“Ooh, what about Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty?”
“They’re siblings?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know that?”
Paige shrugged. “No, but I think we have a winner. I love them more already.”
“Are you going to bring them home?”
Paige laughed. “We have two cats at home already. They’d never forgive me.”
“Or Josh would never forgive you.”
“That too. We don’t need any new cats, and kittens can be hard to manage. But how cute are these guys?”
Evan walked in then. “Is Paige showing you the kitten photos? She’s already texted me a half dozen.”
“Itty-bitty kitties,” Paige cooed at her phone.
Evan rolled his eyes. “Good evening, ladies. Is Lauren coming?”
“I think it’s just us,” said Paige. “Caleb’s working tonight, so Lauren is taking care of Hannah.”
“Good. I can have single solidarity with Lindsay and be in the majority for once.”
Lindsay laughed. “Well…”
“Nope. You and Brad are not back together.”
“Not officially, no.”
“Sisters before misters.” Evan held up his fist, so Lindsay bumped it. “At least pretend to be single until we leave the bar so I don’t feel so pathetic.”
After they ordered cocktails, Lindsay said, “I actually do have some news that I’d love to get your take on.”
“Shoot,” said Evan.
“So, I went back to Pepper to meet Joey Maguire. I was planning to do an interview with him for theForum.”
“Oh my god, you did! You met him! Is he the cutest?” said Paige.
“I mean, he’s a good-looking guy, yes. That’s not even the point of this story.”
“Oh, no,” said Evan. “You can’t just drop on us that you interviewed Joey Maguire and not talk about him. He’s so flipping cute.”
Lindsay laughed. “All right, yes, he’s very easy on the eyes. Super-nice guy, too. But again, not the point.”
“What is the point?” asked Evan.
“So, I went to interview him to see what he planned to do with the restaurant space next, but really to find out what Pepper would become now that it’s closed. And then he suggested that maybe I should be the chef at his restaurant, and I told him that was crazy, because I have never been a head chef nor do I have much restaurant experience. But then he told me to cook a steak, so I did, and he loved it so much he offered me a job.”
“What?” said Paige.
Lindsay was still struggling to make sense of what had happened, but she’d been thinking about it for a full day and was no closer to a decision. “He wants me as executive chef of Pepper 2.0, whatever that ends up being. Probably a midrange family restaurant with an eclectic menu. That I’d design. Because I’d be executive chef.”
“Wow!” said Paige. “That’s amazing. Are you going to do it?”
“I don’t know. I can’t decide. I feel… Well, I feel really unqualified.”
