Page 7 of Miss Understanding

“Files I have to take with me tomorrow. I have two more boxes downstairs.” I flung my bag off my shoulder and set the box down by the door.

“I’ll help you.”

That’s what I loved about her. She was always offering to help. I’d met her through a Craigslist ad, and we’d instantly hit it off. Not that it was hard as the girl was the nicest person on the planet. I was convinced all Canadians must be. We had a lot in common given that she, too, was a working student, helping out her family where she could. “I’d appreciate it.”

“Wait. Where are you going tomorrow?” she asked as we proceeded down the two flights.

“To some small town in Virginia with my boss.”

“You mean your hot boss?”

She’d seen his bio picture when I’d first started working for him. Chloe had quickly given him a nickname.

“Doesn’t make him less of a dick, but yes. I’m traveling with him.”

We each took a box up the steps. Her with a lot more ease than me. Chloe was in amazing shape, having danced most of her life. I didn’t have a sporty or dancing bone in my body.

“You can be both hot and a dick. But you can’t be both cute and a dick. Like, no one says, ‘what a cute dick.’ They wouldn’t say ‘handsome dick,’ either. Of course I think he could probably be a sexy dick.”

I rolled my eyes at Chloe’s rambling. “There’s nothing sexy about being a dick.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Hearing, ‘Ms. Tate, get in here and suck my sexy dick’ might in fact be both a dick thing to say and sexy all at once.”

I burst out laughing. “It seems you’ve given this some thought.”

Once we were back in the apartment with the boxes, she flopped down again on her sofa. Like me, Chloe was a student at night, a full-time employee by day in an office, and a weekend moonlighter. She was the only person who knew about my part-time job on Friday and Saturday nights—at the same hip dance club where she worked as a waitress. I preferred working behind the bar.

“Considering I’m a virgin at twenty-one, I’d say my imagination is all I have,” Chloe said.

It had been over a year for me, but I still wasn’t about to think about my boss in that way. “Liam Davenport is more than a dick. He’s an ass, too.”

Chloe huffed out a long sigh. “I bet he has a sexy ass.” Her romantic notions were hard not to smile at. As beautiful as she was, looking like a Grace Kelly throwback, it wasn’t as though she couldn’t have her pick of men, but she was focused on working and obtaining her degree in the next year as a graphic designer.

I was shaking my head while taking off my shoes. “You have a one-track mind. Maybe you need a boyfriend?”

“After graduation maybe. Currently my only free night is Sunday, which means I don’t have the time. Plus, the last guy I dated was completely freaked out about me being a virgin. I do not want to have another awkward conversation. Wait. So, you’re leaving tomorrow, meaning you’re out of town for the weekend?” She got up to make tea.

I sighed. “Yep. And I’m billing the bastard overtime for it.” The last thing I could afford was to lose both Friday and Saturday night paychecks from the club. “I’m not sure what I’ll do about Nan. I was supposed to go down Sunday to spend the day with her.”

My grandmother looked forward to my weekly visit where we’d watch an episode or two of Little House on the Prairie and talk about our weeks. Frankly, without knowing how much longer she’d be on this earth, I hated not being able to spend the time with her.

“I’ll go there for you on Sunday,” Chloe said. “I like your grandmother.”

“I can’t ask you to give up your free time.” As generous as it was for her to offer, Sundays truly were our only days off.

“You’re not asking. I’m offering, so long as I can borrow your car. You’d do the same for me. I’ll miss seeing your face at the club this weekend, though. It’s not the same when one of us is gone.”

No, it wasn’t. I liked having a friend at the club. “Of course you can borrow my car. Use it for work, too.” I didn’t like the idea of her taking the bus at that hour. “You’ll make sure to have Mikey walk you out to the garage?” I always worried when we got off and took up the bouncer’s offers to see us out. But Chloe could be naive. What could I say? She was from Canada which meant she was way too trusting when it came to other people and their motives.

“Yes, Mom,” she joked.

“Thank you. And thank you for spending time with my nan. You know you’ll have to suffer through Little House.”

She smiled. “I don’t mind so long as it isn’t the blind school fire episode. That episode scarred me.”

I laughed because she was right. “I’m hoping this funeral is over by Thursday, so I’ll be back by next weekend.”

Her big blue eyes widened. “What funeral?”