In the Night

Scarlett

"He did what?" I love my sister, but sometimes she's just loud. This however warranted a scream.

"He asked me out. I mean, what do you even say to that?" I balanced the receiver between my ear and shoulder, carefully maneuvering the chopsticks in my hand. Food was always the answer to any question or situation, the answer of the evening was garlic shrimp, and it was delicious.

"Well, what did you say? You said yes right?"

I could have choked her. "No, Sara. I said no. He's my boss. You don't go on dates with your boss! At least I don't..." I trailed off, shoveling food into my mouth. "I think his picture is in the brochure, I'll send you a copy so we can stare at him together."

"You're an idiot." The chopsticks stopped short of my mouth, a piece of shrimp falling onto my thigh. "Lookin' at this man all lovey and not going out when he asks you to? Scarlett!"

"He's my boss! Do you not understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" I picked up the misplaced shrimp and dropped it back in the container.

"And? I dated Stephen, what's your point?"

"My point is that you worked together, he wasn't your boss. He didn't pay your bills or tell you his coffee orders. Thomas...Mr. Sterling is a decent guy, I wouldn't want to screw up his business because I'm a staffer and he's...Well, he's him."

There was a coo from the other end of the line when I said the man's name, and I pressed the back of my hand to my forehead. The way his name rolled off my tongue felt so natural. Right. I kicked myself for even entertaining the thought. Yet, he had been the one to ask me for a drink. Hell, it probably would have turned into more than one. I never liked to think I'd be that girl. To go home with someone if they liquored me up real good. I'd never done that before. Never done anything remotely sexual before, though the very idea of letting that man touch me was giving me goose bumps.

"You've gotta fix this." Sara mouthed into the phone. "Tell him you just had something else to do this weekend. I'll be your alibi."

"Yeah, you came all the way from Williamsburg just to see little ol' me." I snickered. "How sweet."

"Don't be a bitch." Her tone shifted then she snorted. "I want to come up there anyway. I haven't been in a while."

I doubted she would make a special trip just to see me, but I pushed the intrusive thought away and forced a smile.

"I should come see you at some point too. Go to that bakery you're always talking about. I'm game for some good pastries."

We talked like that on and off between tangents and us doing random things around our apartments. It went like that whenever we called. We could coexist without really paying each other much attention. At least until Sara got another call and bounced me off the line. I wondered if it was our mother but didn't mention it, just saying our goodbyes and hanging up. I did miss my sister, the shenanigans we managed to get into. We were two completely different people and she always seemed to bring me out of my shell.

I finished most of the Chinese food I had ordered and put the rest away for later, flopping down on the futon. I stared at the cracks in the ceiling, counting them and tracing the little continents and islands. I had created other worlds by then, given them names and even made up a universe to which they belonged. After a few minutes I rolled onto my stomach, groaning.

I remembered that Mr. Sterling had given me the private number for emergencies, but that it was for emergencies only. The card lived in my bag rent free now, just waiting for its moment to shine. I glared at the bag I had thrown by the door, wondering if I should call the man and ask if he would reconsider his offer. It wasn't too late, barely 8:00 PM by then. There would still be time to shower and throw something nice on.