“Yes. You see, the people at the foundation said Anthony liked to hang out there a lot, and I figured there was a chance I’d run into him.”
“I told you he’s out of town,” I grunted. “Why are you hoping to see him so damn bad?”
“Because, Fritz.” She huffed and put her hands on her trim hips. “I have all these ideas at the foundation, but no one listens to me. I can’t just be invisible for another eleven weeks. Ugh,eleven weeksseems like a lifetime in this pit.” She closed her eyes, but it only lasted for a second before she set her jaw in determination. “I need money, and he’s the answer.Provingto my parents is not the route I’m going. This place sucks.”
I ignored the brief sting of her dissing my building.
“To recap: even though I told you he’s out of town, you’re hoping to run into him?”
“Someone said they saw him this weekend. I think he’s here, and I think you don’t want me to see him for some reason.” She pointed at my chest. “You must be protective of your employer, but I assure you, he’ll see me. He owes me.” She shook her head, like she was pushing that conversation away to move onto another topic. “So can I ask my favor?”
Words escaped me. I nodded.
“I left a schedule for my plants. Depending on how tonight goes, maybe I don’t come back for an hour, but some of my babies need to be watered and misted, and to listen to the audiobook I bought for them. It’s very important.” She narrowed her eyes. “I wrote down all the instructions here for you.” She reached into a pocket of her sun-yellow skirt and handed me a sheet of paper.
It was a full map of how she had her plants arranged, each one labeled with their name, their favorite song, and how much water they needed. It wasn’t every day like I’d have thought, and she had a misting schedule. And when to turn on fans? For what? This was beyond anything I could’ve imagined, and I snorted into my fist. This took the schedule she gave me and amplified it by a million. Color coded and everything. “Uh, wow.”
“Is this a yes? George is high-maintenance and needs a lot of praise.”
Two very conflicting thoughts battled for dominance in my head. I wanted to laugh at how weird my life was, but also, I wanted to tell her talking to Anthony wasn’t going to solve her problems. She was banking on him—me—fixing everything for her so that simply wouldn’t happen. That caused the same uncomfortable tightness in my chest. The clientele at Whiskey Rose would eat her up. They were rough, hard-working people who wanted a beer after a day’s work. She screamed money and entitlement, and while a part of me wanted her to be knocked down a peg, she’d been here for days. Not even a whole week. It would be cruel to encourage her to go there. Alone.
“How about…” I said, running a hand over my jaw as Gilly’s words repeated in my mind.Finding a distraction for her.“How about this? Let’s have a night out.”
I could set up something with a buddy, bump into one so she doesn’t know it’s a setup.
“Like on adate? With you?” she asked, making the word date last twice as long, like she wasn’t sure how it sounded.
“Not like a date, no,” I said, my face burning a bit. “Anthony is gone, and I want to show you that youcanhave fun living in thisdump.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “It wouldn’t hurt to have fun until he gets back in town. A night out…hm. Yes, I don’t…I should.”
“Yeah, we can hang out at a different bar with some of my friends, some locals.” There, that was casual. I was proud of myself for presenting it so smoothly.
Her eyebrows came together, forming a concerned line between them. “Are any of them wealthy?”
“Jesus,” I barked, my jaw tensing as images of fucking Samantha intruded on the moment. Of course she wanted rich friends so she could use them to start her business. I opened my mouth to give her a piece of my mind when she held up a hand and furrowed her brows.
“Listen, I’ve been on dates, hung out with thesewealthymen and…” She paused, made a face like she ate spoiled cheese, and shook her shoulders in disgust. “They are horrible lovers. Selfish. Think they know everything.”
Wait. What did she say? “Horrible lovers?” I don’t know why I pegged her for innocent, like she hadn’t been with a lot—or any—guys. Why were we talking about her love life again?
“Yes. No one likes a selfish lover, no matter how big your bank account is.” She rolled her eyes with an expression I read asduh,and images of her in her thin bra and short shorts crossed my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut to erase it.
“Right.” I cleared my throat and shifted my weight from one foot to the other. The front entrance to my place felt smaller than normal. We would have a night out. I’d introduce her to a friend and distract her. That was the plan. Not thinking about her in bed with someone.
“So are your friends colleagues of the Carters?” she asked, concern still etched on her face.
“Uh, they aren’t wealthy likethat,” I said, ignoring the way my face tensed from the half lie. “I just…think it’ll be a good idea to do this since you’re on your own. Maybe you’ll make some friends, have some good stories to tell all your friends when you get back home.”
“Hm, I see your argument. Fine. Yes. I’m in.”
“You’re not going to Whiskey Rose then, right?”
“No, I can focus on selling more bracelets since I’ll have a few free hours.”
“Your ‘save the whales’ bracelets and flyers, huh?” I smirked, jutting my chin toward the door and admiring how she stood taller, like she was proud of assaulting the doors and windows with the obnoxiously bright color.
“You’ve seen them!” She beamed at me. “The referral code has gotten two more people to buy one since I put them up! It’ll make such a difference if I keep trying.”
