine and chocolates - everything from Kit-Kats to Godiva,” you say.

Helen looks at Mal, who seems to be thoroughly enjoying you and Jack trying to one-up another. She gives Helen an encouraging nod. “What you’re saying is even more tempting, Alex. It sounds like it’ll happen a couple years sooner, and I am an impatient girl,” Helen says.

“How’s Thursday night?” you ask, going out on a limb.

“It’s a date,” Helen instantly replies, and the two of you shake on it, only half-ironically.

Jack, meanwhile, is fuming, and he starts talking about something-or-the-other that’s jobs related, and so the conversation goes on, the three of them talking about their future careers. You find yourself learning much more than you ever imagined knowing about the financial industry, and Jack’s familiarity with the territory lets him score just as many points with the girls as you, even though you think he’s a worse talker than you. Besides, you’ve already won the most important round of the meal.

Before long, you realise that you have your check-up for the parasite at the hospital in a few minutes, so you hug Helen and Mal goodbye and get going.

Helen +5
Mallory +10