Page 29 of Loving London

“I have an office?” The tone of my voice rises an octave.

He shrugs. “It’s probably more of a cubical, but office sounds better.”

“Hey, a cubical works for me.” I grin.

I’m full from an incredible dinner and happy to be in good company. Brad really is a cool guy, and I can tell he’ll be a great boss. I was nervous going into this dinner, but it’s going great. The wine helps.

Speaking of amazing wine, I take another sip of the delicious red. I don’t remember what Brad said it was called, but it’s smooth and rich, and it goes down entirely too quickly.

“So, tell me, Mr. Brad Abernathy. Do you take all your new employees out to extravagant dinners?” I ask. The wine has apparently reached the point where I’ve stopped filtering my thoughts, and I’m allowing them all to just escape.

“Not all of them,” Brad replies with a slight smirk.

Feeling my cheeks flush, I place my wine glass down on the table. No matter how much it beckons me, I will not finish my fourth glass because then Brad would pour me a fifth, and that would present all sorts of problems.

“Which ones then?”

“Ones that I have an interest in spending time with,” he answers simply.

“You know I’m not going to sleep with you,” my wine brain makes me say. I press my lips together and raise my eyebrows in warning.

“You know I didn’t ask you to,” Brad responds easily.

“All right, just wanted to get that out there.” I nod with an air of smugness.

“So, tell me, how do you like LA so far?”

“I haven’t seen or done much yet. My flight got in late last night. I checked into the hotel and came to see you today. That’s pretty much the extent of it.”

“How long are you planning on staying at the hotel?”

“I’m not sure. But just until I find a place of my own.”

“Kate tells me that she’s going to convince you to move in with her. Has she approached you yet?”

I let out a small chuckle. “Yes, actually…like thirty seconds after I met her.”

“And?” he prompts with a hint of amusement lining his voice.

“I don’t know. I hardly know her, of course, but she seems really fun. I suppose it’s an option for now. Eventually, I want to do the whole independent thing. You know, first great job deserves my first place on my own. I’ll think about it. It might be nice to have someone to talk to. I don’t know anyone around here.”

“Doesn’t your sister live close? If I remember correctly, she goes to Stanford?”

“Yeah, she did. She graduated last month. She actually just left to do something with the rain forests in South America. I’m not exactly sure what she’s doing though. To be honest, the position sounds a little shady. It’s something about working on local legislation to stop deforestation, but I can’t figure out who she’s actually working for though.”

He nods. “You need to tell her to be extremely cautious. Many parts of South America are in a bit of distress right now with impeached presidents and corruption. Plus, they have that virus down there. Not to mention, if she’s standing up to the big businesses that profit from the destruction of forests, she could be putting herself in danger.”

Shrugging, I agree with him, “I know. But you don’t know Georgia. She’s a force of nature herself. She’s adventurous and fearless. All the stuff you just mentioned probably makes her want to go work in that part of the world even more. She would never let risks or fear dictate her life. It’s just who she is. She’s brave.” Some days, I wish I had a little bit of Georgia in me.

“Sounds like you two are a lot alike,” Brad says.

I scoff. “We are nothing alike. I’m sure she’s happy down there, living in some run-down shack. I would hate that. I’m way more materialistic than she is and a hell of a lot less brave.”

“There’s nothing wrong with liking the finer things in life, and I’d say you’re very brave. You dropped everything and moved to a city where you didn’t know anyone to chase your dream.” His lips turn up in a grin.

I shake my head. “I didn’t call you because I was being brave.”

“Then, why did you call me, London?”

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