Of course, it’s not him. There’s probably a big case or a tight, twenty-something pussy that needs his attention.
“It’s Reed,” she says, her eyes scanning the text message.
“Jade, give it to me.” I reach forward, able to pull her back by the sleeve of her jammies. She falls into my lap and I grab the phone out of her grasp. “You’re not allowed to read my texts.”
She giggles and squirms until she’s sitting next to me. Leaning over the side of the couch, she tries to whisper to my mom. “He got tickets to a movie.”
“Oh really?” my mom asks, and I don’t dignify either one of them with an annoyed look.
Reed: I mistakenly bought 4 tickets instead of 2 for the Imax this Saturday.
Me: Sucks to be you.
Reed: Henry misses Jade.
Me: He’ll see her tomorrow.
Reed: I miss you?
Reed: Too soon?
Reed: Yeah, too soon. Thought so.
Me: You saw me two days ago.
Reed: Come on. Are you really going to make me beg here?
Me: We went over this on Monday.
Reed: I’m not asking for a date. It’s a playdate for the kids. Yoga pants optional.
I laugh and glance up to see Jade and my mom staring at me.
“Are we going?” Jade asks, trying to peek over my shoulder.
“I have school work.”
My phone buzzes in my hand and I look down again.
Reed: We don’t have to sit next to each other.
Reed: I’ll let you pay.
Me: In that case...
“Please, Mom,” Jade begs next to me.
“One movie isn’t going to hurt,” my mom says while Jade looks on, pleading with her hands in a prayer pose in front of her.
Reed: I guess I’ll find someone else. Maybe Darcie’s available.
Me: Not going to work.
Reed: It was worth a try though.
Me: You’re very persistent.
Reed: My persistence got you to work on time with the best platter of danishes in the city.
He has a point but giving me a ride to work and going on a date with him are two different things.
Me: Fine. We’ll go. As a PLAYDATE. And only if I pay for lunch.
Reed: You sure you aren’t the lawyer?
The reminder of him being a lawyer makes my stomach clench.
Me: We’ll meet you at Navy Pier.
Reed: I’ll let you have that one. Movie starts at eleven thirty.
Me: See you then.
Reed: Not if I see you first.
He better not have anything else planned. I rest my phone on the seat cushion next to me.
“Are we going?” Jade asks.
I nod.
“YAY!” She jumps around the room.
“Time for bed. Say goodnight to Grandma,” I say, rising from the couch.
My mom looks at me over Jade’s shoulder, and her expression reminds me of when I graduated high school. The pride there pierces my heart because I know it’s undeserved. Even if I agreed to see Reed on the weekend, I can’t do what she wants me to do. I can’t open my still-withered heart to Reed.
Chapter Ten
“How’s the steak?” Chelsea throws herself down into the seat in front of me.
“Stop it with the steak analogy. I’m trying to imagine him more like liver.” I finish typing an email to the company doing our favors for the gala and give her my attention.
“Maybe just gouge your eyes out so you don’t have to see him anymore?”
“I’ll have to try that. Thanks for the suggestion.” I dismiss her by looking back at my computer screen.
“Jeez, I was about to tell you about a date I went on last night.”
Now she has my attention.
“Mid-week?” She nods, and I wonder what kind of guy was worth her time during the week. Chelsea is fanatical about her schedule during the week. Every day after work, she goes to work out, heads home, makes dinner and then binge watches Netflix while she probably color codes her panty drawer.
“Yeah, but sadly I totally missed the signs.” She digs into her bag and retrieves her phone, pulling up a picture and shoving the phone in my face. “Check out his profile.”
“Whoa. Talk about steak dinner. He’s aged to perfection.”
“Yeah and he’s a model.”
“Jeez, Chels, a model?” I enlarge the picture. “His abs look like they were drawn on.” I take in the fine specimen for another second. “Don’t you find it weird that he’s not wearing a shirt?”
She grabs the phone from my clasp. “He was supposed to be on a beach.”
“Still, why would you choose that picture?”
“Vic, the lack of shirt isn’t the problem.”
I wait for her to fill me in.
“It’s the fact that when I showed up at the restaurant, this was him.” She shoves the phone back in my face where a picture of an average looking guy is on the screen, not nearly as well groomed as the previous man. I’m thankful that he’s chosen to wear a shirt to cover up his beer gut.
I purse my lips to try to stop my smile that’s tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Oh, man.”
“Yeah. He told me he thought I knew the picture was a joke because the guy is some famous model.”
“Who?”
“I Google image searched the picture and it’s a model for a sunscreen company. It’s not like we’re talking Gandy or Tyson here. How was I supposed to know?” She stares at the photo again.
“How did you handle it?” I cringe, wondering how harsh Chelsea got.
“At first, I just left, but once I got outside, I composed myself and decided that after I went to all the trouble of getting ready and taking a cab there, this guy is going to pay for me to eat at Alinea.”
“Alinea says something positive about him, don’t you think?” You’re not getting out of there for less than a few hundred dollars a plate.
She nods. “I guess. He might not have washboard abs, but he can swim in a pool of hundreds.”
“So?”
“So, nothing.” She shrugs. “He was a nice guy. Polite, listened to me ramble on about my cousin’s upcoming wedding. I even broke the cardinal rule and talked about my ex. Which was probably good because he didn’t even try to kiss me after.” She looks as confused as she sounds. “It was a weird night but I’m thinking that’s what I need.”
“To catfish someone?” I chuckle.
“No! I need to date only nice guys. Exclusively nice guys who aren’t all about themselves and how much pussy they can get.”
“You’re going to narrow it down to one flavor?”
“Yes, vanilla. But there are still variations within vanilla. You can have homemade vanilla, natural vanilla, French vanilla, vanilla bean...”
I smile while she tucks her phone back into her purse. “Don’t. You know me. I’ll probably go on two vanilla dates before I crave that chocolate covered ganache bad boy again.” She stands up. “Come on. Hannah said the car is pulling up in a few minutes.”
Just then the office phone chimes and I recognize Hannah’s cell.