Fuck.
OLIVER
“Look, I don’t know what you want me to say here. I talked to Jeanine three weeks ago and told her this exact thing was going to happen. Now, you’re telling me that we have a problem. One I predicted and told you how to avoid.”
I put my phone down on the counter, but I wait a few seconds before putting the lovely sales manager on speaker phone. “…is there anything you can do to help us out?”
Haskell has a signing at a bookstore tomorrow night. It’s out on the East Coast so I won’t be there in person, but I’ve done most of the organization. That’s how it usually works. He prefers to waltz in at the last minute, sign the books, and chat with his fans, then leave, which would be great if the bookstore had ordered enough books for the event. Now they’re completely sold out with a long list of RSVPs for the event.
“I can check to see if we have any personal stock available, but those would then need to be sold on consignment. Sixty-forty.” It’s a long shot. Haskell doesn’t keep a lot of books at home because they take up a shit ton of space. At best, he’s maybe got a dozen. The publisher might have some, but it’s too late to overnight them.
“Please? If you do, that would be amazing.”
“I’ll let you know tomorrow.” It’s past nine, and while Haskell might be up, it’s better to let him get a good night’s sleep andgive him the bad news in the morning. It won’t change anything, but we’ll both be less cranky.
I end the call before she can say anything else. “Why does no one listen to me?” I ask the empty kitchen. It doesn’t know the answer, but it does suggest a nice glass of red wine from the bottle on my counter.
The buzzer to my apartment goes off just as I’m about to finish filling my glass, causing me to jump and spill wine all over my shirt. Good thing I’m not a big fan of this one. I’d rather toss it than figure out what type of stain remover works on merlot.
No one’s supposed to be here tonight. My siblings are all at least a hundred miles away, I didn’t order takeout, and Aaron is out with his friends. It’s a sad accounting of the people who might pop over unannounced.
At the door, I press the intercom button. “Yeah?” My mom would be horrified at my manners, but my head hurts, and I’m exhausted.
“Hey, it’s me.” Aaron’s voice, even over the staticky intercom, makes me all warm and gooey inside.
“Come on up.”
As soon as I buzz him up, I take a look around. How did it get so messy? I swear I cleaned a few days ago. The bookstore stress did a number on me today; remnants of my disorganization are spread out across the floor. And the couch. And the counter.
If I’m lucky, he’ll be so focused on the wine covering me and the floor that he won’t notice the three half-full coffee mugs on the counter.
I don’t want to look antsy, but I can’t help opening the door as soon as he comes into view of the peephole. “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”
“Yeah, sorry for just stopping by. I wanted to talk to you about… What happened here?” His hand slides under my tee,holding up the edge, which is covered in wine. It takes what little restraint I have left today to avoid leaning into his touch.
“I spilled.” I shrug as I say the words. There’s no good explanation. Besides, I’d rather hear whatever it is he desperately needs to tell me. He’s been out with his friends tonight, so the possibilities are endless. The one that worries me the most is that they talked him out of dating me.
“Do you want to change?”
“It’s fine. What did you want to tell me?”
“Um… can I maybe come inside? Sit down somewhere?”
My head is pounding, but I motion toward the sofa. “Can I get you some wine?” I have a feeling I’m going to need to.
“Is there any left in the bottle, or do I have to suck it off your shirt?”
There are so many jokes right there, but I can’t bring myself to make any of them. Not until I hear his news. Sadly, Aaron had a point. The bottle’s nearly empty after my little accident. I sop up what I can from the floor, promising myself I’ll return to it as soon as Aaron leaves. Instead, I split the generous pour I gave myself into two glasses.
“Here.” I hand him one of the glasses, noticing that he’s piled the notepads and books from the couch into a neat pile on the floor to give us enough space.
I take a healthy swig of mine before sitting down next to Aaron. “What’s up?”
“Okay, so I know this is going to look bad, but I swear it doesn’t mean anything.” Aaron’s speaking too fast, his hand waving around wildly. “I warned you that I’m bad at relationships, but this is a new low for me.”
Fuck. I can’t even begin to guess where this is going. The only thing I can think of is that he cheated. Suddenly, the wine is a bit bitter. “It’s okay,” I lie. “Look, this was a beta test. Clearly, it doesn’t work. So we scrap the whole thing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Wait!” Aaron puts his hand on my shoulder, keeping me next to him. All I want is to crawl into bed and hide. “What do you think is happening right now?”
