18. Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The present
“You look like hell,” Andrea told Paige on Monday morning, on the first day back after the ‘incident’ at Bender’s.
Paige sighed; God, she hated Andrea. “I know. Thanks.”
Paige had done the best she could, but trying to make hammered shit look good was almost impossible. And even though it felt like all she did was sleep for the past ten days, she still looked like she hadn’t slept in a month. Plus, she was still foggy and every once in a while, felt dizzy.
Andrea’s eyebrows drew together. “Should I have lied and said you looked good?”
“Well, you could’ve just not said anything, one way or the other.”
“But then you’d have thought it odd that I was ignoring how bad you look.”
“Actually, I would’ve really appreciated that.”
“Well, unfortunately, I’ve never been able to ignore things that are blatantly obvious. You seriously don’t look well. Should you even be here? Because I don’t want to catch whatever you have—”
“I have a concussion. You’re not going to catch it.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Didn’t Linda tell you?”
“She just said you were out for the week, like you were on vacation or something.”
“I definitely wasn’t on vacation,” Paige said, suddenly worried that Linda might’ve used vacation days for Paige’s days off, instead of medical leave, and made a note to check on that. “So, how did everything go in my absence?”
“Well, let’s just say that Linda signed off on a lot of overtime … and bitched constantly about you being gone.”
Paige made a face.
“How did you get a concussion?” Andrea asked.
Paige gave Andrea the bare bones version of how her date had gone down faster than the Titanic, skipping the part where she spent the night in the hospital with her ex-husband.
“Are you going to see Hale again?”
“No.”
Andrea held out her hand. “Give me your phone. Actually, log into your Bumble account first and then give me your phone.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m going to be your wingman and find you a guy.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Can you make sure he’s single this time?”
“Are you ever going to let that go? It was an honest mistake.”
“I’m still calling bullshit on that.”
“I swear I didn’t know the linen distributor was married.” Then, with an impatient shake of her extended hand, Andrea demanded again, “Give me your phone.”
More amused than anything, Paige logged into her Bumble account and then handed the phone over. Once Andrea had it, she started looking through the male merchandise. Paige sat back and watched her, not caring that they both had work to do, especially since Linda wouldn’t be showing up for at least a few hours. Andrea’s expression stayed mostly neutral with concentration, as she swiped left repeatedly for what seemed like ten minutes before she finally stopped.
“This one,” Andrea said with satisfaction. “He has a normal name. And he works during the day so you could see him on your nights off, which is important when dating someone. And he’s really hot. Like Ed Sheeran, hot.”
Paige blinked at her assistant, struck dumb for a second as she processed that surprising statement. “Let me see this guy.”
Andrea tilted the phone in Paige’s direction so she could look at his picture.
Paige frowned at the attractive man with brown hair and blue eyes. “He actually is hot,” she mused, which led her to be even more confused about the Ed Sheeran reference.
“I told you he was.”
“What you said was that he was ‘Ed Sheeran hot’. I thought you were being ironic.”
“Ironic?”
“About Ed Sheeran being hot.”
It was Andrea’s turn to frown. “Are you saying you don’t think Ed Sheeran’s hot?”
“Andrea, I don’t even like his music,” Paige said, then looked back at the guy’s details only to quickly shake her head. “No can do on this one. I’m not going out with anyone named David.”
“No? Why not? Look at this guy. He’s perfect for you.”
“‘Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full’,” Paige replied, coming up with the perfect quote, astonishing herself. If she thought she wouldn’t barf, she’d have jumped up and down at the accomplishment.
Andrea looked blank. “Ghost Rider? What’s that?”
“It’s from Top Gun.”
“I’ve never seen Top Gun. Is it like some old war movie?”
“No, it’s not an old war movie. It’s from the eighties. Tom Cruise is in it.”
Andrea was clearly unimpressed. “So, what does ‘Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full’, mean?”
“It means ‘no Davids’.”
“Even if they’re as hot as Ed Sheeran?”
Paige almost chuckled at that. God, she loved Andrea.
Leaning over, Paige swiped left. “Even if they’re hotter than Ed Sheeran.”