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“You’d let him suck on your toes?”
“When you put it like that, you make me hesitate, but honestly, I wouldn’t say no if I liked him.” I shrug as she gets up and heads toward me, a concerned look on her face. Elisabetta has been my best friend for ten years. We met on the first day of high school and she allowed me to move in with her after we graduated from college. “Don’t judge me,” I furrow my eyebrows as she makes a face. “It’s not like I’m saying he can lick my ass.” I pause and make a wicked face. “The only man I’d make lick and kiss my ass is Kingston Chase, my boss at the law firm. He’s such a jerk.”
“If he’s such a jerk you should quit.” She grins as she wrinkles her nose. “Or maybe you want him to kiss your ass...didn’t you say he’s cute?” She pulls her hair up and wraps it in a loose bun. “What am I supposed to do tonight?”
“No, he’s not cute,” I lie. “You can see if Carrie is available to hang out.” Carrie is another one of our best friends from college. She works as a gopher on a TV show, so is rarely available, but is always fun to hang out with.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll text her,” Elisabetta says reluctantly. “What good is it that I live with my best friend and yet I never see her?”
“You see me, bitch.” I giggle as I grab my handbag and lipgloss. “I just can’t hang out all the time.”
“I can ask my dad if he’s willing to support you as well,” she says, only half-joking. “I bet he’d say okay.”
“Seeing as I’ve never met your dad, I’m going to have to say no.” I shake my head. “But thanks for the offer.” I’ve often wondered why Elisabetta’s dad is never around, but all she says is that he’s very busy with his many businesses. Her mom died when she was young and since then, he’s thrown himself into his work; which may or may not be above board. She said she thinks he’s part of the mafia, but he’s never confirmed any of his dealings to her. Her three spinster aunts Lucia, Gabriella, and Evelina raised her with her stepbrother, Romeo, who she keeps saying she wants to hook me up with.
“You will meet him this summer.” She grins. “At my princess ball.”
“I still can’t believe you’re going through with that.” I shake my head as she twirls around my room, then grabs my hand in an attempt to get me to dance with her. “You’re really going to get engaged to some random man?”
“If I like him enough.” She nods. “There will be at least fifty men there, all vying for my hand.” She spins me around. “You should do it with me. It will be so much fun.”
“No one is coming to a princess ball to get engaged to me.” I laugh loudly. “I have nothing to offer except a hundred and fifty grand in student loan debt.” I groan as I think about the latest statement I’d received. I’ve been paying on it each month, but the balance never seems to go down. “Speaking of debt, I have to go now or I’ll be late for work and then Fabricio will go off on me again and I’ll have to throw a jug of water on his pompous head and then I’ll end up on the news.”
"I'd pay to see that," Elisabetta says as she stops dancing. "He sounds like an asshole."
"That's because he is an asshole," I say, thinking of Fabricio, the greasy manager that loves to treat me like I'm his personal servant and not just a server at the restaurant. I can't stand the man, but the tips are pretty good. However, I've been having conflicted feelings about working there since I found out the items listed on the menu are not accurate. "Anyway, we can bitch about him later when I get back from work. Maybe we can watch a movie or something." I lean over and give her a quick hug. "Have a fun evening."
"I'll try." She follows me out of the room and grabs her phone. "Maybe Carrie wants to grab dinner or something." Her voice trails off in a sad fashion and I watch as she walks across the white oak hardwood floor and drops onto the large white sectional that sits in the middle of our living room.
I love our apartment. It's beautifully furnished and looks like it came out of the pages of a magazine. Elisabetta's dad had given her a credit card with an unlimited credit line to get whatever she wanted and she and I had picked out the best of everything. She grabs the pink silk-covered throw cushion and flings it at me. "I'll miss you, goof."
"Not as much as I'll miss you, Lady Elisabetta." I curtsy and she laughs. "You want to come with me to the center tomorrow?"
"What time again?" She wrinkles her nose and I already know her answer.
"Eight AM." I give her a look. "That's when older people have time."
I grin at her as I explain to her, once again, why I go to the Let's All Read Literacy Center so early on a Saturday morning. My biggest joy in life comes from volunteering to help adults learn to read and write. It helps me to feel like a productive member of society and that I didn't waste $150,000 on student loans for nothing. "I promise you will feel rewarded if you come."
"Maybe…" She makes a face and I would bet my last dollar that she's not going to make it out in the morning. "I'll meet you for brunch afterwards though."
"I'm meeting Camden for brunch," I remind her. "Then we're going to a museum."
"Seems like a lot for a first date," she says nonchalantly. "But I'm sure it will be fun."
"I hope so. I need a good date." I head toward the front door. "What about you? Not calling Bobby back?" Bobby’s the man she's been seeing on and off for the last six months. She can’t stand him, says he has the personality of a washrag, but supposedly he has a long tongue that knows its way around her body so she sees him every couple of weeks when she’s feeling horny.
"I'm not calling him for a week." She winks at me as she holds her phone up. "Bobby has to know that this hot mama is not interested in his games." She leans back onto the couch and shakes her legs back and forth in the air. "He has no idea who he's messing around with. Elisabetta Franco is nobody’s plaything."
"You tell 'em." I grin as I open the door. "Have a fun night. Tell Carrie I said hi if you see her. Invite her to Sunday. My law firm friends Lila and Juniper are going to join, as well as Marie, Lila’s quasi-sister-in-law."
I head out the door and toward the elevator quickly. I have twenty minutes to get to work or I'm going to be late. And Fabricio hates it when employees are late. I don't have time to take the subway or a bus, so I'll have to grab a cab, which is not ideal. I enter the elevator and check my phone. I have three missed calls from my mom in Florida, who's most probably scared I've been mugged or kidnapped for ransom. I know that I will have to call her as soon as I step out of the elevator.
Chapter Two
Kingston
"I'm sorry, Mom, but I just do not have time to go on a family trip to France. I don't care if Dad can score tickets to the Olympics or not." The silence on the end of the line is deafening. Danica Chase does not like being told no. Not by my dad, not by my brothers, and certainly not by me, the "baby" of the family.
