Chocolate for Two (17 page)

It didn’t work.

Wrapped in my bathrobe with my hair up in a towel, I grabbed my phone. I had to call McKenna or Andie. I saw that I had two new voice mails and frowned as I sat down on the couch to listen. I knew they were probably from Jake and was crushed about what I had to tell him.

7:13 p.m.: Hi, Waverly, it’s Dave. I’m at Bayard’s Ale House, but don’t see you. I’ll order you a Blue Moon with an orange slice. I hope that’s still your favorite.

7:46 p.m.: Waverly, it’s Dave again. I guess we got our wires crossed, either that or I overestimated how much you appreciated all those years I paid your salary—ha, just kidding. I’m leaving now, hope to connect soon.

Oh my God.

I’d totally forgotten my plans with Davey.

I hadn’t seen him in, what, three years, and I stood him up?

I leaned back into the couch and sighed. I wasn’t a flake. I
hated
flakes.

First my ring, now this?

What was going on?

I tossed my phone onto the wicker chest. What had I been thinking earlier about having things under control?

I’d convinced myself I was juggling everything okay, but it was increasingly clear that I wasn’t.

I barely slept that night. When my alarm went off at seven, all I wanted to do was pull my duvet over my head and spend the day in bed, feeling sorry for myself. But that wasn’t going to happen. I had a taping for
Honey on Your Mind
and several interviews scheduled at Waverly’s Honey Shop, so I got dressed and did my best to put the horror of the day before behind me.

Without saying exactly why I was calling, I’d left voice mails the night before for Jake, Andie, and McKenna. I didn’t have it in me to face Davey on the phone, so I’d sent him an apologetic text message asking to reschedule for Monday.

I dug around in my purse before I left my apartment, hoping for a miracle. But instead of my ring, all I found was seventy-three cents in change and an empty chocolate bar wrapper.

Nice
.

When I got to the set of
Honey on Your Mind
, which was at the Seaport downtown for this segment, I saw an unexpected face.

“Scotty!”

He smiled and held open his arms. “Well, hello there, kitten. How are you?” He was as attractive as ever, but he looked exhausted. I’d never seen him this way.

I hugged him a bit too tight. “What are you doing here? It’s so good to see you.”

“I was in the neighborhood for a meeting and thought I’d stop by to see how my favorite up-and-coming features reporter is doing.”

“You really came by to see me?” I murmured into his shoulder.

“Yes, why so surprised?”

When I didn’t stop hugging him after a normal amount of time, he put his hands on my shoulders and held me away from him. “Is everything okay? The last time you hugged me like that, tears were involved.”

I sighed and held up my bare left hand.

“No! What happened?” He looked shocked.

I shook my head.
Waverly, you’re an idiot.
“Oh gosh, no, I’m sorry. It’s not
that
. I’m still engaged. I just…lost the ring.” My shoulders slumped.

He made a sad face. “Oh, princess.”

“I know. I suck. Who loses her engagement ring?”

“Do you know when you last had it?”

I nodded. “Right before I went running. I retraced my steps for like an hour last night. I also ransacked my entire apartment looking for it.”

He touched a hand to my cheek. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s okay. There’s nothing
to
say. I’m a loser, and I know it.”

He smiled and shook his head. “I guess you’re a loser in the technical sense of the word since you lost your ring, but you’re not a loser in the
true
sense. You’re a loveable and adorable woman with a stand-up man who loves and adores you, and everything is going to be fine, ring or no ring. I promise.”

I laughed. “Once again, you make me feel better when I’m swimming in the toilet. How do you do that?”

He lightly pinched my nose. “It’s a gift.”

“Can we please get together soon, Scotty? I never see you anymore. I miss you.”

He smiled. “I miss you too. I’m always either on a plane or in a meeting these days. I’m sorry, kitten. I’ll call you when things settle down, okay?”

“Okay.” I knew he meant it, but I also knew it would probably be a long time before I heard from him. Ever since his promotion, trying to get on his calendar was harder than not eating tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant.
Is that what happens when you make it big? You have to give up a normal life?

I wasn’t sure that was something I would ever want.

As he hustled away, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d lost more than just my ring.

After Scotty zoomed off, I turned my attention to the
Honey on Your Mind
segment we were there to film. Today’s topic was job interviews. Now that I was on the hunt to find a replacement for Paige, I thought it would be fun—not to mention therapeutic—to ask others about their own experiences.

Camera crew in tow, I wandered around the Seaport in search of interesting subjects. Nine out of every ten people I approached were tourists who didn’t speak English, and almost everyone who did either flat-out ignored me or—without stopping—said they were too busy to stop and talk. But my persistence paid off, and eventually I got some entertaining answers to the question:
What’s the strangest thing that’s ever been on your mind during either side of a job interview?

Blonde woman in crisp navy dress: “
Years ago I was being interviewed by three people at the same time for an investment banking job, and all I kept wondering was if any of them could tell I wasn’t wearing any underwear.
”

Thick bald man in disheveled suit: “
I interviewed this eager beaver for a sales position once, and what kept running through my head was,
If this clueless clown had any idea what a
bleep
place this is to work, he’d hightail it out of here faster than the royal family can embarrass the queen.”

Tall thin man, receding hairline: “
I once had to interview a partner’s nephew for a junior finance position, which he was going to get no matter what I thought of him. The privileged little
bleep
listed his private
country club
on his résumé. What a spoiled
bleeping bleep.”

Male hipster with ponytail, flannel shirt, skinny jeans: “
Dude, a couple weeks ago I interviewed for a designer position at a digital agency, and all I could think was,
Dude, I’m so hungover right now, I honestly may yak right here in this dude’s fancy office.”

Older brunette woman in stylish black pantsuit: “
I remember interviewing a college student for an entry-level accounting position and being completely distracted by the bow in her hair. Who wears a bow in her hair to an interview? What is this, a cheerleading camp? Or Kansas?
”

And this was by far my favorite:

Short perky blonde woman: “
Oh my God! Once I was interviewing for a paralegal job, and all I could think was,
Oh,
bleep
. I totally forgot the name of this
bleeping
law firm. I’m so
bleeped.
”

The crew and I agreed that I should have the editing team play Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money” in the background of the final cut. After we finished, I didn’t feel so bad about the difficulty I was having finding someone to run the Honey Shop. As Paige and I had surmised, the torture of job interviewing in New York City seemed to be right on a par with dating—for both interviewer
and
interviewee.

The subway was just a short walk from the Seaport, so I said good-bye to the crew and ducked into a deli to pick up lunch before heading back to Brooklyn—and real interviews.
Ugh
. The
man behind the counter had just handed me my turkey and Swiss when I heard a familiar voice laughing behind me.

“Oh no you don’t. Be careful, dearie,” the female voice said.

I turned around and saw Andie standing there.

At her side was her cute neighbor.

“Andie?”

“Waverly! What are you doing downtown?” She gave me a hug.

I pointed out the window. “I, um, I just finished a taping at the Seaport and was grabbing a late lunch before heading back to Dumbo for some interviews.”

She put her hand on the neighbor’s arm. “You remember Morgan?”

I nodded at him. “Yes, of course, how are you?”
What is he doing here?

He smiled. “Good, thanks.”

Yep, he was cute. There was no denying it.

Damn.

“Waverly’s a celebrity,” Andie said to him. “She’s on the show
Love, Wendy
. Have you ever seen it?”

Morgan shook his head. “Can you stream it to your phone?”

Andie laughed. “
TV,
Morgan. It’s a
TV
show.”

He nodded. “Oh, got it.”

Wow, he’s young
, I thought.

As Morgan stepped up to the counter to order their sandwiches, Andie turned to me. “I got your message late last night. What’s up? You sounded a little stressed.”

I grimaced and held up my left hand.

“No!” she practically yelled. “What happened?”

I quickly shook my head.
You suck, Waverly.
You’d think I’d learn.

“No, it’s not that. I…I lost my ring last night.”

“What? How?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. I went for a run, and when I came back, it was gone.”

“Oh, Waverly, I’m so sorry.” I managed a weak smile. “Thanks.”

“Better to lose the ring than the guy, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Is it insured?”

“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask Jake. I haven’t told him yet.”

Morgan appeared with their sandwiches, and the three of us exited the deli together. If they were having drinks tonight I wanted to ask Andie why they were already together so early in the afternoon, but there was no way to do it without coming across like a snoop, even though that’s precisely what I was, of course. Besides, I had other things on my mind.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” Andie said.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry about the ring. That really sucks.”

I shrugged. “Thanks. I’ll live. If Jake’s mom doesn’t kill me, that is.” I was hit by another wave of anxiety at the prospect of facing her with my bare left hand. How would I explain myself? What kind of bride loses her engagement ring?

Andie laughed. “Okay, then, see ya soon.”

“Bye, Waverly,” Morgan said. “It was good to see you again.”

The two of them turned in the direction of the water, and I slowly trudged toward the subway.

Before I descended into the station, I turned around and watched them walk down the street until they disappeared around a corner. It looked innocent enough, but I couldn’t help but wonder if something was going on between them. Given how
straightforward Andie usually was about everything, it was rattled me that she’d been giving such mixed signals about Nick.

I turned back toward stairwell and forced myself to take a step.

Let her be.

Later that afternoon we interviewed a candidate who left me wondering why I’d spent a single minute worrying about finding a replacement for Paige.

She was perfect.

Her name was Courtney, and I liked her immediately. In addition to having stellar professional qualifications, she would clearly be lots of fun to have around. I could already picture us grabbing a drink after work and talking about everything
but
work—something Paige and I had done countless times, and which I enjoyed as much if not more than the business itself.

During the interview I kept waiting for some red flag to pop up, and I could tell Paige was waiting for it too. Our brief search experience had led us to expect the worst.

But it never happened.

She was lovely.

“So, Courtney, do you have any questions for
us
?” I finally asked, thinking that might do the trick and unleash her inner craziness.

She nodded. “Yes, actually. I was wondering if you’d thought about adding a line of cocktail napkins to your product line.”