Page 70 of All That Glitters

“I think you have romantic feelings for her. The jury’s still out on what she’s feeling, but there’s definitely something going on in that picture.”

“Besides her dating my college buddy.”

“You know the guy in the photo?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, that’s Matt. And I may or may not have given him permission to date her, depending on how hard you laugh at my stupidity.”

She did laugh, but in a good-natured way. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I was an idiot and wanted to prove to him I wasn’t in love with Debbie.” Then, he suddenly remembered something. “She’s probably going to tag me in photos of her dates with another friend, Jeff.”

“You gave two of your buddies permission to date her?”

He gave a slow nod. “I would say we should write a romantic comedy script about it, except no one would believe anyone could be that stupid.”

She gave his hand a comforting squeeze. “Don’t beat yourself up, Tony. Stepping out of friend-zones is scary. And just so we’re clear, you are in love with Debbie, right?”

Tony took a breath before nodding. “I think so. I haven’t admitted that to anyone else, so can we keep it between us?”

Carrie couldn’t help smiling at this show of trust. “Of course,” she said. “And something else I noticed in that photo — I think she might have the same feelings for you.”

“Really?”

“It’s just a hunch, but look at the photo.”

He did. “What about it?”

“She’s not looking at him in the picture, she’s looking at the camera. She tagged you to make sure you saw it. I think she might be trying to make you jealous.”

Tony’s mood suddenly brightened. “Which is good, right?”

“It could be.”

His smile was back. “Thanks, Carrie.”

“Anytime. Back to explosions and lead actresses chasing crew members with baseball bats?”

He laughed. “Let’s do it.”

They picked up where they left off in their brainstorming activities, and for the next several hours they settled into a comfortable rhythm of bouncing story ideas off each other. It was well after eleven by the time they decided to call it a night.

“That was fun,” she said, closing her laptop while Tony packed his notebooks. “Thanks for coming over.”

“Thanks for having me. I’m really loving this story.”

Hearing this meant more to Carrie than Tony would ever know. ‘The Monaco Job’ was her baby, an idea she’d been wanting to develop for several years, but until now, she’d neverfound someone who wanted to work on it with her. “Me too,” she said.

He grabbed his notebooks, and she walked him to the door.

“Tony,” she said as they reached the door.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being you. I’m really glad we’re friends.”

Jeff’s car pulled into the parking lot of Luke’s Diner and skidded to a stop. He hopped out and hurried over to the front window. Peeking inside, he saw them sitting at a table, Debbie in a near-catatonic state while Matt performed a forensic audit of the bill, going line by excruciating line.

A slow, devious smile spread across Jeff’s face. He looked around the lot and quickly spotted Matt’s car, a Camry with a bumper sticker that read: ‘Accountants Do It With Interest.’ Jeff just shook his head. What a dork.