Page 108 of Tell Me Something

He seemed intrigued. “So share with me.”

Why the hell not? At least he’d be happy for me. I handed over the letters.

He glanced down and read through them briefly. “Holy shit, Haylee, you got accepted to all of them?”

“I did.” I smiled. It did feel good to tell someone.

“This is a cause for celebration. Did you tell Josh?”

And therein lay the root of the mopeyness, if there was such a word. “He’s been out of town all week, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to him.”

He looked thoughtful and then went over to Nigel’s phone to dial a number on speaker.

I felt my heartbeat in my ears when I heard Josh’s voice answer.

“Josh, it’s Brian. I’m at your office, but I need a raincheck on dinner tonight.”

“All right, then why come to my office?” He sounded mildly annoyed, but that was nothing new.

“Well, I didn’t find out that I had other plans until I came here, and now I’m taking Haylee out to celebrate, instead.”

Silence. Brian glanced over at me and winked.

“Take me off speaker,” Josh commanded.

Brian didn’t seem the least bit concerned and picked up the phone mildly. “Okay. Done. Uh-huh. Yep. You got it. Talk to you later.” He hung up and then smiled at me. “I suggest we go before he gets here because he’s not in the best of moods.”

“What did he say when you took him off speaker?”

“Not anything worth repeating and nothing to worry about,” he said, smiling.

I doubted that highly, but I was anxious to get the hell out of the office. “Who are you calling now?” I asked as we got into a cab.

“Sasha. I figured maybe you would want her there, too. I know she’ll be thrilled for you.”

“I texted her earlier but haven’t heard back.”

“I think she’s probably at the gym; she leaves early on Fridays.”

“So where are we going?”

“Piano bar uptown. You’ll like it. It’s perfect for celebrating.”

“Brian, you don’t have to do this. I feel like I totally crashed your Friday night with my pity party.”

“You’re kidding, right? Come on, this is huge news. Did you let Mark know?”

“Uh, no, not yet.”

“He told me how impressed he was with your essay. He can make the trip down, so we should call him.”

“He told you he was impressed?”

Brian nodded and dialed his phone, putting it again on speaker. “Mark, I have Haylee here, and she has some news.” He gestured for me to take the phone.

“I got into all of the schools.”

“All of them?” He sounded astonished.