Page 37 of The Second Chance Year

After Alex has done a sufficient amount of schmoozing, we make our way to a circle of outdoor couches arranged under a string of twinkling lights. A group of people from his office are sitting around with cocktails in their hands, and Alex and I take the last two seats. Alex immediately gets sucked into a conversation about finance-related things that are completely over my head, so I introduce myself to the man sitting on the other side of me.

He gives me a firm handshake and tells me his name is Brett.

“I don’t think we’ve met before, have we?” I ask. By this point, I know most of Alex’s coworkers.

“No, I’d definitely remember meetingyou.” He flashes his perfectly straight, white teeth, and I almost expect them toglint with a cartoony sparkle. Is he hitting on me? Because I’m pretty sure he saw me sit down with my boyfriend.

Brett tells me he’s a recent hire at Alex’s company, and then launches into a ten-minute monologue about all the firms that were competing for him. Finally, he seems to remember that conversations are supposed to go two ways, because he asks me, “So, what do you do, Sadie?”

“I work at Xavier’s. It’s a restaurant in Williamsburg.”

He nods. “Yeah, I’ve heard of Xavier’s. Never been, though.” He gives me a shrug. “To be honest, I don’t make it out of Manhattan much, unless I’m headed to the Hamptons.”

Right. “Sorry to hear that, Brett.”

“But you never know,” he continues. “With the right motivation, I might be convinced to come out and try it.” He gives me a meaningful look, and I stare back at him.

If Brett is expecting me to convince him to come out to Xavier’s, he’s going to be waiting a very long time.

Brett finally breaks the silence. “I’m not surprised you’re in the restaurant business.”

“Really?” I’m at the edge of my seat to see where he’s going with this.

“Yeah.” He flashes me another glinty grin. “You seem like you’d do really well in the kind of job where you work for tips.”

Wow.

“Well!” I keep my voice sugary sweet. “It’s nice to meet you, Brett.” I shift in my seat so I can angle my arm into Alex’s side and press my knee against his. He keeps talking to the guy to his right, so I give him a good jab with my elbow. Finally, Alex seems to realize that I want his attention. He turns and puts an arm around me. “I think my girlfriend is trying to tell mesomething,” Alex says to the guy he’s been talking to, and they both laugh. “Do you need another drink, honey?”

“Yes. I definitely need another drink.”

We head to the bar and order cocktails. “Well, I met the new guy, Brett,” I tell Alex, rolling my eyes. “He seems like a real charmer.”

Alex shrugs. “He’s not so bad when you get to know him.”

I have a flash of Kasumi rebuking me for putting up with Alex’s finance-bro friends. I can almost hear her muttering,On what planet would Brett ever benot so bad?And damn it. I miss her.

I look out across the rooftop, scanning the party guests. “Is that new woman here?” I ask Alex. “The one you hired a couple of months back?” Most of the women I meet at these events are girlfriends or wives. It’s nice to remember that in addition to Brett, they recently hired a qualified woman, too.

“Um, no.” Alex’s gaze slides over my shoulder to the view of the skyline.

“Oh, too bad. Why didn’t she come?”

“Uh, not sure,” he says, turning to take our drinks from the bartender.

I cock my head, trying to meet his gaze. “Maybe I’ll meet her next time.”

“Maybe.” Alex hands me my drink, but still doesn’t make eye contact. I watch him scan the crowd, almost like he’s looking for someone to save him. It takes a minute, but when it comes to me, a knot forms in my gut.

“I’m not going to meet her, am I?” I slowly shake my head. “Because you didn’t actually hire her.”

Alex sets his old-fashioned down on the bar. “Look…”

“Oh God.” I didn’t think it could get worse, but it just got worse. “You hired Brett instead, didn’t you?”

Alex clears his throat. “There were a lot of factors that went into the decision.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Did you even talk to Zach about hiring her? Or was that just something you said to get me to be quiet?”

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