ignoring the sinking feeling in my stomach at the thought of my credit card bill.
“Hey, you’re not really bad. I can think of far worse things.” Sarah laughed. “And this is an awesome step. I’m so proud that you finally joined a dating app that you think can really work. Reach for the stars, girl.”
“I mean, I just hope it works. It better work for two thousand dollars. That is just so much money!” I shook my head. “I’m so broke now.”
“Don’t worry, girl, I’ve got lunch today.” Sarah took a sip of her water. “So feel free to order whatever else you want.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” I shook my head. “I’m not that broke. I can afford lunch.”
“No, I want to. And I owe you anyway. You promised you’d help me, right?”
“What did I promise to help you with again?”
“You promised you would help me with my makeover.”
“Oh yeah, of course, I’m definitely on top of that. I will find the best makeup artist for you and a hairdresser.” I looked at her dull, long brown hair. “I think some highlights would really make you pop.”
“What do you mean, make me pop?”
“I think they’ll warm up your complexion. They’ll make you look gorgeous.” I stared at my friend, who was very naturally pretty but didn’t know how to make the best of what she had. “And after I get my man, we’ll get you a man too.”
“Oh Gemma, you’re the best!” Sarah grabbed another roll and chewed happily. I knew she wanted a boyfriend as badly as I did. “So have you had any responses from any guys yet?”
“Actually, I’ve had twenty-five responses in one day,” I said ecstatically. “Can you believe it? These are all top-notch guys, not like some Joe Schmo that works at Starbucks.”
“What’s wrong with working at Starbucks?”
“Come on now, Sarah, would you date a guy that works at Starbucks?”
“Maybe. Then he could hook me up with mocha Frappuccinos every day.”
“You’re the last person that needs to be hooked up with mocha Frappuccinos. You’re loaded.” I smiled at Sarah and tried not to be envious of the fact that she was the only child of millionaires and as such had more money than she knew what to do with. She never tried to make me feel bad about the fact that she had so much money though. She was practically American royalty along with her other best friend, Harry Parker Huntington, who, if I was honest, I didn’t really like. I wanted to tell her to ditch him because he was an arrogant, cocky asshole, but I knew that would never happen.
“So let me hear about some of these guys’ profiles. Any winners?”
“Well, I don’t know if we have time, right now. I haven’t even looked at them myself, and I have to get back to the office in about twenty minutes. We’ve got a video meeting this afternoon with a Danish guy that’s in the Amazon right now. He has discovered some new artifacts from one of the Amerindian tribes in Brazil. I think the Arawaks.”
“Oh cool.” She looked interested. “I’d love to hear more about that as well. Maybe we could grab dinner sometime?”
“That sounds like a plan to me. I would absolutely love that.”
“Okay, perfect. And you said I could also come to your Christmas office party, right?” She looked at me, hopefully. “You know, I would absolutely love to get a job with you.”
“Really, Sarah?” I raised an eyebrow. “I work at the American Museum of Natural History. You love British history and I’m not sure you’ll enjoy what we do.” I paused. I didn’t want to burst her bubble. Sarah was one of my best friends from grad school. We’d both studied history and been in a couple of different classes together, though I was more focused on anthropology and she was more focused on Tudor England. I’d gotten a job right away, but she had struggled to find any work and I knew that she was upset and worried about her prospects. Granted, she didn’t have to worry about a paycheck like most of us, so she wasn’t that worried. But I knew she wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet and not keep accepting money from her parents.
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But let’s talk about my job woes another time. So what are you looking for in a man?”
“You know what I’m looking for? I’m looking for a man that is tall,