could fast-forward over this part of my life and get to the end part where I’m cool with everything. I’m being rushed into something I’m not ready for, but it’s not exactly my life, is it?
May’s voice leaks into my consciousness. “Are you listening to me?”
I look over at her. “Oh, yeah. I heard every word you said.”
“Oh, yeah? What color are my flower arrangements going to be, then?”
My brain buzzes through all the words that may have filtered in. “Red?” It’s a shot in the dark; I have no idea.
She rolls her eyes. “I knew you weren’t paying attention. I said pink, Toni. Pink flowers. Please . . . red? Too bold. Red is for bold people like you. Pink is for softer people like me.”
That makes me laugh. For the first time all day I feel a little bit of joy slipping into my heart. “You’re not bold?”
She looks offended. “No, I’m not bold. I’m soft and demure.”
I’m laughing so hard, I have to hold my stomach to keep it from exploding. I feel like I’ve done twenty sets of crunches.
“I don’t see what’s so funny.”
We’re pulling up to the warehouse door when I can finally speak normally again. “You’re the girl who just basically attacked a gangbanger and forced him to give his phone number so that she could invite him to her ‘urban wedding’ in his ’hood.” I shake my head. “If that shit ain’t bold, I don’t know what bold is.”
She sniffs as she presses the button that will open the door. “I was just going with the moment.”
I snort. “Yeah. Going with the moment in the boldest, baddest-ass way you possibly could have. There was nothing demure about that, let me tell you. If you’re using pink flowers, they’d better be hot pink.”
She’s smiling as she pulls the van into the warehouse.
I look at her and can’t help but smile too. “What are you so happy about?”
She throws the van into park and turns the ignition off, looking over at me with a goofy expression on her face. “The baddest-ass girl I know just called me badass.” She grins harder. “Why wouldn’t I be happy?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I leave May to her photograph and video uploading in the cubicles and head upstairs, expecting to find Ozzie and Thibault. But when I get there, it’s just Lucky sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him. I hesitate in the doorway, wondering if I should turn around and leave. This is the first time I’ve seen him at work in a while and it’s immediately awkward. A tiny slice of regret slides through me. We probably should have just left everything alone, but it’s too late now.
“Hey there,” he says, a smile lighting up his face.
I walk into the room, my heart speeding up a little. He’s happy to see me, and I’m happy to see him too; I might as well admit it. A grin breaks out across my face, unbidden. “Hey there.”
I sit down in the chair across from him, looking at my fingers as they fumble around together. I don’t know what to do with my hands, when normally I don’t give them a second thought. “What’s up?” I ask, hoping he won’t notice my nervousness.
“Not much. Just finished up a meeting with Jenny, and I was sitting here wondering what I’m supposed to do with the rest of my day.”
“I just finished with May.” I shake my head. “She’s crazy.”
Lucky stands, pushing his chair back with his legs. “Come on. You can tell me all about it over drinks.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say no, but instead I shrug. With my assignment done for the day, I don’t really have anything better to do. I should probably write a report about what happened with Marc the gangbanger and Alice Inwonderland, but that can wait until later. It’s not like I’m going to forget it.
I stand with Lucky, then lean over and grab his coffee cup to take it to the sink for him as he walks to the door.
When I join him there he smiles. “Thanks. You’re a pal.”
I slug him in the gut as I walk past and he bends at the waist, pretending to be injured. I can’t stop smiling as I move through the sword room.
“My car or yours?” I ask.
“Are you kidding? My car, of course.”
I turn around and walk backward so I can glower at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?