Josh laughed. “I mean, exactly.”
“Did you and Lauren fight about it?”
“Not yet. She’s mad about it, though. She said she wants to have a talk with me. But you know how Lauren is. I’m reading that as she wants to sit me down so she can yell at me for a while.”
“I suppose I can see why that would make Lauren feel strange. But she’s got her own life now, honey. I don’t see why she would need to worry about yours. On the other hand, I want to know more about this Paige. You like her, you said?”
Josh sang Paige’s praises for the next few minutes, and he recognized that he was manipulating his mother a little to make her see his side of things.
Still, shouldn’t this have made Lauren happy? She liked both Paige and Josh. Surely she could see how good they were for each other. Josh was certainly better than the losers Paige had been dating before.
“Lauren will come around,” said his mother.
“Are you sure? What if she doesn’t?”
“Well, deal with that when you have to. Lauren can be stubborn, I know, but really, I don’t see why it should matter. If this girl is as great as you say, and if you and Paige are happy, then Lauren will see that and get on board soon enough.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’d been hoping that was the case. Lauren doesn’t know this yet, but Paige and I have been dating for a month, and it’s going really well.”
“Well, I’m happy to hear that, then. I was worried that when things ended with Megan, you wouldn’t want to date for a while.”
“I didn’t.” Ugh. Leave it to Mom to bring up the thing he’d been trying to forget. “I mean, I was hurt after Megan left. I had planned to focus on work when I got to New York. But, you know. Things happen.” What he thought, but did not say to his mother, was that he didn’t want to live his life like a monk. He’d intended this thing with Paige to be sexy and fun, but if he was talking to his mother about it, their relationship was more than that, wasn’t it?
His mother clucked her tongue in an affectionate way. “I miss you kids all the way over there in New York City. As soon as you get some time off, you’ll come visit us, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“The two of you may be adults, but you’ll always be my babies.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Don’t sass me. I love you, Josh. Call more often.”
“I will. Love you, too.”
Once he got off the phone, he lay down on his sofa, with George settling on his chest. Josh was pretty glad now he’d gotten this cat, because at least he wasn’t totally alone with his thoughts. But he couldn’t help thinking about Paige, because he always thought about Paige when he was idle. In a way, Lauren’s finding out was like popping a bubble. He and Paige had been in a little private space where they could enjoy each other’s company without anyone else getting in the way, but that was over now. More than that, though, it was like a fantasy world of flirty banter and getting to know each other and amazing sex, but now they’d have to face the real world. Hopefully, they would do that together.
* * *
Paige took a deep breath before walking into Pop. She’d felt bad about ducking out of the café with Josh yesterday, so she’d walked to the café that morning to apologize, but it was Lauren’s day off, too. When Evan sent a group text inviting them to Pop that evening and Lauren said she’d be there, Paige had held out some hope that Lauren would be willing to talk to her.
Lindsay and Lauren were sitting at their usual table near the front, so Paige joined them. Lindsay greeted her enthusiastically. Paige was about to broach the subject of Josh when Evan breezed in and sat at the table.
“Guys,” he said, “did you see the sign on that empty storefront near Henry Street?”
“No,” said Lindsay, “but I’m sure you’ll tell us all about it.”
“I walk by that store on the way here all the time, and I keep assuming it’ll be a bank or a cell phone store, because we need more of those in this neighborhood.” Evan rolled his eyes. “But now there’s a sign out front saying it’s going to be Whitman Street’s own vegan bakery. It’s owned by the same restauranteur that owns that place in the Village we used to eat at all the time in college.”
“Vegan bakery?” said Paige, playing along. “So, like, baked goods without milk and eggs and butter and everything that makes desserts delicious.”
“Hey, don’t mock it,” said Lindsay. “That place in the Village makes the best lemon bars in the city. They serve them with a little dollop of heaven on top. I don’t know what they make their vegan whipped cream out of, and I don’t really want to know, but it’s like eating a cloud of magic.”
Evan laughed. “I understand why you’re a food writer now.”
“It’s cool that it’s a bakery and not a bank,” said Lauren. She glanced at Paige.
Paige frowned. Lauren was still mad.
