Paige felt nauseous now. She loved her friends and didn’t want to be responsible if she destroyed this little group that met for drinks a few nights a week. And she knew how this would go. Evan was Lauren’s best friend and they’d known each other since college. Lindsay and Lauren had worked together at a café in Manhattan. Paige loved all of them like family, but she could very well lose all of them if Lauren disapproved of her relationship with Josh.
“If it helps at all,” said Evan, “here’s how I see it. Three things could happen. You and Josh will fall in love and tell Lauren and everything will be fine. You and Josh date for a bit, it fizzles, and Lauren is never the wiser. Or you get together, tell Lauren, and your relationship ends for whatever reason. And if that happens? We’ve got your back. Right, Linds?”
“Yes. Of course. We love you, Paige.”
“So, yeah, things could get messy or uncomfortable for a bit, but if the end result is that we work through that and you end up happy with a really great guy, then that’s awesome. So you have to decide if you want to risk some awkwardness for that possible future.”
“He is really great,” said Paige.
“I mean, it’s a tough situation. Lauren might react badly. Or she’ll think it’s great. You don’t really know. Do you really want to give up your potential future happiness because Lauren might flip out?”
When Evan put it like that, it seemed silly. What she wanted was to fall in love and get married and keep her friends and be happy. She could see the potential for that with Josh, although it wasn’t a guarantee. But did she really want to give him up because Laurenmightfreak out? What she wanted was to see where things went with Josh.
“Fair point,” said Paige.
“All right, good.”
Lindsay’s phone buzzed where it sat on the table. She picked it up and looked at it. “Oh, great.”
“What?” asked Paige.
“Apparently theTimesreviewed that new chocolate restaurant in Midtown.”
“Chocolate restaurant?” asked Evan.
“Yeah. They serve both savory and sweet dishes, but everything has chocolate in it. Guess who the new head pastry chef is?”
“Oh no,” said Paige.
“It’s Brad, isn’t it?” said Evan. “It’s always Brad when you use that tone in your voice.” Brad was Lindsay’s ex, a man she was clearly still hung up on even though she denied it.
“Of course it’s Brad,” Lindsay said. She tapped her finger on her phone screen a few times and paused to read. “Lovely. Listen to this. ‘After enjoying the novelty of chocolate in your savory dinner, be sure to save room for dessert, because the unique sweets offered by pastry chef Brad Marks are not to be missed. I particularly enjoyed the Mexican chocolate mousse.’… And it goes on in that vein for a while.”
“Is it a crime to think Brad’s food is good?” asked Evan. “Because I’m guilty. I still have dreams of that lemon chiffon cake he made for your birthday when you were dating. Best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. And I’ve put a lot of good things in my mouth, if you know what I mean.”
“Everyone knows what you mean, Ev.” Lindsay crossed her arms and glared at Evan. “And you’re not helping. We hate him, remember? We want him to fail.”
“If you say so. Curse that man and his delicious baked goods.”
“We have a lot of romantic problems collectively,” said Paige. “You ever notice that?”
“What kind of New Yorkers would we be if our lives were completely fulfilled and happy?” said Evan.
Chapter 13
Josh had issued an edict to Paige: show him what Brooklyn really had to offer.
Event planning was Paige’s best skill, so she went about putting together a whole agenda for the day.
She met Josh in the lobby of his building late Sunday morning and said, “The first order of business is brunch.”
“Is that… Did you make a spreadsheet and put it on your phone?”
“You asked me to plan an event, so Iplannedan event. You want to be with me, you need to accept my crazy.”
“Fair enough. Lead on, General.”
The first stop was a farm-to-table restaurant on Flatbush Avenue known for having a very good brunch. Paige had never been there before and only knew it by reputation, so this part of the plan was a bit of a gamble, but she was thankful she’d made a reservation, because the place was packed.
