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I waited until the end of Carmen’s last day at Connecting Hearts to tell her I’d be with her at GoWithFriends. And she was as indignant as I’d expected for not telling her, with a generous amount of excitement sprinkled in that embarrassed me.
“How could you keep this from me?”
“I haven’t known that long. And also, I don’t tell anyone anything unless I want to.”
She waved that off, since that rule had ceased to apply to her a long time ago, and began gushing about how great everything was going to be.
“This is not like being sent to the same summer camp, Carmen.”
She only laughed. “Are you kidding me? From what I’ve heard…” She leaned closer and whispered, “The office atmosphere might actuallybelike a summer camp. They don’t do desks. There’s like, circles of bean bag chairs instead of conference tables, and people zoom down the halls on scooters.”
I blinked at her, waiting for the punchline. “Please tell me you’re lying.”
“I mean, I could be? These are just things I’ve heard. But GoWithFriends is all about comfort. So, I’m sure if you tell them how much you value your cubicle privacy, they’ll help you out.”
“I’ll be fine, Carmen. And don’t ever say cubicle privacy again. It sounds wrong.”
We stared at each other for several seconds before my poker face collapsed, and we both busted up laughing like twelve-year-old girls at a sleepover. Okay, I could do this. I could pretend to be a fun-loving, free-wheeling hipster if I had Carmen around. And Denver not around at all. Ugh, just the thought of him stole my momentary happiness.
I was still hoping we would see very little of each other. I would be behind a desk, just the way I liked it, while Denver was getting the chance to live out his dream as a professional wingman. Blech. I wasn’t sure what was worse: that being a wingman was his dream, or that all his dreams were coming true.
Carmen peered into my face. “A frown wrinkle is doing reps in your forehead again, Sadie. Everything will be fine. I promise.”
“You shouldn’t promise things outside of your control.”
“I’ll promise whatever I want. What’s the matter? Is it the scooter thing?”
“No, it’s…” I rubbed my forehead in the spot where a frown wrinkle was apparently making itself comfortable. “There’s this guy starting at GoWithFriends that I know.”
Carmen, of course, immediately began to get ideas that were WRONG, and I put my hands up to stop whatever was about to come out of her mouth.
“Whatever you’re thinking, throw it away. I mean, yes, he’s good looking. And I’m only admitting that because I know it’s one of your questions, and you may unfortunately see him one day with your own eyes, and I’m not a liar. But good looks aside, he is… total garbage. Annoying. Arrogant. He’s the phantom stinky smell in your fridge you can’t get rid of. A library fine on a book you totally returned on time. He’s—”
“Making you wax poetic. Fascinating. I can’t wait to meet him.” Carmen rubbed her hands together. “What’s his name?”
“Um, Bruce. Bruce Ban—dwidth.”
“You were going to call him Bruce Banner, weren’t you?”
“No.”
“Well, I don’t know about you not being a liar, but you’re definitely not a good liar. The Incredible Hulk? Really? What’s his real name? I’m not going to do anything to him. I’m just curious.”
I sighed. “Fine. His name is Denver Talcott. And I’m shutting up about him now.”
I closed up my computer and gathered my things before following her to the elevator. It had been a mistake to mention Denver at all, but I’d felt compelled to say something. Denver was a charmer. And the only thing worse than working with him would be working with him while he tried to work his magic on another one of my friends. He’d definitely be on the prowl now that Makayla had dumped him.
At least Carmen had been warned. I didn’t know a lot about her dating life except that it was a lot busier than mine. Like, she had one. And she wasn’t afraid to date guys she worked with as long as it never got serious.
“You start a week from Monday?” Carmen asked as the elevator doors slid open.
“Yep. See you on the other side.”
We parted ways on the first floor, and I walked out to meet up with carpool. My brother was already there, drumming pieces of red licorice on the steering wheel between bites. I got in next to him and rested my head back.
“Dan, do you ever eat anything with nutritional value?”
“We’re having a beet salad and lentil curry for dinner. Let a man live a little on his way home from work.”
