Paige balked. “What do you mean by that?”
“If you’re thinking about breaking up with Jo…Mike, then there must be some reason, or something about him you don’t like. I promise not to get offended or defensive. What’s the problem?”
“There isn’t really a problem. It’s me. I put all this time and effort into my well-ordered life, my nice apartment and my job, and I guess I’d gotten used to my love life not working very well, and now that it is, I don’t know what to do with it. Except now there’s all this…stuff between us. I tried to break up with him, but I was wishy-washy about it, and he must have known I didn’t feel good about it, because he didn’t let me.”
Lauren nodded. “Yeah. He mentioned that. I mean,Mikementioned it.” She winked.
Paige laughed despite herself.
“Okay. I think I see what’s going on here. You, Paige, are one of my favorite people. I asked you to work here because you’re good at this job. Hell, you’re overqualified. You should be planning celebrity weddings, not kids craft events at a cat café. But I also asked you because I like having you around. I love working with you. Having you here means I get to see you more. So your job, it’s going well, right?”
Paige tried not to smile at that and failed. “Right.”
“And you saved up your money from your evil corporate job to pay for that tiny but very nice apartment I know you’re really proud of.”
“Also true.”
“It’s that whole New York triad. Home, career, love. We all want all three, but at any given time, one of those things is not working out. Until it all totally does.”
“Like with you and Caleb.”
“Exactly.” Lauren grinned. “I count myself extraordinarily lucky. But you deserve that same happiness.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I freaked when I first found out about you and Josh. It seemed too weird for you two to be dating. I mean, he’sJosh. He’s my baby brother. He doesn’t have a dating or sex life.”
Paige laughed, despite herself. She sat on one of the sofas. “That’s not even the issue anymore. I’m still worried about what happens if things don’t work out. I think the issue is really, it’s a risk, and do I want to take it or stick with my nice, safe regular life?”
“Is the guy you’re dating Josh again?”
“Sure, okay.”
“Well, he works all the time, you know. I’ve hardly seen him at all since he moved to Brooklyn three months ago, and he only lives, like, eight blocks from here.”
“Yeah. Finding time to see each other was a challenge.”
“You should have a conversation with him about what you really want. Maybe he doesn’t want to settle down right now, at least not at this point in his career.”
“Did he say that?”
“No, I’m just speaking hypothetically. You asked for my help. I’m probably giving it badly. Feel free to tell me to shut up.”
Paige shook her head. “We’d only been dating for a hot minute when I broke it off. We hadn’t gotten as far as thinking about anything long-term.” But she also knew Lauren was wrong. Josh seemed content to settle down romantically. He wasn’t the kind of guy who felt the need to sow a lot of wild oats.
Lauren looked at her hands again. “I really don’t want to get between you.”
“I know.”
“He came in here a couple of days ago and yelled at me for talking you into ending things with him. It was your decision, right? I know I said some things.”
“It was my decision. It was getting complicated. I don’t know. I mean, if anything happened between me and Josh, like if we had a fight or we hurt each other in some way, you’d take his side, and then where would I be?”
“I’m not sure that’s true.”
“Come on, Lauren. He’s your brother.”
“He’s also not always right.”
Paige sighed. “Well, I think it’s over now, so it doesn’t matter.”
They were both quiet for a long time. One of the cats, a chubby striped cat named Anne Elliot, hopped up on the sofa and rubbed her head against Paige’s thigh. Paige reached over to pet her.
