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“We look like two young women who had a fun night last night.” She sips from her coffee cup. “Only you had a lot better time than I did.”
“Maybe.” I groan. “Anyway, I want to forget all about it. Hopefully, I will not see Colton again for the next ten years.”
“Isn’t he going home with you to Florida this year?” she reminds me as if the thought is not in the back of my mind.
“He’s not going home with me,” I say quickly. “My parents invited him because he’s Sam’s best friend and he has nowhere else to go now that his parents live in Europe.” I sigh. “It would have been nice if they’d asked me if I minded.”
“Well, they didn’t,” she points out matter-of-factly. “So you know you’re going to see Mr. Lover Lover in—”
“Do not call him that.” I close the menu and wait for the server to come and take our order. “I’m half wondering if someone didn’t put a spell on me when I got to the firm yesterday.”
“He dickmatized you.”
“Well, I didn’t have his dick until we left.”
“Girl, I saw the way you were dancing with him. That man was grinding.”
“Don’t remind me.” I blush. “I need to stop thinking about this.” I’m about to start complaining about my poor judgment when my phone starts ringing. I look at the screen and see that it’s Danny, a father I sometimes babysit for. His daughter, Frannie, is seven, and I’ve been taking care of her on and off for the last four years. Danny is a single father, his ex moved to Vegas to be with a male stripper she met and fell in love with at a bachelorette party. “It’s Danny,” I say as I answer the phone. “Hello, is everything okay?”
“Ella, good morning.” Danny’s voice is a bit nasal, and he sounds stressed. “I don’t suppose you can come and look after Frannie this morning for a few hours?”
“I think so,” I say. “I’m just having breakfast with Isabel right now, but when I’m done, I can come over.”
“Perfect.” He sounds relieved. “I have to go to Westchester to drop off some plants for a customer.” He sighs. “She’s spent a lot of money with me this year, and even though I don’t normally offer delivery, she can’t get to the city,” he explains. Danny owns an exotic plant store that specializes in finding unique and expensive plants for rich customers across the state.
“No worries. I’ll be there in about an hour.”
“Perfect. Thanks so much, Ella. I don’t know what we would do without you.” He sounds much calmer now. “I will tell Frannie now. She will be so excited to see you.”
“Well, like I said, I lost my job last week, so I have more free time if you need me,” I say, letting him know I’m available to babysit whenever he needs me, as I need as much money as I can get right now. I live in a studio apartment, but the rent is still quite high, and I don’t have much money in my bank account.
“Thanks, Ella. See you soon.” He hangs up, and I can see that Isabel is grinning as I put the phone down on the table.
“What is it?” I ask her.
“I thought you got a new job with Colton?”
“That’s not real.” I wrinkle my nose and shudder. “I just said that so Sam didn’t realize I’d just banged his best friend. There’s no way Colton would ever want to hire me again, and there’s no way I would ever want to work for him again after last time.”
“We’ll see.” There’s a knowing look on Isabel’s face, and I’m not even going to ask her what she’s thinking. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to talk about Colton anymore. I just want to shower. And think about what happened in the comfort of my own space. I sigh as I realize I have to go over to Danny’s first. I don’t have time to go home and change. I am going to have to do another walk of shame. When Sam invited me to his work party, all I hoped for was to win a gift card or a bracelet from Tiffany’s. I didn’t expect to have a one-night stand with my nemesis and nearly get caught by my brother.
5
“Frannie, do you want a snack?” I ask as I open the fridge and look at the various contents inside. Danny hasn’t exactly outdone himself with the grocery shopping, and there aren’t many options. I know that neither one of us wants to eat moldy grapes or wilted spinach. “Or are you ready for dinner?”
“Chocolate chip cookies?” she asks hopefully, and I hide a smile. She reminds me of myself when I was a child. If I’m honest, I am still a woman who has questionable tastes in eating habits. I am the sort of woman who will always eat dessert before my main meal. I like my sweets. My self-control is not always where it should be. Maybe that is why I made such a big mistake with Colton. Not that I want to think about that. Especially not while I am babysitting.
“No cookies.” I laugh as I pull out a cucumber and some baby carrots. “How about some yummy—”
“Those aren’t yummy.” She walks up behind me and shakes her head. Her two pigtails shake from side to side. “I want cookies.”
“We can have cookies after dinner,” I say, wondering at what age kids realize that tantrums rarely work to their advantage. I wonder if I pull a tantrum on Colton if he will continue being a jackass to me. “Are you hungry? We can make burgers and a nice big salad, and then we can play a game.” I open the freezer to take out the frozen burger patties. I know Danny always has burgers. If he has to choose another career, I won’t be shocked if he chooses to be the Hamburglar.
“Can I see your phone?” Frannie asks, holding her small hand out. “I wanna playMinecraft.”
“Oh, honey, I don’t have that on my phone.” My words sound wonky as I hastily pick my phone up from the countertop. I’ve just spent the last fifteen minutes scrolling on Instagram and staring at photos of my friends in Florida, who all seem to be living the most glamorous lives ever. The last photo I was looking at was of two of my high school frenemies, Mercedes and Pauline; they were wearing skinny bikinis on South Beach and posing with their rich husbands while drinking frozen margaritas. I’d commented, “Lucky bitches,” on the photo with a laughing emoji to show I was joking. I don’t want Frannie to see that. I don’t need her asking her dad what a bitch is.
Looking at the photos made me feel a little bit sad about the trajectory of my own life. I don’t like to compare my life to others, but staring at their photos does make me feel like a bit of a loser.
