help me then I’ll get you another one of those ice cream cones from the stand near the subway station.”
Her pale green eyes looked so earnest. I’d have been a fool to say no.
“Of course.”
She smiled.
“Really? That’d be so helpful—”
She’d barely uttered the words before her phone started vibrating on the couch beside her. I wondered if it was Forest Financial again, but I was too far away to read the caller ID. She cursed under her breath, tossed her laptop aside, and stood to retrieve it.
“I guess I should take this,” she said, shaking her head as she headed into my room.
The door closed behind her and I went through a mental checklist of the embarrassing things she could find in there. I thought I’d picked up my dirty clothes that morning, but I couldn’t recall. Not to mention, there was about a fifty-fifty chance that I had a box of unused condoms sitting out on my nightstand. Yeah, that’s right. Unused. Fuck. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d had a dry spell last this long.
Back in Boston, this never would have happened. My “Little Black Book”—aka my iPhone—was jam packed with women that would have been enough for one night. Now? Now I had Josephine hijacking my every thought so that there wasn’t room for any other woman.
I heard Josephine’s voice drift through the bedroom walls and I did my best to ignore it. She deserved some semblance of privacy.
“Hi Ms. Buchanan—Yes, I did receive your message.”
La la la, not listening.
“No. No. I’m getting paid in two days and I will put all of that money toward this month’s payment. That’s the best I can do right now—”
I paused my typing, too curious to pretend I wasn’t listening at that point. Was Josephine in some kind of money trouble? I tried to hear the remainder of her conversation, to decipher if she was talking to her landlord or someone else, but she must have moved away from the door.
It didn’t matter. I’d heard enough.
When she walked out a few minutes later, her paycheck was sitting inside an envelope next to her purse. She’d find it when she packed up for the day and I’d offer some excuse about needing to pay her early.
She closed the door and puffed out a breath of air as if trying to calm herself down. Even still, she looked frazzled. She brushed her hair back away from her face and then tucked her phone into her back pocket with a touch too much force.
“Everything okay?” I asked, doing my best to sound unbiased by what I’d just heard. A part of me wanted to ask her point blank if she was having money problems. I wanted to help her if she needed it, but I didn’t want to offend her either.
“Yup,” she replied with a thin, fake smile. “Fine.”
I was about to question her answer when she glanced up and met my eye. The emotion there warned me not to push the subject.
“About this weekend,” she began.
“What about it?” I asked.
She rounded the back of the couch as a smile crept onto her face.
“Does Dean have a margarita machine on that crazy-ass boat of his or are we going to have to stop and rent one on the way?”
I burst out laughing. Even in the middle of a stressful morning, Jo had a way of surprising me.
“Libations aplenty.” I grinned. “I promise.”
Chapter Fifteen
What Jo Wore
Post #1257: A little help from my friends…
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Today’s post is a little different. I won’t be sharing any outfits or accessories with you guys. Instead, it’s confession time.
My move to New York has been really hard. My parents weren’t thrilled with my decision to leave Texas (to put it lightly), and because of it, my mom and I haven’t talked in weeks.
That’s never happened before.
It’s hard not to think that maybe I’ve made the wrong decision in coming here, especially since I know how nervous they are about it. I’ll be honest, this city is NOT all sunshine and daisies. It’s stressful and intimidating. It’d be a lot easier if I had some family here, but I don’t. They’re all a billion miles away.
New York was my dream and it still is. I’m not ready to give up on it yet.
In the meantime, do you guys have any advice on how I should convince my parents that I’m doing the right thing? That just maybe I know what I’m doing?
Let me know what you think.
Until