“How old was he?” Penny asks.
“Forty-three,” I say quietly, hoping she doesn’t judge me.
She whistles and takes a sip of the cocktail that magically appeared in front of her. When I look in front of me, there’s one for me too, and I take a sip.
“What did he teach? No, wait. Let me guess.” Penny taps her chin in thought. “Photography.”
My mouth drops, and she cackles and downs her drink. “How?”
“Oh, who wouldn’t fall for the introspective, hot, older man. I don’t blame you. Hey, maybe this job will be your new start.”
I smile at her and drink my cocktail. “I hope so.”
“Fuck, we need to get a ride.”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
She waves me off. “It’s fine, I’ll call my cousin. I’m sure he’s still in the area.”
“Your cousin?”
She doesn’t answer as I hear her talk on the phone. “Jessa and I drank too much at Mutiny, can you come pick us up?” There’s a long pause before Penny starts talking again. “I know, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Are you picking us up or am I getting abducted by a random stranger?” She nods her head and smiles. “We’ll wait out front.”
The bartender hands us our tab, and I wince, starting to calculate my first paycheck and what’s in my bank account. I decide then that this is my last Friday night out until my check clears.
One of the valets is flirting with Penny when a very familiar white car pulls up and honks. I blanch when I realize who it is.
“Penny, is Aiden your cousin?”
She laughs and waves me off. “You seriously didn’t know?”
I shake my head as she opens the back door, scooting in, and I follow her. Aiden doesn’t say anything, and I feel embarrassed but also still slightly drunk. I do my best to keep my mouth shut as Penny starts talking.
“Thanks for picking us up. Ugh, I’m so tired.” I watch Aiden roll his eyes from the mirror.
“Put your seatbelts on,” he says in a deep voice from the front.
I’ve never put a seatbelt on so fast in my life. Penny acts like Aiden is being bossy but puts hers on nonetheless.
“Your apartment is literally two blocks away,” Aiden says to Penny.
“Hmm,” she says, waving him off. He isn’t kidding, it takes just three minutes to get in front of a small apartment building. Penny has her purse in her hand as she swings open the door. “See you Monday, Jessa!” She walks on wobbly feet, using her keycard and waving to the car before going inside.
Aiden doesn’t drive off, and I swallow thickly.
“Are you going to sit in the back like you’re being chauffeured or are you going to sit up front?”
“I can call a ride, you don’t need to drive me all the way home.”
He gives me a stern look in the rearview that I read as a ‘get in the front seat and shut the fuck up.’ So I unbuckle my seat, open the door and get into the passenger’s seat.
“Do you need the address?” I ask.
“No.”
“Right. Of course you know where it is.” I might say it with more snark than intended, but I’m fortunate that Aiden doesn’t say anything.
“So, Penny corrupted you?”
