I had no one to blame but myself… and maybe Jade.
Nate and I stood just inside the door, taking in the time warp we seemed to have stepped through. Except for a man on his cell phone and a little boy watching cartoons on a handheld smart pad, there was no indication we were still in modern times.
A much-too-peppy redhead, who could’ve been anywhere between the ages of twenty and forty, greeted us at the door. “Hey, folks. Table for two?”
“Yes, please.” After giving me a once-over, she then eye-fucked my guy with a salacious smile and walked us to a small booth against the windows.
Wait, “my guy”?
I pushed that label out of my head as she dropped two laminated menus on the table, her attention focused on Nate. “Our specialty is a fried mac-and-cheese breakfast burrito.”
“Sounds like a heart attack,” Nate said with his trademark smirk.
She placed both hands on the worn burgundy Formica and leaned just close enough to him to introduce him to her boobs. “Oh, it’s so yummy. But everything on the menu is. Harry is a master with the grill.” The corners of her lips quirked up as she straightened, and I truly wanted to ram my fork through her hand. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”
“Thanks…” His eyes drifted to her left breast before he added, “Tessi.”
“My pleasure.”
I refrained from groaning out loud.
“You’re quiet,” he then said to me while his gaze raked over the menu.
“Just tired. Hungover.”
“Me too. We need grease.” I had barely scanned the choices before he raised a hand and called Hussi, I mean Tessi, back over.
“Are you ready to order?”
“Yep. We’ll have two cheeseburgers with the works, fries, and a gallon of coffee.” A small part of me was annoyed he’d decided and ordered for me… but a bigger part loved it.
“Cheeseburgers?” I asked. “It’s nine a.m.”
“Yep… for a hangover, the greasier the better.” He glanced up at the redhead and winked. “Got it all?”
“Yep.” She nodded while still writing it all down, looked up with a smile, and batted her eyelashes at him. “I’ll get that coffee out to you ASAP.”
When she walked away, looking over her shoulder at him while he stared at me, I clenched my fist to stop from flipping her the bird.
“Did you have fun, Jersey?” The question was innocent enough, but the doubt in his eyes tugged on my heartstrings.
“I did. I haven’t laughed that much in ages.” I wanted to add that it’d been ages since a man had done something so thoughtful for me. I wanted so badly to accuse him of being a farce, because there was no way someone who claimed to be so anti-relationship would be that good at having a relationship. I wanted to lay it all out and admit my feelings for him scared me. I did none of that.
Oblivious to my inner thoughts, he fiddled with a fork and said, “Yeah, well… roughing it is hard. Next time we’ll rent a camper.”
“Next time?”
“Yeah. I need more than”—he stopped to count on his fingers—“fifteen hours to know if I like camping or not.” Either he’d missed the intention in my question, or he’d dismissed it.
But before I could marinate on that admission, my phone began buzzing in my bag. I pulled it out to see Janis’s name on the screen. “I should get this. She’s been trying to reach me all night.”
He waved a hand. “Go ahead.”
“Hi, Janis.”
“Are we on for lunch or what?”
“Lunch?”
“Yes… lunch, Amy. I emailed you.”
Tessi came to the table and poured us each a mug of coffee. Completely ignoring the fact that I was on the phone, she asked Nate, “So where are you from? I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“Sorry, Tessi,” he said in a low rumble. “My girl is on an important call.” When Nate pointed a finger at me, the bitch nodded with a toothless grin and walked off.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t even enjoy his claim when Janis barked in my ear, “Where are you?”
I so badly wanted to snap, None of your damn business. “A diner.”
“Okay, well, can you meet me at twelve thirty?”
Even though getting back by then wasn’t an issue, I still refused. “No, I can’t make lunch today. I’m sorry.”
“So you didn’t see the email?” she persisted.
“No, Janis, I didn’t have cell reception last night and only saw your texts to call me a few minutes ago.”
Sensing my irritation, in true Janis fashion, she turned it around on me. “Well, when you’re ready to discuss your future, then let me know.”
My blood began to boil, and the look on my face had Nate frowning. What nerve. I always tried to be understanding regarding what she’d been going through in her personal life, but screw that. She’d been ignoring me for weeks, and because it was convenient for her, I needed to drop everything and run?
Not wanting to stew until I was able to get to her office tomorrow, I asked through gritted teeth, “Can you just tell me what you planned to over the phone?”
She inhaled dramatically. “Runnel is a hard no.” No buildup, no sensitivity.
I literally felt the blood draining from my face. “Why?” I whispered.
“Not the right fit… I guess. Who knows? Could be anything that turned them off.” Instantly, that one comment pricked my suspicions. Turned them off? What the hell did that mean?
The silence that followed on her end was canceled out by the pounding in my ears. “In hindsight, I’m not sure streaming is the right course for your books,” she went on to casually say. “Maybe we need to change tactics, write something new for them to consider down the road.” But before I could say, There was no way in hell that would happen, she added, “Anyway… now that you know, there’s no rush to meet. Let’s aim for lunch on Thursday at our usual place so we can discuss the next step.” There wasn’t a shred of empathy, and the line went dead well before I lowered my phone and robotically placed it on the table.
One by one, questions sprung into my thoughts, and come Thursday, I would make Janis answer every one of them.
“What’s wrong?” Nate asked. I debated on telling him but couldn’t shake the hunch nagging me that this had to do with his dick of a client. Richard had been spiteful and vindictive since day one.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Nate said as I simultaneously replied, “Runnel is passing.”
“Fuck them.” The clench in his jaw took me by surprise, as did his hand reaching for mine. “There are plenty of other options.”
If my hunch was true, that would put Nate between a rock and a hard place. Yet another reason, in a long list of them, that I should’ve broken our arrangement when I discovered he was involved with the Steiners.
Still, I needed to give him the benefit of the doubt until I spoke to Janis.
Tessi appeared with our burgers, placing them down with a smug grin. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked Nate directly.
“No, we’re good. Thanks.” No sooner had she moved on to another table than I pushed my plate away. While reaching for the ketchup, he stared at me. “Jersey, eat.”