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“What do you want?” She bobbed her head, pecked my shoe, and stared at me again. I sighed just like Buddy had, then picked her up and put her on the desk. She made a nest in the pile of wedding invitations, which was fine since I’d finished with them.
About an hour later, the muffled sound of dance music drifted into the office. I got up and parted the blinds so I could see what was going on and discovered about twenty people had gathered and were having drinks. Who the hell attended impromptu cocktail parties on Monday mornings?
I let the blinds fall shut again and returned to my seat. Loco got up and seemed agitated, and a moment later she raced across the desk and jumped at me. That startled me at first, but it seemed like she just wanted attention. I scooped her up in one arm and held her against my chest while I used my free hand to click through the emails on my screen.
Harper appeared in the doorway a few minutes later, and a huge smile spread across his face as he said, “Aw, you’re bonding with Loco. That makes me happy. I was wondering where she’d gone.”
“Turns out your chicken’s pretty good company. So’s Buddy. I’m just glad the chihuahua is off somewhere entertaining himself.”
“A few people dropped by, and they ended up calling some friends,” he said, as he went over and petted the golden retriever. Buddy didn’t seem impressed. “It’s turning into a party, so I came to see if you wanted to join us.”
“No thanks.”
He circled around to my side of the desk and sat down on a corner of it. “The emails and all this other stuff can wait, Phee. Please come outside. It’s a gorgeous day, and you’re sitting here in the dark.” He gestured toward the closed blinds. I’d turned on the lights, so it wasn’t actually dark. A case could potentially be made for gloomy, though.
“I need to get this done. It’s already been put off way too long.”
“I feel bad, because I said I’d help you and then some people dropped by unannounced.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’ve got this, so go have fun.”
“Are you sure?” When I nodded, he said, “Okay. You should go see Tristan when you’re ready for lunch, though. He’s prepping a ton of ingredients, and then he’s going to teach all of us how to assemble and roll vegan sushi. I’ll make sure he saves some for you.” I decided Tristan was a genius. Instead of trying to cook for a crowd, he was getting them to make their own lunch under the guise of a fun group activity. Brilliant.
I promised I wouldn’t skip lunch, and Harper finally returned to his party. The chicken in the crook of my arm squirmed a bit, and when I let go of her she half-flew, half scampered up onto my shoulder. At least I had two hands to work now. “That’s fine,” I told her, as she settled in. “But if you crap on me, I’m calling off this fledging friendship and going back to thinking you’re the stupidest creature that ever lived.”
Sometime later, Kel came into the office with a large manilla envelope tucked under his arm, and a laugh slipped from me. The chihuahua was strapped to his chest in a pink baby carrier, facing forward with his short legs sticking out. The carrier perfectly matched Kel’s pink shorts and T-shirt, which couldn’t be a coincidence.
The dog showed his teeth and started to growl when he saw me, and Kel exclaimed, “No, Pepe!” Then he grabbed a small plastic mirror that was hanging off the carrier and held it in front of the dog, who instantly stopped growling. He said, “Good boy,” and dropped the mirror, then picked up a chew toy that was also tethered to the carrier and gave it to the dog, who started mashing it with his back teeth.
“That contraption is amazing,” I said, as Kel petted Buddy, then moved the other chair closer and sat down right beside the retriever.
“Pepe’s a pretty challenging dog, but I’m learning how to deal with him. Just this morning, I discovered the mirror trick by accident. I guess he thinks he’s seeing a bigger, tougher dog, so he backs down. Also, the carrier is way easier than holding him for hours on end. There are about thirty people in the backyard right now, and that’s a recipe for disaster with this little guy.”
“I can imagine.” Kel slid the big envelope onto the desk, and I asked, “What’s this?”
“I’m not sure. A courier dropped it off a couple of minutes ago, and it has your name on it.” I opened the envelope and found three scripts, along with a note from Harper’s agent. It said she was counting on me to get him to read them ASAP, along with the others that were still on offer.
