Wrong Number: A Quinton Griggs Fanfiction «completed»

Part 3: It's Not a Date

I left the office at six, heading home to change. I still didn't see this as a date, but apparently, Emma, Amanda, and Nick still did. When I had finally ditched my dress pants and pulled on a pair of jeans, there was a knock at my apartment door.
"Wow, you look amazing," Nick said, leaning in the doorway.
I laughed. "It's nothing. Let's go."

The Uber ride was silent, but I was abundantly conscious of Nick's thigh resting against my own. He was a nice guy, and he was attractive, but I wasn't interested in dating one of my clients.
We got to Saddle Ranch, and I headed in first. I was a behind the scenes character, and I refused to be filmed by Hollywood Fix.
After a few minutes, Nick met me at the table. "So, Izzie, let's talk," he said, sitting down across from me.
"About what?" I asked, fearful of what I thought he might say.
"About us. I really like you, Izzie."
"I just broke up with my boyfriend yesterday, Nick. Besides that, I like to keep my work and my personal life separate. I can't drag you into my personal life without jeopardizing our professional relationship," I explained, flipping through the menu in hopes that this conversation was over.
"I'm not one of your clients anymore," Nick argued.
I sighed, looking at him over the top of my menu. "What if you need to be in the future? I won't jeopardize that, Nick. I'm sorry."

Nick sighed, finally picking up his own menu. My outright rejection had put a lull in the conversation, and I was grateful when my phone rang. "Isabella Davis," I answered, excusing myself from the table.
"Tell Jay that it's funny that he had a stranger answer his phone, but I need to talk to him," the voice on the other end replied.
"I'm sorry, who do you think that you just called?"
"Jaden. Jaden Hossler. Can you give the phone to him please?"
"I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number. I just took on Jaden as a client, so maybe there was some sort of mixup. Can I ask who this is? I can get in touch with Jaden and have him contact you," I apologized.
"This is Quinton. Quinton Griggs. He told me to call his new number so that we could go out tonight. My girlfriend and I just broke up. I'm sorry. I don't know why I just told you that. I, uh, I really need to stop talking. Sorry about this. Thank you again," Quinton replied, hanging up.

I wasn't really looking to go back to the table yet, so I called Jaden. "Hello?" he answered.
"Hi, Jaden. This is Isabella Davis."
"Oh, you're the publicist from this morning! Hey, Izzie. What's up?"
"Yes, that would be me," I began. "I just got a phone call from someone that was looking for you. He said that you gave him my number and told him that it was your new number," I explained.
"Oh, shit, yeah, I did that. One of your coworkers stopped Josh and me on our way out of your building and told us that you and your boyfriend had just broken up. She asked if we had any single friends, and when Q broke up with his girlfriend today, it felt like the perfect opportunity. I should have given you a heads up. Sorry," he replied.
I let out a sigh of frustration. "Which coworker?"
"She didn't say her name. Sorry that I can't be much help with that. Q's pretty cool though. Give him a call sometime. You guys would be cute together. I got to go. I'll talk to you a little bit later. Bye, Izzie."

I immediately called Emma. "What the hell did you do?" I asked as soon as she answered.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, playing dumb.
"Jaden? Josh? Telling them about Evan and asking if they have any single friends? Is anything ringing a bell?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "That! Yeah, I did that. I'm not sorry. You needed a rebound. Did they find you one? Is that how you found out?"
"Yeah. They're sneaky little shits. All three of you. I'm literally at dinner with Nick right now, Em," I replied.
"Well, if you're calling and talking to me, that's obviously not going too well, is it? Claim a work emergency and get the hell out of there. You'll thank me later," she demanded. The idea was tempting, so I went with it.
"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't ever pull some shit like that again," I warned.

I reapproached the table, picking my purse up from next to my chair. "I'm really sorry, Nick, but I have to run. There's some huge work emergency that can't wait to be taken care of. We'll have to reschedule. Have a good night," I said, leaving the restaurant. I didn't feel like waiting for an Uber, so I walked the few blocks to my apartment.
As I opened the door, my phone rang. "Hey, Emma. I took your advice. I just got home."
"Good. Now, tell me what those Sway boys did."
"Jaden pretended to get a new number and had his newly single friend call me. He says that we would be so cute together," I detailed, plopping down onto the couch.
She squealed with excitement. "Which Sway boy?"
"Huh?" I asked.
"Which Sway boy?" she repeated.
"Um, shit, Q-something. Quan? I don't remember."
"Quinton? He and Cynthia broke up? I didn't see that coming," she rambled. "Good for you. He's cute. When are you guys going out?"
"Emma!" I exclaimed. "I'm not going out with him. Neither one of us knew what you guys were cooking up."
She groaned. "You have to! You deserve someone good after you put up with Evan for years. Besides, you need to do something nice for yourself. You spend your whole day fixing everything for everyone else. When is it your turn?"
"Shut up, Em. Maybe I'll call him tomorrow. I probably won't. That's way too close to our line of work. We're too different," I excused.