Page 15 of Partner Pursuit
“No, not with you anyway. MaybeTim.”
“Great,” Audrey said sarcastically. They entered the salad restaurant and picked up their salads from thepre-orderedtake-outshelf. “At least Colette seems upfront. So that’s good. I respect that.” Sipping the Juice Javaice-coldsmoothie definitely made the heat more bearable. “Also, the dad thing means we have somewhat similar backgrounds.”
“How?” Winnie asked as they ambled back to the office. “Your dad died. He didn’t cheat onyourmom.”
“No. He adored my mom. But still, she lost her dad, in a sense, and her whole unit of family changed. And it sounds like they were far worse off financially.”
“Interesting. But I still wouldn’t trust her. I mean, you shouldn’t be intimidated by her, but you shouldn’t trust her.” Winnie glanced at her. “You should ask Hunter for advice aboutMalaburn.”
“I don’t want him to think I can’t handle it.” Hunter was the main partner supporting her. She couldn’t create any doubt inhismind.
“You’re not superwoman. He could help you,” Winnie said. “Colette’s looking for work; she should’ve been assigned to work with Malaburn. She was envious that you were doing another pitch.”
Audrey nodded. “And yet I don’t think she’ll ask Malaburnforwork.”
The sky darkened. One of those sudden New York monsoon thunderstorms was about to erupt. They sprinted the last block back to the office. Winnie pushed open the doors to the lobby, and the coldair-conditioninghit them like anice blast.
“No,” Winnie agreed. “Malaburn is too much of a nightmare. Are you really going tosayyes?”
Audrey shivered.Frozen hell.“If it’s just updating one memo, I can do a good job and leave him with a favorable impression.” They entered the elevator, and Audrey pushed the buttons for their floors.
Audrey checked her messages when she got back to the office, but no return calls saved her. She quickly ate lunch at her desk and then called Malaburn to agree solely to update the memo. She could do it. He wouldn’t make her crythistime.
Chapter Five
Her online date had suggested a bike ride, so on Saturday morning, Audrey rolled her blue bike out the front door of her brownstone onto the street. She probably should’ve cleaned the dust off of it. At least there was a breeze and not too muchhumidity.
“Hey, Audrey, going for a bike ride?” Jake asked.
She jumped. She hadn’t been expecting to bump into Jake. He had a coffee in one hand and Biscuit on the leash. Biscuit was intently sniffing the tree in front of a neighbor’stownhouse.
“Yes, perfect day for one.” Audrey grinned athim.
He stepped closer to her. Her heart was fizzing like she’d just swallowed ahighly-caffeinateddrink.
“I could join you if you wait a bit,” hesaid.
That would’ve been perfect.But no, she had to reply, “Umm, actually I’m meeting a blind date for a bikeride.”
“Really?” He lookedsurprised.
“Yes, really.”Unfortunately, really.
“I’ve never done a blind date. That takesguts.”
“Or desperation,” Audreymuttered.
“No need for desperation. You just need to leave your office every once in a while, and you’ddofine.”
Audrey felt herself glowing at the compliment, and she looked away briefly before he could notice her mooningoverhim.
Biscuit finished inspecting the tree and was now pulling to go down the block. Jake waved goodbye.
This date had better be worth it. She bicycled to their established meeting spot: the John Lennon memorial circle. Quite a crowd of people was gathered there. A young man with long hair was playing his guitar, singing “Yellow Submarine.” Another guy had a sign that said, “$1 for a joke; dollar back if you don’t laugh.” She didn’t see her date, who was supposed to be on a green ten speed. She scanned the crowd again and then looked back at the entering pathway.
A guy was bicycling towards her on a green ten speed—in afull-bodyblack speedo outfit.
He stopped in front of her. “Hi, I’m Dan. Are you Audrey?”
