Page 48 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

This distracted her. She went through her ideas, which were excellent, and chatted about the activity. She was more excited about it than anyone else I’d talked to today. After a few minutes of her telling me that she’d make a beach-themed mini golf hole with all breakfast foods, she abruptly stopped and held up a finger. “I think I should be there for mini golf.”

“You’re going to be in a huge cast.” I pointed out. I supposed, if she was up for it, someone could push her around in a wheelchair, but the doctor had told her that she should be laying down with her leg up as much as possible.

“Virtually.” She smiled. “Like a video call.”

This again.

Marissa snapped her fingers. “I know! You can have Jessica carry me around on a tablet.”

We’d talked about this before, and I’d been hoping Marissa wouldn’t bring it up again, but here we were. From what I knew of Jessica, she might enjoy doing something like that, but only if it was for anyone besides Marissa. “It’s something to consider,” I said even as I thought of three other people who could do it.

“Great, I’ll call her and let her know.”

A spike of irritation filled me. “It can’t be Jessica.”

“Why not?” Marissa pouted.

“Because I need her.”

Marissa’s jaw hinged open, and anger flashed in her eyes.

I realized my comment could be interpreted several ways and clarified. “She’s running the mini golf activity. She can’t be doing that and worrying about you. I’ll find someone else to take care of you.”

Now Marissa sulked. “Why is she running it? Why aren’t you doing it?”

I stared at Marissa. “Me?”

She laughed, and the sound was too loud for the space. “Right. I forgot. You’re not exactly a people person.”

Time for some flattery. “People are your thing.” Which was true. Marissa was usually great with people; she loved parties and found almost everyone interesting.

When I thought about her like that, she and Jessica weren’t all that different.

Except they were.

Marissa beamed. “So true.” She pushed aside her half-eaten sushi roll and looked at me. “Being trapped here has given me some time to think. We don’t do anything together anymore.”

I didn’t point out that the two of us had hardly hung out since college, and that, for my part at least, it was a choice, not an oversight.

She continued. “So when I’m out of here and can move around, we need to do stuff. There are a lot of fun things to see in the city, if you know where to look.”

Marissa was beautiful, smart, business savvy, and liked to have a good time. I’d known her since my early teens. If there was anyone I should be comfortable with, it should be her, but I wasn’t. Not even close. The thought of having to plan for an entire afternoon or evening alone with Marissa made me want to loosen my tie. It would take hours of flower arranging and maybe a pep talk from Aunt Mei before I could even consider it.

On the other hand, spending an evening with Jessica filled me with the exact opposite of dread.

I cut that line of thought off.

Keep things about Marissa’s condition and the retreat.

I steered the conversation back on track. “Why don’t you get through surgery first and heal?”

“Right. Of course.” Marissa hit me with a wide smile. “After that.”

If I told her no now, I’d have to explain, and I wasn’t even sure what to say other than I thought of her as a friend but that she drained me. So I gave a noncommittal grunt and rose to gather the plates. When I noticed she’d only had a few bites, I frowned. “You didn’t eat much of this.”

“My parents brought a late lunch,” Marissa said without hesitation.

“But you are eating, right?” I’d watched her go through this before, and it hadn’t been pretty.

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