To distract her from her morose thoughts, she checkedher email.
To: Audrey Willems
From: Jake Miller
Date: September 22
Subject:Go Women!
I asked my dad about that case. Anall-womenteam pitched for that engagement and won it. You might want to mentionthatto thepowers-that-be.
Cheers,
Jake
She smiled. That was sweet of Jake. It wasn’t exactly a romantic email, but it was even more touching and significant because it was supportive. The car cut across the Central Park 66thStreet transverse, and she looked out the window at the entwined trees reaching towards the sky behind the stone walls.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Audrey, Eve, and Max sat in a booth in their favorite brunch place in Tribeca, where they’d been meeting since they’d all first moved to New York after college. Thewhite-washedwooden shipboard siding and a wornwooden sign with a picture of a black and white cow swinging abovethe counter gave it ahomey-farmhouse-in-Vermontvibe. With scents of pancakes cooking, butter sizzling, eggs frying, warm bread baking, and hazelnut coffee brewing, the restaurant waslike a warm hug.Max had found it only a few blocks away from hisapartment.
Audrey stirred her tea. “So that’s it. I feel like there are hints that something is going to happen, but then it doesn’t.” The waiter set down their brunch plates.
“It sounds to me like something would’ve happened after the jazz club if his sister hadn’t needed him. And then it was just bad timing that he was traveling for work for two weeks.” Eve signaled the waiter for a coffee refill. “Clearly he likes you, or he wouldn’t keep coming by.”
“He likes you, but you’re in the friend zone,” Max said, his brown eyes sympathetic.
“But how did I get in the friend zone? I don’t want to be in the friendzone.”
“You missed a pass,”Maxsaid.
“I don’t know. Do you think men and women can just be friends?” Eve asked. The smell of waffles wafted over to their table as a waitress passed with a tray full of plates offreshly-bakedwaffles and strawberries.
“Of course, they can. We’re all friends,” Max said, leaningback.
“Well, yes, but he already has lots of female friends based on the number at his party,”Evesaid.
“I hope he holds another party soon so I can meet all the female friends,” Max said. “Audrey’s cooking him dinner—so Jake gets food and companionship.”
“I thought women wanted companionship and men wanted sex.” Eve nodded thanks to the waiter as he poured her coffee.
“Men like companionship—especially if it comes with food. Data shows men live longer if they’re married,”Maxsaid.
“Hello! Hello!! I am still here!” Audrey waved her hands, sitting up straighter in the plush booth.
“And so you are…” Max sipped his coffee.
“I seem to be in the friend zone with both Tim and Jake. With Tim, I can understand—we work together, but why Jake too?” Audrey asked. “Let’s get back to the crucial question: how do I get out of the friendzone?”
“Answer the door in a negligee.” Max raised an eyebrow suggestively.
“Are you serious?” Audrey asked.
“Right now, you’re like Mother Theresa/Julia Child—you’ve got to get his mind in the gutter.”
“But he knows I wear sweats tobed.”
“Good God, why are you doing that? And how does he know?”Max asked.