“People date their bosses.”
“I don’t date. I do casual sex.”
“Actually, you don’t do much of that either.” Maeve snorted.
“I was going to start with Beck,” I said primly. “We would get it all out of our systems, then after his sisters’ adoption went through, we would go our separate ways.”
“Just think of this date with Beck as a growth opportunity,” Holly insisted. “You’re broadening your horizons. It might be fun!”
“You at least will get a nice meal out of it,” Maeve prodded. “You like nice food.”
“He’s taking you to that place on tenth, the Nordic restaurant,” Holly said, waving the phone at me.
“You have to wear something Nordic goddess-like,” Maeve said dramatically.
“I’m not going,” I replied, though I was wavering. I had wanted to go to that Nordic restaurant since forever. It was right there on my list of places to eat before I died because I knew I was never going to have the money to travel, so eating gourmet food was about as adventurous as it was going to get for me.
“They have that bread, the one you grill at the table.” Maeve showed me the video on her phone.
“Okay fine, but you have to help me pick out something to wear.”
“Doyou think Enola and Annie can sew you another dress?” Holly asked.
We were at Beck’s condo. Holly had had one of her employees mind the shop so she could pop by and help me find something to wear. Except that everything I tried on I, well, popped out of.
“You force-fed me mac ‘n’ cheese!” I wailed, collapsing on my fainting couch.
“You put that in your own mouth.”
“You should have stopped me!”
Maeve flipped through my closet to see if something would magically appear. She pulled out a bright-pink sweater dress that had silk flowers sewn on it.
“Why did you even buy this?”
“I was drunk shopping; it was only five dollars. I thought it was going to be fun sleepwear.”
“I’m sure if you crawled into Beck’s bed wearing that, you’d have a lot of fun!” Holly said with a grin.
“What am I going to do! I’m not going to eat that special bread.” I pulled up the Nordic restaurant’s Instagram to salivate over their meals. They advertised it as a food experience. Five hours, twenty-six courses. And I was going to have none of it because I had nothing to wear.
Holly snapped her fingers. “This building has a concierge, right? We’ll ask them for help. Maybe they can work some magic.”
I dialed the front desk, putting the call on speakerphone.
“This is Vera at 101 Park Place tower! If you are calling about purchasing a unit and want to know if those hot men are still hanging around, then you will be happy to know they are! We are organizing hot guy sightseeing tours as well, every Tuesday and Thursday.”
“Uh… is this not the concierge?”
“She had a doctor’s appointment, so I’m stepping in to be neighborly,” Vera said cheerily. “Also, there’s only so much strip bingo you can take.”
Oof.
“How can I help you?”
“Never mind, I’ll just buy a dress online.”
“You need a dress?” Vera exclaimed. “Say no more. You can call me your fairy god-neighbor. I love a party, and I have a ton of dresses you can borrow. My boobs aren’t as nice as yours, but I’ll bring over some options.”
