“Sure, no problem.” Monique glanced back toward the front of the café. “Lauren’s brother is a cutie, isn’t he?”
Paige sighed. “Yeah.”
“You like him, don’t you? Like, not just in a ‘he’s a cute guy who spent the afternoon in the Café’ way. I saw you guys chatting earlier.”
“Maybe. Yes.”
“Wow, Lauren will hate that.”
That was exactly what Paige was afraid of. “This is why you won’t be saying anything about it.”
“Of course.” Monique mimed zipping her lips.
Paige plugged in the vacuum. “You really think she’ll disapprove?”
“You know her better than I do. She always struck me as someone who likes her life ordered in a certain way. You dating her brother threatens to upset that order.”
It was a fair point. Paige remained hopeful that Lauren would ultimately be okay with this, but she feared the worse. Nothing she could do about it now. She moved the vacuum to start on the floors. “All right, let’s do this.”
Chapter 10
Thursday rolled around and Josh wore his favorite tie to work in preparation for the date with Paige. He’d made a reservation at the nice Italian restaurant near the office and was conscious of the fact that she’d be seeing him tonight in all his besuited, lawyerly splendor. He hoped she thought he looked great in a suit. He also hoped he could persuade her to go on a second (or third?) date.
But then four o’clock rolled around. Josh had been pretty busy all day, but he’d kept one eye on the clock since lunchtime, as if that would move time forward faster. Mr. Provost appeared in his door, though, and Josh’s heart sank because he knew what that meant.
“I’m due in court tomorrow morning at nine,” said Provost. “I need to file the brief on the Giardino case before then. Can you finish my draft? I’ve got all my notes and the partial brief put together on this drive. I just need the language finessed a little. If you can finish the draft, I’ll proofread it before I file it in the morning.”
“By tomorrow morning?”
Provost handed Josh a thumb drive. “Yes. I should have filed it today, but other things kept coming up, and now I’m up against the clock. I think we’re fine as long as I get it in before the end of the week, but we shouldn’t delay.”
“But I…I had plans tonight, sir.”
“I’m sorry that you’ll have to cancel them. I’d finish the brief myself but I have to finish preparing for my court appearance tomorrow, plus Mr. Davis just dropped a new client in my lap. Some luxury condo developer. I’m supposed to meet with him Monday, so I’ll probably have more to say about that soon, but I have to read the file first.”
It was hard to be mad at Provost when he clearly had just as much work on his plate as Josh. They discussed the particulars of what Josh had to do for a few minutes and then Provost, who was clearly stressed, left. Josh let out a breath and counted to ten. His disappointment was profound. He thought about texting Paige, but this felt like the sort of news that merited a phone call.
When she answered and confirmed that the café was dead and she had a few minutes to talk, he said, “I’m so sorry, but work emergency. I’m going to have to cancel. I feel terrible.”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. I’ve been looking forward to this all week, and my boss literally just handed me a thumb drive and told me I have to write a brief by the morning, which really means it has to get done tonight, and it’s going to take me at least an hour just to read through his notes and get up to speed on the case before I can even…well. You don’t need the details. But I’ll be stuck here until the wee hours of the morning, probably. I’m so sorry, Paige. I will make it up to you as soon as I can.”
“No, really, it’s okay. I forgive you. Although we should reschedule as soon as you’re able. Maybe this weekend?”
“Yeah, maybe. I should have known better than to try to schedule something on a weeknight. I think I’m free Sunday afternoon? But I can’t even count on that right now.”
“Well, give me a call when you’re able. And I’m sorry, too, for what it’s worth. I was really looking forward to tonight. I got dressed up and everything.”
“Ugh, don’t tell me that. Now I’ll be picturing what you look like instead of focusing on this brief, which…” He plugged the thumb drive into his computer. “Oh, right, the fraud case. Misleading ads about windows.”
“Sounds scintillating.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“Me, too. But you’ll make it up to me, so it’s fine. I gotta get back to work, but we’ll talk soon, yeah?”
“Yes, definitely. I’ll call you this weekend either way.”
