Page 14 of Detective Daddy Next Door

"Daisy's saying hi. We're at lunch."

"Oh, say hi to her for me," Ava replies.

I nod and wait for her to continue.

"I'm going out for drinks tonight and I was wondering if you'd want to come," Ava says.

"Umm."

"Daisy could come too if she's up for it."

I turn to Daisy. "Ava wants to know if you'd like to come out to get some drinks tonight."

She puts a bunch of chips in her mouth and shakes her head. "No, I'm taking work home."

"Daisy's busy tonight," I say to Ava.

"Alright. Are you coming though? I can come pick you up. I've been holed up in the house every night. If I don’t go drinking tonight, I’m going to lose it."

I shake my head and laugh. "Alright," I drawl. “What time?"

"7…8:30?"

"8:30 is too late for me. I'll have to be home by 10 p.m. so I can get up for work early tomorrow."

"Err...tomorrow is Saturday, miss," Ava says.

"Oh yeah, right. Okay, 8:30 will be fine."

"Alright, I'll come at 8."

I nod and tell her bye.

"Not only do you not have a healthy appetite, you also have suddenly lost track of the days. What's wrong?"

I stall, searching for a reasonable answer. Myles told me he's an undercover detective. I'll wait to see how this plays out first before informing anyone at work.

I lie to Daisy again. "I'm on my period."

And I die inside a little for lying to her.

I'm in front of the mirror, blending my blush, when I hear the hoot of a car horn outside. I look down at the time on my phone. It's 7:30. I shake my head and make for the front door.

Ava is honking the horn again when I open it.

"Stop!" I scream at her.

"It's time to go!" she screams back at me.

One or two window curtains are drawn aside by my neighbors, and I run toward Ava's car. I stick my head through the passenger’s side. "No, it's not. You said 8:30."

She puts on her car light and looks at her watch. "You're right. But there's traffic. Think about how long it'll take for us to get to the bar."

"Well, I'm not ready."

She squints at me. "You look ready to me."

"Please, come in while I get dressed. You wouldn't want me going to the bar looking like this," I point to my penguin print pajamas.

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