Charlie stood up. “For what it’s worth—from where I sit, you’re not divorced Sam or Sam the lawyer. You’re just Sam.” He smiled and held out his hand to pull me up. “Today you’re Sam with a sprained wrist who had a crazy meltdown at acupuncture.”
I wanted so badly to just be Sam.
“Stay out of your head for a little bit. We can check out a few other benches before I send you home.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Guess what three months of shitty real estate cases just got me,” Charlie announced Monday morning as he strolled into the office, proudly waving a small envelope.
“Courtside seats to the Knicks,” I guessed without looking up from the billing tracker. I had completely forgotten to track my time the day before and was now trying to reconstruct billable hours from emails.
“Think bigger, DeFiore.”
He pulled out two tickets and slid them across the desk.
“Orchestra seats toThe Nutcracker. This Saturday. And not just anyNutcracker—the OG Lincoln Center one.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Just so I’m clear: Youaresaying thatThe Nutcrackeris cooler than—”
“Yes. That’s what I’m saying. I’m from Boston. We live and die for the Celtics. Larry Bird, not Patrick Ewing.”
“Oh, right.”
He leaned back in his chair, his hands folded behind his head.
“So ... you free this Saturday?”
I looked down at the ticket. “Why would you waste a completely baller night on me?”
“Friends don’t let friends talk about themselves that way.”
“I’m serious. Annabelle’s not free?”
He gave me a look. “I haven’t gone out with Annabelle in almost a month. Not since the date with that girl you set me up with.”
“Margaret.”
“Not since the date with Margaret.”
“So Annabelle’s shelf life was forty-eight hours and ... two dates?”
“Why aren’t you jumping on this? Have you even seenThe Nutcrackerbefore?”
“What about Margaret?”
He shook his head.
I inspected the tickets. “Orchestra seats, wow. This is fancy. I heard women wear gowns.”
“I’m sure we can find you something.”
“Between now and Saturday? I don’t know.”
“Come on, Sam. I’m starting to feel like you just don’t want to go.”
“I’d love to go. But maybe take a beat and think if there’s anyone else you’d rather go with besides yourofficemate.”
“Nope. And after we’re done classing it up, we can meet my sister and her friends at Scallywag’s in Midtown for some Guinness and tater tots.”
