Page 9 of The Boss on the Brain

She sounded guilty. “Yes, well, going by your history, it seemed to make sense to bet this way. Freya was the only one who had faith that it would last longer than fifty minutes. I was going to pay for a special manicure with that twenty dollars.”

It would’ve ended in less than fifty minutes if I’d only had the courage to stand up for myself,I thought, unhappy.

“Listen …” I didn’t know how to begin. “Sorry. What can I say? I’m bad luck.”

“Hey, just so I know,” Freya asked over the phone, “what’s the other worst date you’ve had?”

The other worst date was the one where the high school Desmond had broken up with me. Until then, he’d been the biggest cheerleader in my life. I’d never known and faced real heartbreak like that again.

I shook my head. “I’m not emotionally equipped to relive my other worst date tonight, Freya. Though …”

I held that train of thought, and the three of them fell silent.

“What is it?” Gabriela asked, suddenly alert.

I hesitated. “I did see the man responsible for my number one worst date.”

Gabriela gasped while the other two scratched their heads in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Lily asked while Gabriela’s mouth formed a big O as comprehension drew on her.

“No. Way,” she whispered, clamping her hand over her mouth.

“Yes,” I said, my mouth dry.

Freya looked at our faces on the screen, a frown on her forehead. “Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?”

“You saw Desmond?” Gabriela asked, eyes wide.

I nodded.

“Is it too late? Am I too sleepy? Why does the name Desmond not ring any bells?” Lily asked.

Gabriela gave me a knowing look over the phone before admitting to the other two, “Because Ava hasn’t let the man’s name cross her lips in years.”

“Wait,” Lily continued. “So, this Desmond is someone special? Someone from your past? And he hijacked your date?”

“Kind of …” I said.

“Oh man, I did not allocate enough time for this debrief,” Freya groaned. “I need an hour at least. And drinks.”

“Tomorrow,” I promised as I stopped on the stairs to the front door of an old Victorian building with the wordsThe Bowery Missionon it.

“Tomorrow evening, we’ll discuss everything. Oh, and listen, can you promise me you’ll not go after me to start dating again?”

There was another squeal of laughter, and I could seeLily rubbing her hands gleefully. “I need my twenty dollars back!” she said.

“What was that?”

Gabi’s voice came on the line. She sounded defeated. “Lily bet you’d say that.”

I needed new friends.

When I hung up from the call, I scrolled back to Desmond’s number. I saved his name in my phone, ten years after deleting it. Meeting him had been smoother than I imagined.

I noticed a final text from him.

Desmond:You still like gnocchi after all.