Page 9 of Mr. B

“It’s not gossip, man. You’re not happy. That concerns us all.”

“I’m fine.”

“You left work early, and you’re drinking a beer at four o’clock in the afternoon.”

Wes picked up the beer and took a sip. “I’ve seen you drink a lot earlier than this.”

“Well, yeah. That’s me.”

Wes sighed. “I can deal with working with Cassandra.”

“Okay.” He motioned toward the door. “How about seeing her out of work?”

Wes looked over his shoulder. “Are you kidding me?”

Abe grinned. “Maybe she won’t see you. I’ll go distract her.”

Wes fought the urge to glance over his shoulder again to see what Abe was doing. When Maggie arrived with his pizza, she smiled. “So, who is this beautiful woman Abe is trying to keep away from you?”

“She’s still here?”

“Waiting for a pizza to take home.”

“She hasn’t seen me yet, so maybe I’m safe.”

Maggie looked toward the counter. “Um…”

“Damn.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe I drew her attention.”

“It’s not you. She has her ‘let’s ruin Wes’ day’ radar going.”

“Here she comes.” Maggie took a few steps back from the table. “I’ll just go.”

Cassandra nodded at Maggie as she passed her, then sat down in the booth across from Wes “Hi.” She raised an eyebrow at the beer. “Rough day?”

“Please just let me eat my pizza in peace.”

She looked at him for a moment, then got to her feet. “Sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow at work. But I will try to stay out of your way as much as possible.” She started to walk away.

“Cassandra.”

She stopped and turned back to him. “Yes.”

“I just need to get used to the situation. I’ll get better at this.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know that buried under all the hurt feelings is the sweet guy I used to know.”

“Hmm. Do you really still have that poster?”

“Of course. You somehow sweet-talked your way backstage, talked to every band there, and got them to sign it for me. It was one of our last…” He nodded, and she smiled. “Have a good night, Weston.”

“You know, nobody calls me Weston except my mom when she’s trying to make a point.”