AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My mother gives me far too much credit.”
“I have a confession to make.” She cleared her throat. “That has nothing to do with your mother.”
Confessions are never good. No one confessed awesome news, just shit that’s going to hurt. I didn’t like the sound of that so I teased her to avoid whatever she was about to say. “You’re wildly in love with me? You secretly have six kids? Wait. I know. You still like boy bands.”
“I do still like boy bands and I refuse to call it a guilty pleasure because I don’t feel guilty. You’ve seen my apartment. I’m not hiding secret babies. No, my confession is that Courtney asked me straight out if we’re dating and I denied it. Really vehemently. Like I may have overreacted.”
Okay, that was nothing like I was imagining. Relief flooded through me. Since I was driving in Brooklyn traffic, which demanded I keep my eyes on the road, I couldn’t see her face, but I thought it was interesting she didn’t deny being in love with me. There was no way she was, obviously, but it was still curious she didn’t vehemently deny it.
“Overreacted how?” I could care less, honestly.
“I panicked. I just totally choked. I didn’t know what to say and I knew she wouldn’t believe me if I totally denied it unless I said I can’t stand you. I’m sorry, that was a crappy thing to do. I would be mad if you said that about me.”
“You told her you can’t stand me?” I was a little offended but I knew Isla and I knew how important it was to her to feel in control and to keep our relationship a secret. I reached out and squeezed her knee. “I’m not sure how believable that is anymore, but I will roll with it if that’s what you want.”
Isla made a sound of frustration. “I don’t know what I want.”
I didn’t really love the sound of that. “I’m not sure it’s any better for a work environment to have two people hate each other than it is if they’re dating. Personally, I don’t think it's anyone’s business in either case.”
“I guess not.” She didn’t sound totally convinced though.
We’d been seeing each other for three weeks, spending every free minute we could together. Isla had jokingly called me her lover. I wasn’t sure how much longer we could pretend this was nothing.
“By the way, I’m not going to walk around sharing that we’re seeing each other, but if someone in my personal life asks me if something is going on between us, I’m going to say we’re dating. If anyone at work directly asks, I’m not sure what I’ll say.” I wasn’t. I wasn’t sure I could stand there and deny a relationship that was really starting to mean a hell of a lot to me. “But I’ll probably be honest if I’m really pressed.”
Isla sighed, but she didn’t say anything. I glanced over at her but I couldn’t read her expression.
“I don’t know. I just don’t want it to be a big deal. Speaking of work, I saw something I wanted to discuss with you. Their menu for the Best of Brooklyn cook-off was posted by Woodstock and it’s my menu. Martin and I were discussing it weeks ago, and he totally stole everything on it.”
“What? Are you kidding me?” I was actually shocked. “That is such a dick move.”
“I can’t decide what to do. Anything? Nothing? I can’t stand the idea of him just getting away with this but I have no clue what to do to fix it. I can’t exactly storm into Woodstock and accuse him of being a menu thief.”
“Yeah, that would be a bad idea.” Though I was a little surprised she wasn’t planning to do that. Isla was a bit of a hothead. “Do you have proof that it was your idea?”
“Yes, I have emails and texts between us.”
Tapping my thumbs on the steering wheel, I thought about it for a second. There wasn’t much in the way of legal recourse. But I agreed with her– he shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this. “I think we do the exact same menu. But better. You and I can cook circles around him.”
“What? Seriously? Won’t that be… bonkers?”
“Bonkers? I can tell you lived with your grandfather.”
Isla laughed. “Shut up. I think I actually picked it up from Felicia. But I’m serious. Everyone will notice.”
“That’s the point. Who would be bold enough to be the copycat? It will get people talking. Woodstock will either change their menu or they'll just lose to us.”
“I don’t know. That seems like a huge risk. We could look like the copycats. I don’t know how Sid would feel about that.”
“We have some time to think about it. But you’re right, he shouldn’t be allowed to do this to you. It’s total bullshit.”
“I would just beat him up but I like his family.”
I glanced at Isla. “You would beat him up? Did you take boxing lessons along with guitar lessons?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
Jesus. “Don’t piss you off. Is that what you’re saying?”
