“I guess? I don’t know. I really,reallylike him, but I’m still a little freaked out. It all kind of felt like a sign to me, with the whole necklace disappearing thing. Like my dad was telling me to stop or something.”
She snorts. “Okay, Liza. I know you’re superstitious, but this is next-level shit. Maybe you’re just finding excuses because you’re scared.” She shakes her head in disapproval, and I can absolutely see where she’s coming from, but I’m still a little freaked out.
“Are you trying to psychoanalyze me? I thought I was the therapist, and you were the dramatic actress here,” I say jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
“You’re not a fully qualified therapist yet, so I feel comfortable enough overruling you here and taking the high ground.”
I roll my eyes at her.
“Fine.” She sits up straighter in her seat. “If you wanna be superstitious about the whole thing, how about this? How about the whole thing had to happen to show you that this guy is real and cares about you enough to drop everything just to help you? You guys have a connection and great chemistry, that’s clear, but maybe this was just to show you how dependable and caring he can be.” She shrugs and takes a sip of her matcha.
“You’re just trying to adapt it to your opinion,” I say.
“Aren’t you doing the same thing?” She glares.
“Stop trying to be reasonable,” I mutter under my breath.
Barbara sighs. “You know I love you, but I think you’re just being a baby, honey. You’re just scared because the last relationship you were in was with a passionless ass who thought he was better than you and everyone around you.”
“Maybe you’re a little right. Just a little,” I concede, thinking about how different Matt is from Jeremy in a scary yet amazing way. “What if Vinny’s right, though? What if he’s still a player? I mean,God, Barbara, you need to see him. He’s so hot. How can he not have women just throwing themselves at him all the time?”
“Vinny is way too overprotective for me to take him completely at his word. I would take everything he says about Matt with a large grain of salt. Plus, it’s not fair of you to make assumptions about Matt just because he’s attractive.”
“Ridiculously attractive,” I correct her.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out.
Matt: Hey. You find it yet?
I bite my lip to stop a smile from spreading across my face—something that happens almost every time he sends me a message. I guess Barbara’s right—he is incredibly caring. He’s been so attentive with me.
“That him?” she asks with a knowing smirk.
“Yes,” I say. “He’s asking about the necklace.” I reply back that I fear it’s lost forever, but that it’s fine-ish.
“Yeah, I don’t know how you haven’t ridden his face yet,” she deadpans and oh-so-casually takes another sip from her drink.
“Jesus, Barbara!” I scoff and look around to see if anyone heard her. “That was a little loud,” I whisper-yell, and she shrugs. “We haven’t even been on a real date yet, you know. We kind of talked about things yesterday at my brother’s and then after, while I waited for my Uber. We’re good. I’m just waiting for him to ask me out.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Are you kidding me, Liza? Just askhimout. Ask him to my New York Icons party.”
“You think he’d go? Isn’t he a little too old for a Halloween party?”
“Um, it’s not a Halloween party,” she says, looking offended.
“It’s on Halloween, and it’s a costume party,” I say flatly.
“It’s aNew York Iconsparty that just so happens to be on Halloween. It’s a sophisticated soiree. No pumpkin costumes allowed.” She smiles. “Only famous New Yorkers, real or fictional.”
“I think I’m gonna go as Carrie Bradshaw.” I shrug. “It’ll give me an excuse to wear the shoes I splurged on for Vinny’s wedding four years ago. I’ve literally only worn them the one time.”
“Yes! Love that journey for you,” Barbara says happily.
“You doing Barbra again?” I ask, doing my best to deflect. Barbara has an obsession with Barbra Streisand. So much so that she wants to change her first name to match the spelling of the legendary singer and actress’. She’s been dressing up as her every Halloween since she first sawFunny Girlwhen she was nine years old.
“Obvi,” she says with a massive smile. “I just need to pick which legendary outfit I’m gonna wear this year. I think I’m gonna pick one fromFunny Girlagain.”
“Ooh,” I say excitedly. “So many options!”
