Page 2 of Thanks for the Memories
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, she’s still pretty far out at sea. There’s plenty of time for movement.”
“Exactly. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Lila and my other roommate, Gabby, gave me a lesson in hurricane preparedness. Loads of water, flashlights, a generator, and lots of snacks. Thankfully, our house, which was actually the house Lila grew up in, has these fancy hurricane shutters so I don’t have to worry about glass shattering everywhere. I’ve seen those weather reports and what can happen when a Category 5 hits. It’s really scary.
Apparently, sometimes people even have hurricane parties. Maybe that’s after they know they are safely out of the path? I’m not really caught up on hurricane party etiquette. I’ve been trying to follow the potential paths of the storm, but every time I look at the weather model it just looks like someone drew a bunch of squiggly lines on a map. Hopefully someone in the hurricane tracking world knows what they’re doing when they put those on the news, at least I hope so.
My sister alreadytoldme that I should stay at her house if the storm head toward our area. That’s a hard pass for me. Spending days inside with my sister and no electricity would be torturous. Besides, I’m really happy in my new home, and Lila and Gabby have lived in Florida their entire lives. I’ll take my chances surviving with them over Kennedy any day.
“It’ll be fine,” he assures me.
A knot of tension moves around in my stomach. “Yeah. I just hope it doesn’t interfere with the cruise line convention.”
One of our properties is hosting a massive event for all the big cruise lines. We’re expecting hundreds of people from all over the world; obviously a massive weather system could put a damper on that.
“I’m not worried about it,” Jeremy says.
Of course he’s not. I’ve never seen him get flustered.
“By the way, I finally went to Golden.”
My ears perk up at the mention of my friend Dante’s restaurant.
I sit down in my chair and pick up my coffee cup.
“And?” I ask eagerly. “What did you think?”
“It was fine.”
I frown. “That’s it.”
He sits down at his desk, which is adjacent to mine. “It was good but nothing spectacular.”
Ah, what’s he saying? Golden is more than just good. The food is phenomenal, and the chef …well, that’s a whole other story.
Jeremy must catch on to my shock. I’ve been telling him to go to Golden since it opened last month.
“Okay, the seared ahi was the best I’ve ever tasted. Everything else was just decent.”
I’m actually surprised that he wasn’t impressed. Everyone I’ve referred has loved it so far. Maybe he just ordered the wrong items or it was an off day.
Just as I’m about to bring up the menu on my laptop, our co-workers Gretchen and Amanda arrive.
“Whatever, Amanda. I’m not giving you any more advice,” Gretchen snaps. “If you can’t see what’s right in front of your eyes, I’m wasting my breath.”
“Morning,” Amanda says to us, clearly ignoring Gretchen’s lecture.
Poor Jeremy. When Carl isn’t in the office, he’s the lone wolf working with a bunch of women. Although, according to him, he’s the envy of all his friends.
“What’s happening here?” Amanda asks.
“We’re just talking about Golden,” I say. “Ourfriend Jeremy didn’t think it was that great.”
He shrugs nonchalantly, which makes me want to change his mind even more.
“I just toldourfriend Reagan that it was fine, just not the best I’ve ever had,” he explains with a smirk. “Don’t take it so personally. It’s not your restaurant.”
“She’s very protective of Chef Dante,” Amanda interjects.
