Janet Lee Nye - Boss Meets Her Match

“Damn, Mom. You can lay one hell of a guilt trip.”

“Don’t curse. It isn’t ladylike. And I’m Catholic—we’ve cornered the market on guilt. May I give him your phone number?”

Slouching down into the corner of the couch, Lena sighed. So, she’d go on a date. Give him a chance. Then maybe they’d leave her alone. She could say she tried. “Okay.”

Hanging up, she looked up at the ceiling.

Sass jumped back up on the couch and stared at her. “What do you think, Sass? Eduardo?”

Sass responded by lifting her leg and licking her privates. Lena took a huge bite of pizza. “Now, that,” she said with her mouth full, “is unladylike.”

* * *

THE MELLOW MUSHROOM restaurant in Avondale seemed extra noisy. Lena frowned and scanned the restaurant for Sadie. Spotting a hand waving in the air, she headed in that direction.

“It’s so loud in here tonight,” she said.

Sadie gestured at the wineglass on the table. “That’s for you.”

“Thank you.”

“What’s going on?” Sadie asked, lifting her own glass.

“Not much. The usual.”

“No. I mean—” Sadie waved a hand in Lena’s face “—what’s going on with this face?”

“What’s wrong with my face?”

“You look like you’d like to kick a puppy.”

Lena scowled. Sometimes having a best friend wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Especially when said best friend was all chirpy happy and sleeping with a gorgeous hunk of man every night. The scowl deepened when Sadie laughed. Loudly.

“Stop it.” Sadie gasped. “Now you look like you want to stab a nun.”

The waitress appeared and Lena gave her order without looking at the menu. Pizza twice in one week. She’d definitely have to do some running this weekend. She sipped wine and tried to relax her face while Sadie ordered.

“So, what’s going on?”

Lena made another face. “My mother. That’s what’s going on. She made me agree to go on a date with some random dude my aunt Estrella dragged to the house last weekend.”

“Pooh! A date. Tell me more.”

She told Sadie about the date, that there was no spark.

“What else?” Sadie asked in a leading tone.

“I lost a client. He’s moving overseas. Sort of bummed about it.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. Do you have another client waiting?”

Lena looked down at her drink. Matt’s smile and appraising blue eyes came to mind. She felt a little rush of heat. “Yeah. But I don’t know. I may give him to Mose to be her first client.”

“Whoa! Whoa! Stop the planet. What did you just say? You? OCD queen? Are going to turn over a new client?”

Lena shrugged and Sadie leaned in close to stare into her eyes. “Stop staring at me.”

“What’s up with Mr. New Client?”

“Nothing.”

“Lena. You are practically blushing. Tell me. I’m your best friend. You are required by law to tell me the details of your life.”

Their pizzas arrived and Lena took a few bites, ignoring Sadie as hard as she could. Sadie grinned at her from behind her wineglass. “Sass barfed up a hairball the size of my fist on the bathroom rug and I accidentally stepped in it.”

“Gross. Lena, I’m trying to eat here.”

“You said I had to tell you all the details of my life.”

“Point. Revision—tell me all about this new client you don’t want to take on.”

“Trust-fund frat boy.”

Sadie made a face. “Ugh. Yeah. Give him to Mose.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Sadie’s instant agreement helped. She was attracted to him simply based on his looks and that bad boy vibe he gave off. But she was over that. She was almost thirty years old and she didn’t have time to play. Serious applicants only. She let out a long sigh. “Eduardo it is.”

“Ha-ha. Mr. Dream Nerd.”

“Knock it off, okay? It’s bad enough I have to go out with him. Ugh. My life sucks. And why are they so loud up there?”

“It’s a restaurant, Lena, not a library.”

The waitress stopped by to refill their water glasses.

Lena pointed at the upper level. “What’s going on up there? They are so loud.”

“A wedding party,” the waitress replied with a smile.

“Aww,” Sadie cooed. “A wedding party.”

“Who has a wedding party at a pizza joint?”

“Indeed,” Sadie said, looking up at the waitress. “Do you know the happy couple?”

The waitress nodded. “Kim and Ben.”

Sadie pushed back her chair and, grabbing her glass of wine, stood. “Hey,” she yelled. She lifted the glass toward the party above. “To Kim and Ben. May all your ever-afters be happy!”

“Seriously?” Lena asked as Sadie sat back down. “Am I going to get all chirpy and goo-gooey if I fall in love?”

“Yes. Yes, you are. And you’ll stop being a grumpy muffin.”

“Grumpy muffin? Oh geez. Next thing I know, you’ll be cutting my food for me.”

“Go out with Eduardo. Maybe you won’t want to stab him in the face. Give him a chance. What’s the worst that can happen?”

Lena shoved a bite of pizza into her mouth to stop the ready retort. She loved Sadie like a sister, but that woman had been on maybe two dates in her life. Wyatt fell out of the sky into her lap. What’s the worst that could happen? “Chad.”

Sadie coughed as she choked on a sip of wine. “Chad. The serial killer! I forgot about him.”

“He wasn’t really a serial killer,” Lena said. “Just creepy.”

“The one who wanted to take all those pictures of you.”

“Dios mío. Remember all the messages he left me once I told him to shove off?”

Sadie leaned forward. “Lena,” she said, imitating a deep male voice, “You’re my soul mate. You and I were written in the stars. You can’t deny fate.”

A shudder ran through Lena’s body. “Stop doing that. You sound just like him. What a pervert.”

Sadie sat back. “Wonder what ever happened to him?” She pulled out her phone. “Want to look him up on the sex offenders list?”

“No!”

“Want to look up Eduardo?”

“No.”

“You sure? I can have Wyatt check him out.”

“And y’all wonder why I don’t want you poking your noses in my love life.”

“You have no love life, Lena. You do nothing but work, go home, order delivery and watch Netflix. If you didn’t meet me for dinner every Wednesday, you’d have no social life either.”

Glancing around for their waitress, Lena held up her wineglass. That hit a little too close to home. Problem with having a best friend is they told you the ugly truth about yourself.

“I know. I’m in a rut.”

“You’re in the Grand Canyon, sister girl.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Tell me one thing you did this week that wasn’t family or work related.”

“I went for a run every other day.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“What do you want me to do? Cook for myself? Get on one of those stupid ass dating sites? Volunteer at some charity? Build a house for Habitat for Humanity?”

Sadie’s teasing smirk faded as she reached out and took Lena’s hands in hers. “I’m not trying to be mean, Lena. I’m sorry. I have no room to talk here. Before Wyatt—”

“Fell into your lap.”

“True. I was in that same rut. Work. Sleep. Work. It’s just that I want you to be happy. And I don’t know how to help you.”

She tightened her fingers against Sadie’s. “You help by being my friend. By kicking my butt when I get whiny.”

“Or pull the princess routine.”

“I’m going to be okay, Sadie. I think I’m at a crossroad. I’ve achieved all the goals I set for myself. Just need to set some new ones.”

“Like telling me about this new client.”