Brad didn’t know what to do with that, so he shook his head and tried to pretend she hadn’t said anything. “She wanted me to introduce her to my friend at the Food Channel, except she was an asshole about it. And also, Ijustgot Lindsay an opportunity there. I don’t have the kind of magic to get my friend to do me another favor, particularly not for a stranger. I’m a nice guy, but I’m not that nice.”
“Oh. That does seem unreasonable. So no interview in theTimes? Diane said she knew someone there.”
“That was Diane’s friend.”
“Oh. Whoops.”
“Are you mad? I know you like getting publicity for the café.”
“Not at the expense of your ethics or professional connections. It sucks that we lost the interview, but on the other hand, this is not exactly a huge space. Traffic is already up since that story in theForum. It’s dead now, but the weekend crowds have been insane. Lauren is thinking about setting up a reservation system.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yeah. I think it’d be easy enough to do. Evan did our website, so I think he can help.”
“So you’re not mad I ran off theTimesreporter?”
“I mean, that’s a terrible opportunity to lose, but we’ll survive.”
Brad had the sense that Paige regretted what had happened, because she was always trying to get good publicity for the café, but he didn’t. That woman had been awful. And if Brad only had one favor with Aaron, he was glad he’d used it on Lindsay.
“You got Lindsay an opportunity at the Food Channel?” Paige asked.
“As a judge on my friend’s new TV show. She didn’t tell you?”
“I’ve been busy the last few days and haven’t talked to her. I pretty much spend all my days off wedding planning. It’s enough to make me want to elope.”
Brad didn’t really want to hear about wedding planning, but he braced himself for the incoming rant, which Paige had been prone to share with Lauren recently.
But Paige laughed instead. “I’m sure you don’t care. But the drawback to being an event planner is that I know what things should cost, so I’ve been fighting with the venue and all the vendors I want to hire. Josh says I’ve gone all type A on the wedding. I think I’ve scared him a little.”
Brad laughed. “I can only imagine,” he said, trying to be polite.
“But that’s really cool! Lindsay’s going to be on TV?”
“Yes. On a cooking competition show.”
“Oh, I should organize a watch party! We can have people over at Josh’s and my place. It has a great kitchen we never use.”
“You don’t use it?”
“I’m a decent cook, but I’ve been working evenings a lot lately, so I haven’t been cooking much. Josh can…heat things up in a microwave. Most of the time.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. He was mostly surviving on takeout when we met. But this is finally my opportunity to talk Lindsay into cooking for us.”
Brad laughed. “Is this a long-term goal of yours?”
“Lindsay is agreatcook, but her apartment is too small to have many people over at a time. I do not have that problem.”
“So you’re going to throw a party for Lindsay but make her cook for it.”
Paige pursed her lips. “I mean, not if she doesn’t want to. There’s this really great little cheese shop near me that sells charcuterie platters that would get the job done. But, like, if shevolunteered, what kind of person would I be if I turned that down?”
“Right.” Brad looked back at the door. “Is Diane going to be mad I ran off her friend?”
“She’ll get over it. Be nice to her the next time she comes in, though. Diane is a mama bear when it comes to her employees, and she’ll defend you to the death, but she might be irked that her reporter friend ran out. But I agree, the reporter was unreasonable. If you explain as much to Diane, I’m sure all will be forgiven.”
