Chapter Five
“A Wednesday night date?” Massima asked with raised eyebrows.
“Eh… Kind of,” Piper said as she checked her bag and pulled on her coat.
“How do you kind of have a date?”
Piper sighed. “It’s less of a date and more of my colleagues having no sense of boundaries.”
“Explain.”
“Claire in sales is having a dinner party and insisted on a bunch of us attending.”
Massima twisted so she was kneeling on the couch, hugging a cushion to herself, and looking at Piper with a confused expression. “That doesn’t sound like a date. Isn’t Claire married?”
Piper laughed in surprise. “It’s not a date with Claire. It’s that, from the office, she only invited those of us of a certain age who are still single. She has a whole thing that dating and being free is fine for a little while, but, once you reach a certain age and a certain place in your career, you should be married.”
“Sounds weird to me.”
“Me too. But, believe me, if I didn’t attend, I’d never hear the end of it and I’d get no work done for the next week.”
Massima frowned. “You need a new job.”
“I like the one I have.”
Piper had worked hard to get into marketing, and even harder to get into advertising at a music distribution company. The competition, understandably, had been fierce, and she had no interest in being scared away by Claire.
“Well, you need a new colleague, then,” Massima said, flashing her a wide-eyed glance.
“That… I’m not going to argue.”
“And, to make matters worse,” Massima said pointedly, “you’re missing out on Giorgio’s pizza.”
Piper groaned as she wrapped a cream and brown blanket scarf around her neck. “Are you serious?”
“Deadly. Hermes is bringing it over and we’re going to binge-watch SVU . So, you know, if you want to cancel…”
“Wanting to and being able to are not the same thing.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, checking the time.
A new message was waiting for her. She assumed it was Claire, checking whether she’d left yet. However, when she unlocked her phone and checked the message, she was delighted to find it was from August, wishing her well for tonight. August, it turned out, had plenty of experience with her colleagues trying to set up the singles in the office.
Piper grinned and shot back a quick reply. Over the last few weeks since they’d met, they’d been in almost constant contact, even when neither of them had a date. It was nice. Piper found herself smiling at their messages a lot.
“What’s that face?” Massima asked.
Piper looked up as she slid her phone back into her pocket. “What face?”
“That one,” Massima said, watching her with narrowed eyes. “The smile. Is it your new friend?”
“No. I’m simply thinking about how far gone on Olivia Benson you’re going to be when I get back.”
“I don’t believe you, but I don’t care because you’re right. Text August for all I care. Tonight is about delicious pizza and Detective Benson.”
Piper laughed. “Ask Hermes to bring me an extra pizza? I guarantee I won’t be relaxed enough to eat properly at Claire’s.”
“Sure. But it’ll be cold.”
“I don’t care. Giorgio’s pizza is good regardless of temperature.”
“I don’t know. I think it would be pretty bad frozen.”
“Thank you, Massima,” Piper said, shaking her head. “I’m going now. See you later.”
“Have fun. We’ll try not to miss you too much.”
“Somehow, I think you’ll manage.”
“We will, but it’s still nice to be nice.”
“Pretty sure I read that on a glass somewhere,” Piper called as she headed out the door. It was a reference to a glass one of their friends had brought them back from a trip to Minnesota. The state outline and the phrase were printed on it. Neither of them had ever really figured out why that was the gift they’d been given.
Outside, the evening was already dark and freezing cold, but Piper’s ride was on time, so she only had to wait on the icy sidewalk for a minute before the blue sedan pulled up and she clambered into its warm interior.
In the car at the minute. If I don’t text back, it’s a blue Volvo. Driver’s name is Ted. She typed and sent the message to August without really feeling at risk, but it was good practice and they both knew it.
Does Ted seem questionable? August replied almost immediately.
Not especially. Seems like a regular guy, just doing his job. Picture of his kid? Grandkid? Not sure, but they’re hanging from the mirror.
Cute. I’m glad he seems fine. You can send me your location, if you want?
Piper raised her eyebrows as she read the message. Does that mean that if the dinner’s going terribly, you’ll burst in to save me?
Haha. Yeah, me and my team of comic book heroes who help me burst in right on time and save the day.
Piper laughed out loud, but at least attempted to keep the volume down. She didn’t want to creep Ted out. Honestly, I think that would be the only thing that would make this dinner interesting.
Ooh. Ouch. Claire’s going to be devastated.
Piper stared at the phone deadpan. I wasn’t planning on telling her. Were you?
Nah. I like you a lot more than I like Claire. But, you know, best keep me on your good side.
Piper’s phone lit up with a message from Claire, checking she was on the way, and she couldn’t help but feel like they’d summoned the woman by talking about her. However, Claire was getting her whole evening, so she knew she was going to reply to August first. Ahh, dangerous threats. Now you know all of my secrets about how much I hate her matchmaking attempts, I guess I’ll have to work hard to ensure she doesn’t find out.
While she waited for August to reply, she switched to Claire’s message and sent a quick confirmation of where she was and when she’d be arriving.
She also decided to share her location with August.
Indeed, August replied. All part of my evil plan. And now I have your location, it’s all coming together.
Piper breathed another laugh at her phone. I’d be a lot more worried if that had come from someone else.
You’re telling me I’m not giving off ‘evil genius’ vibes?
That’s exactly what I’m telling you.
Rats. I was so sure I’d nailed it that time.
Piper felt the car slowing as they got closer to Claire’s home, but she found herself too engrossed in her messages to want to arrive too quickly. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d wanted to spend more time in a random driver’s car. Maybe next time.
Clearly, I need to practice.
Eh. I kind of like you as you are.
Oh, just ‘kind of’, huh?
Haha. You got me. I think you’re great as you are.
Thank goodness. Otherwise, I’d really have to start trying that whole superhero or evil genius thing and I don’t think I’d be great at either.
Piper’s car stopped and she looked up to see Claire’s driveway bursting with cars, the lights of the home all on.
From outside, it looked warm, welcoming, and lovely. If she hadn’t known what awaited her inside, she might have been excited.
I think you’d be great at either, she sent back to August. Then, after getting out of the car, she added, Just arrived, so I guess I’ll see you on the other side.
I can see that, August replied quickly, clearly having kept an eye on Piper’s location. Let me know if you need an escape. I can’t promise a superhero crew, but I can drive to come get you.
Piper shivered in the cold night, but she smiled at the message, her heart feeling warmer. Thanks, August. Have a great evening!
You too! And seriously, keep me posted if you need an out.
Piper smiled softly at her phone. Will do.
She turned the screen off and slipped it into her pocket right as she reached Claire’s door.
It whipped open before she could knock, and Claire beamed at her in a way that suggested she’d been waiting behind it, watching through the peephole. Piper doubted that, though. The woman had guests she was supposed to be entertaining. She did, however, glance quickly around to see if there were cameras that could have alerted Claire to her approach.
“I’m so glad you finally made it,” Claire said, ushering her inside.
Piper attempted to stifle a frown. It was seven o’clock. She’d been told to arrive at seven. “You said seven, right?”
“Well, yes, but it’s polite to arrive early.”
“Is it?” Piper looked around the entryway wildly. She could hear the sound of others already here, but she’d always believed it was rude to arrive early. If anything, you shot for a little late, just to ensure the host had everything set up without feeling pressured.
Claire shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Young people today.”
It was honestly odd that Claire worked in music distribution. Well, maybe it wasn’t, but it was odd she worked for the same company Piper did, given that most of the music they worked with was aimed at those very same young people she seemed to have such disdain for.
“Marco is already here,” Claire said, practically yanking Piper’s coat from her body.
“I usually like to have dinner before I let someone rip my clothes off,” Piper quipped.
Claire narrowed her eyes and glared at Piper. Not a fan of jokes, apparently.
Piper sighed. “Who is Marco?”
Claire huffed as she flung Piper’s coat into a closet by the door. “Marco. He works in artists and repertoire. Great scout. He’s brought in some of our most lucrative recent acquisitions—which, you know, means great royalties for him.”
“Right…” Piper had never met Marco and she was not particularly thrilled discussing someone’s income as a way to identify who they were.
“So, you’d be lucky to get with him. I’m aiming high for you here. The least you could do is show up on time.”
“It’s seven o’clock.”
“Well, he’s been here for twenty minutes. I didn’t think I needed to tell you to be here at six thirty.”
“You did if you wanted me here then.”
She shook her head and took off towards the noise of the kitchen, clearly expecting Piper to keep up with her. “I’m going to have to warn him to watch out for your attitude—and to work on your timekeeping.”
Piper glowered. She hadn’t once been late for work, but Claire was late at least once a week, so suggesting Piper needed help was a bit rich. Even worse was suggesting she needed some random man to start monitoring her, a grown-ass woman.
She wondered whether she’d be able to get away with simply turning around and leaving.
Claire stepped into the kitchen and called for Marco like a teacher telling off a student.
Piper could not have regretted coming any more. She could have been at home, eating pizza, watching TV, and being surrounded by people she knew and enjoyed.
A tall guy with brushed-back black hair walked towards them like a deer in headlights.
“Marco,” Claire said, stroking his arm once he made it over to them, “this is Piper. She works in the marketing department. Forgive her tardiness, she’s young and foolish.”
Piper stared at her. “Excuse me?”
Claire turned to her like nothing was wrong. “Piper, this is Marco. You know what he does because I just told you. But you should also know he’s just gotten divorced and is ready to get back on the scene.”
“Oh? What scene is that?” Piper looked between them with a polite smile.
Claire’s left eye twitched. “I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure that out.”
Marco laughed a little awkwardly. “I don’t usually lead with that information.”
Claire grinned up at him. “You should. It’s good to let women know you’re available.”
“Uh. Sure.” He looked around, shifting from side to side.
“Well,” Claire said, gripping both their arms and forcing them slightly closer together, “I’m going to leave you two to it. I’m sure you’re going to get along great and have a wonderful night.”
They watched her melt into the crowd of other guests and disappear, both taking a step apart once she was gone.
“Sorry about… all of that,” Marco said, wincing.
“It’s really okay. I’m only here because if I refused, she’d have spent the next week sitting at my desk, whining about me not coming, and I’d never get any work done.”
“Yeah, me too. She pulled the same thing with Freddie from A&R, so, now, he’s got an imaginary girlfriend.”
Piper laughed. “Are you serious?”
“Deadly. It was the only way he could get her off his back.” He shuddered. “Only now, Claire wants to meet her. So he’s having to ride the line of pretending it’s serious and going well, but not to the point where she’s ready to meet all of his colleagues.”
“Yikes. Wonder what he’ll do when Claire won’t let it go?”
“Break up with her and meet a new imaginary woman?”
Piper laughed. “The perfect plan.”
He smiled at her and something slightly terrified flitted across his face. “Look, um, Piper?”
“Yeah?”
“You seem really nice, and now I see you’re just being dragged along by this whole thing too, so I feel like I should be honest with you…”
“Okay. Sure. What’s up?”
“I, um, did just get divorced.”
“But you’re not ready to get back out there?” she guessed when it seemed like he couldn’t quite bring himself to finish the thought.
“No. I am. I just…” He took a deep breath and looked down at his shoes. “My wife and I divorced because… well, I’m, um, a little bit… gay.”
“Oh. Cool.”
“Yeah. Maybe more than a little bit.”
Piper smiled. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m bisexual myself.”
“You are?” he asked in surprise, looking up at her again.
“Yeah. Claire doesn’t seem to know, thankfully, and I have no interest in discussing it with her. Not because I’m in the closet, but just because she’d take it as a sign I was interested in her interfering in my love life.”
He winced. “Yeah. I don’t even know how she heard about my divorce, but here we are. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the reason. She’d probably start telling every guy in the office, just to see if anyone might be interested.”
Piper wrinkled her nose. “I’d like to believe better of her—”
“But she is Claire.”
“Pretty much, yeah.” She looked up at Marco. “Well, thanks for telling me, and congratulations on your divorce.”
He laughed. “Not a common sentiment in the circumstances.”
“Well, you know, I’m sure it was hard and heartbreaking, but I’m glad you get the chance to live your life as the real you.”
He nodded, his eyes looking a little tearful. “Thank you. I think the only other person who has been this nice about it is my ex herself.”
“I’m glad she seems to have understood.”
“Yeah.” He scrunched his face up momentarily. “It wasn’t particularly surprising news to her, I don’t think.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah…” He shook his head. “Hopefully, Claire doesn’t figure it out herself too.”
“I don’t think she’s paying nearly as much attention to who you are as your ex was.”
“Yeah, maybe not.” He shook his head before looking seriously at Piper. “I’m sorry if this means the night doesn’t turn up any… leads for you, though. I know Claire thinks we’d be great together.”
Piper laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t relying on Claire’s picks, and I think this is a lot better than tonight could have gone.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. At least, this way, we both get to make a new friend, and we can have a decent time together, knowing we’re both on the same page.”
“The same page of not being interested in a relationship?”
“Exactly,” she said, laughing. “So much better than being forced to entertain someone who’s being told you’re interested in them, while you’ve got no interest at all.”
“I guess that is true.” He nodded slowly, seeming to relax. “Well, should we get a drink, then?”
“Absolutely.”
Piper followed him over to the drinks, quickly whipping out her phone to text August. The guy Claire is trying to set me up with is gay. Probably the best possible outcome from tonight, but, my god, is she oblivious!
It only took a second for August to reply. Haha. Typical. But hey, at least she’s helping all the gays stick together, I guess?
Piper laughed. The whole thing was ridiculous, but she didn’t mind making friends with Marco, and at least she had August to report to about these weird dates. It turned out their little deal really was making the whole dating thing a lot easier.