As they were adding the last of the wayward books to the stack on one of the tables, Diane appeared in the cat room. “Well, this must have been a success.”
“It went very well, Diane,” said Paige. “We had seven kids here, they each read at least two books, and even the most, uh, undisciplined kid sat and read a book aloud. The teachers were thrilled.”
“We should do this again,” said Pablo. “Maybe invite different schools or after school programs.”
“Weekday afternoons are usually our quietest time,” said Paige. “I think it could work. I’ll draw up a schedule and we can create a sign-up form for groups on our website.”
Diane laughed and said, “That is delightful. I am so glad this worked out.”
Pablo looked at his watch. “I gotta get back to the store. Thanks for letting me help out, Paige. This was fun. I’ll let my boss know it went well. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Sure. I’ll let you know about scheduling the next one, too.”
Pablo nodded and left.
“He’s cute,” said Diane.
“That’s the infamous Pablo that Evan is in love with. He works at Stories and has a boyfriend.”
Diane frowned. “Oh, pooh. Well, let’s get tea and you can tell me more about this event.”
After Paige gave Diane a recap over cups of Diane’s favorite rooibos tea, Diane asked, “Anything else going on?”
Paige was normally reluctant to disclose details about her personal life to Diane, who was a busybody of the first order and would likely give inappropriate and unworkable advice, as was her wont. But Paige remembered suddenly that Diane was a retired lawyer. “Actually, I have a weird question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“You used to work at a big corporate law firm, didn’t you?”
“I did. Why? Are you thinking about a career change?”
“No, no, nothing like that. I’m dating a lawyer. He’s a first-year associate at a big firm in midtown.”
“I assume you’re using the worddatingloosely. If he’s a first-year associate, you must never see him.”
Paige laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. I saw him on Sunday, but we haven’t been able to connect since.” He had, in fact, canceled on their tentative plans, something he’d had to do more than once since they’d started seeing each other, and Paige wasn’t a fan, but she tried to be sympathetic. “And I guess maybe I was wondering if it would be worth it to wait out this first year or if it would get easier or what.”
Diane nodded. “It does ease off a little, but we worked our associates pretty hard at the firm where I worked. I mean, even back in my associate days, I was only able to see Winnie because she was a paralegal at the same firm. We tried to meet for lunch in the company cafeteria every day, and even then, I still had to miss it quite a bit.” Winnie was Diane’s late wife.
“I don’t think he likes the kind of law he’s doing. His boss is representing a shady businessman in a civil suit, and Josh, the lawyer I’m seeing, thinks the client is guilty, which I think is making him have second thoughts about taking this job.”
“Well, that’s something.” Diane smiled. “Although I guess it’s all relative. When I was still practicing law, I had a colleague who’d had enough of seventy-hour weeks and quit to take the lead council job at a start-up company so that she could, in her words, get her life back. And then the startup’s IPO ended up being a major disaster, and the job ate up all her time again. It’s sort of the curse of ambitious people. We want success, we want to work hard, but then what does that do to our personal lives?”
Paige sighed. She was conscious it was Diane she was talking to, and still she confided, “I really like this guy. More than anyone I’ve liked in a really long time. But the universe keeps throwing all these obstacles in our way. And I guess I’m wondering if it’s worth it to try to overcome those obstacles or if this is more trouble than I want to take on.” And that was really the crux of Paige’s problem now. She liked Josh, but did she like him enough to sacrifice her job and an important friendship, and did she like him enough to accept the scraps he could give her while he was getting established as a lawyer?
“Only you can answer that,” said Diane. “In my experience, love is always worth it, but if you don’t know if that’s what’s waiting for you on the other side, it can be hard to know.”
“How could anyone know that?”
“Well, exactly. That’s why love is always a risk. Love is putting yourself out there, making yourself vulnerable, and maybe you get hurt along the way, but maybe what you get is beyond your wildest dreams.” Diane smiled wistfully. “I can’t speak for Winnie or what was in her head all those years ago, but I like to think she waited me out because she knew we’d be great together.”
Paige nodded, but that didn’t get her any closer to a decision. “I don’t think I feel that way now. I mean, we’ve only been on a few dates. I can see where we have some potential, but I don’t know if it’s, like, forever, you know?”
“Maybe that’s your answer.”
That seemed cryptic to Paige and didn’t get her any closer to a decision.
“Well,” said Diane, “I’m having dinner in the city tonight, so I should get ready for that. It was wonderful speaking with you, and I am thrilled the event went well. I hope I was able to give you some useful advice, too.” She winked.
