I craned my neck as François leaned over to say something near Georgina’s ear. “She made it seem like she was enjoying herself. You really think it’s not goingwell?”
“Can’t you read her body language? She’s stiff as a board. You should know what that lookslike.”
“Fuck off,” I said, but I was secretly pleased. Because Justin was right, but not only about her body language. As if me braving a Yankees game hadn’t made my feelings clear enough, seeing Georgina with Françoisdid.
And I realized what it was that bothered me about him. I wanted to be sitting where hewas.
14
Georgina
Justin reclinedin his chair and crossed his ankles on Sebastian’s desk. “Destiny’s Child, ‘Bootylicious.’Boom. I know all the words, and the dance too. This onetime—”
“Get your shoes off my desk,” Sebastiansaid.
“Relax, I just took them from wardrobe,” Justin said but sat up immediately, removing hisfeet.
“It’s the fashion department, not wardrobe,” Sebastian said as he reviewed the next issue’s flat plan with a red marker. “This isn’t a movieset.”
“Whatever. What was I saying?” Justinasked.
“Your favorite song to sing in the shower,” Borissupplied.
“Yeah, but I had a story.” Justin scratched his temple. “Lost my train ofthought.”
Sebastian sighed. “More like the conductor’s asleep at thewheel.”
I stifled a laugh—not my first of the morning. Sequestered at my small desk across the room, I’d been trying to answer e-mails for the last hour when I wasn’t distracted by theguys.
“How about you, boss?” Boris asked, unwrapping a stick ofTrident.
Sebastian pointed a paperclip he’d bent between his thumb and index finger. “Easy,” he said. “‘American Woman.’ Guitar andall.”
Warmth crept up my chest as I pictured Sebastian, tall, trim, and unabashedly naked for his shower guitar solo. If I remembered correctly, the song had its fair share of grunting. When he caught me staring, I averted my eyes back to my computerscreen.
“Youwishyou were Lenny Kravitz,” Justin said, working a toothpick through his teeth. “Last time we did karaoke, you were all about *NSYNC. You didn’t even need the prompter for ‘Tearin’ up MyHeart.’”
“It’s a classic.” Sebastian brushed what I assumed were invisible crumbs off Justin’s side of the desk. He’d already thrown out all the wrappers from lunch, called janitorial to get the trash, and wiped down his desk. “How about you,Georgina?”
I didn’t miss the way Sebastian drew out my name, probably to remind me of my embarrassing admissions at the baseball game. I was pretty sure I’d hinted at having multiplepersonalities.
I tapped a fingertip on my upper lip as I waited for data from my office to load. “I always get Ace of Base stuck in myhead.”
“Maybe it’s a sign,” Justinsaid.
“It’s definitelyTheSign,” I said, humming a few bars. “Or that one from Fifth Harmony, ‘Work from Home.’ I catch myself singing it some mornings when I’m gettingready.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Sebastian said, glancing at Boris, who wiped sauce from his mustache with his sleeve. “Who wouldn’t want to come in to this dream team everyday?”
“Actually, you guys have been making me laugh all afternoon.” I shut my laptop. “And I’ve decidedModern Manneeds a podcast.Youneed apodcast.”
“Us?” Borisasked.
“Well, Justin, Sebastian . . . and friends,” I clarified. I wouldn’t listen to Boris for an hour unless I was getting paid. “You have a great rapport. Our readership needs to hear from you—and then tell theirfriends.”
“We already have Peterson’s team working on the webisodes we laid out last week,” Sebastian pointedout.
“Then they’ll have to work a little harder. What’re some reader questions you have left over fromBadvice?” Iasked.
