Page 2 of Faking It With My New Boss

“I don’t know,” I said with a sigh, staring into the truck. “It was like a clown car. While I was packing things up, more just spontaneously appeared.”

“Well,” my best friend said with a resolved drop of her shoulders as she planted her hands on her hips. “Let’s do this thing.”

Five hours later, we finally dragged the last of the boxes into the house and shut the door behind us. I sagged onto the couch positioned at a bizarre angle in the general vicinity of the living room. Vanessa dropped down beside me and we turned our heads to look at each other. Both burst into laughter.

“You’re never living anywhere else,” she said. “This is it. Your one move.”

I nodded, my head rested against the back of the couch. “That works for me.”

“I am absolutely starving. Let’s order pizza,” she said.

Neither of us moved and a few seconds later, I laughed again.

“We’re making great progress here,” I said.

“Yep.” She groaned and pulled herself up. “Alright. Since this is my neck of the woods, I’ll pick the place. Your usual?”

“Absolutely. Onions and pineapple.”

Vanessa shook her head as she picked up her cell phone from where she left it on the counter.

“Still gross.”

When the pizza arrived, we each sprawled on our respective ends of the couch and opened our individual boxes. The first bite was decadent and delicious. I knew I was hungry, but didn't realize just how ravenous until I swallowed that first delicious chunk of bread and oily cheese cut by the sweetness of the pineapple.

“I forgot to text Robert,” I said, wiping my mouth with a napkin.

Vanessa gave me a questioning look. “Why do you need to text your ex-husband?”

“To let him know I got settled in. We’re on good terms now. I told you that,” I said.

“Yeah,” she said, not sounding totally convinced. “That whole situation is still really weird to me.”

“It’s not weird. Robert and I make far better friends than we ever did as a married couple, and Tina is wonderful. You’d really like her. Besides, it’s not like I’m planning on calling them every day. The two of them are handling some last-minute stuff that didn’t get wrapped up before I left, and they just wanted me to check in to let them know I’m safe. It’s called caring about your fellow man.”

“Alright, I’ll give them that,” Vanessa said, reaching for another slice of pizza. “But then we’re calling a moratorium on all things your old life. You’re here now. We’re finally back together and it’s time to have some fun. Are you excited about starting school soon?”

“Trying to be,” I admitted. “Maybe I’ll be more excited when I have a way to pay for it.”

“I thought you said you have that interview in a few days,” Vanessa said.

“I do. But I’m really nervous about it,” I said.

She gave me an incredulous look. “There’s no reason for you to be nervous. It might not have been what you wanted to do for the rest of your life, but you are an amazing interior designer. These restaurants would be lucky to have you.”

“Hotels,” I said. “And it’s just one. The hospitality company is opening a new hotel and wants a fresh look. It would be something to get some money in my bank and hopefully I could parlay it into a permanent position. I just need something that’s going to pay for school and rent.”

“You’ll get it. Don’t worry,” Vanessa said. “And then before you know it, you’ll pass the bar and enter the realm of the lawyers.”

“That sounds fancy,” I said. “Is there an initiation I should be aware of?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out,” she said, winking at me. “And speaking of out, let’s finish eating and get ready.”

“Get ready for what?” I asked.

“Dancing,” she said as if we had already come to this understanding and I was ruining it by not knowing what she was talking about. “I want to bring you to my favorite club.”

I shook my head. “Not tonight. I am so exhausted from all this.”

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