Love for Scale (16 page)

Unfortunately for them, neither Tina nor Rachel qualified.

“I’d like you to run the programs this year,” Tina said over her freshly nuked bowl of leftover pasta.

Rachel looked up at her boss. “Really? How come?” This was good news. Rachel had been in the thick of the programs last year, but her co-worker Angie had been in charge, meaning she had been the one responsible for all of the budgeting, planning, and buying. Rachel was always looking for a new challenge so the opportunity sounded exciting.

Tina glanced at the door. “Between you and me, Angie did a terrible job last year and I got a lot of complaints from parents.” She shoved a forkful of bloated penne into her mouth. “And that’s the last thing I need, believe me.”

“I can imagine,” Rachel said, moving her fork around in her salad, wishing she had Tina’s pasta, or better yet, a Big Mac for lunch. Anything other than
another
salad.

“So I’d like to see a two week—minus Christmas, of course—schedule of programs, supplies and any guests you’d like to bring in.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun.” Rachel’s gears started turning, planning out day by day activities.

“Can you get that to me by the end of the week?” Tina asked, cringing. “I know it’s short notice, but if I’m going to post a schedule for parents, I’m going to need it really soon.”

It’s already Wednesday and you just thought of this now?
Rachel wondered. “Sure, that’s no problem,” she said out loud, smiling at her boss. “Thanks a lot for letting me do it this year.”

Putting the lid on her empty container and throwing it into her lunch bag, Tina smiled. “It’s okay, I’m sure you’ll have some good ideas. It’s not rocket science, just make sure that the kids are entertained and no one gets hurt. Hurt kids are a very bad thing.” She picked up her lunch bag and tossed it onto the counter beside her purse. “I’m going out on the floor, you’ve still got some time left on your lunch, don’t you?”

Rachel glanced at the clock on the wall. “Yeah, about ten minutes.”

“Okay, see you out there in a bit, then. I’m going to go tell Angie that you’re going to be doing the programming this year.”

Rachel deflated. Not only was Angie trying to claw her way up among the ranks of library management, but she was also extremely sensitive, known to burst into tears almost without provocation. And worse, she held grudges. Rachel didn’t want to be on the receiving end of her co-worker’s long lasting scorn.

Tina grinned, being very familiar with Angie and her ‘moods.’ “Don’t worry, she hated doing it last year, and just in case she had designs on doing it again, I’ve got a special project for her, much more suited to her ‘needs.’” Not bothering to explain Angie’s new special project, Tina winked and ducked out of the staff room.

Looking down at the remnants of her unappealing salad, Rachel sighed. She got up from the table and took her container over to the garbage, dumping its contents into the bin.

She glanced at the clock again; she still had time left. She fumbled in her purse for her Weight Watchers journal and looked at the phone number scrawled on it, picked up the phone and dialed Brian’s number. Planning to leave a message, she rehearsed in her head what she would say.
“Hi, it’s Rachel returning your call…”
No, he might not know who it was
just by first name.
“Hi, it’s Rachel Stern returning your call. Sorry, I missed you. If you’d like to try me again, I’ll be home after seven tonight.”
That gave her plenty of time to get home from her Aquafit class. Satisfied, she listened to the rings, waiting for voicemail to pick up.

“Hello?”

Oh my God, he’s home
. Rachel froze, not sure what to do.

“Hello?”

She had to say something. “Uh, hi, Brian?” Good start.

“Yes, speaking.” His voice sounded lower over the phone. Lower and more professional. Very sexy.

“It’s Rachel Stern returning your call. I uh didn’t really expect you home at this time of day.” She leaned on the wall, closing her eyes.

“Hey, Rachel thanks for giving me a call back. I sometimes work from home. You’ve caught me between appointments, so I’ve only got a second to talk.” He paused for a deep breath. “I guess you’ve probably heard about Sheri and me.”

“Yeah,” Rachel said. “She told me last night.”

“Well, I was wondering if you and I could go out, for a coffee or something.”

Rachel’s heart jumped into her throat. “Uh, sure.”

“How’s tonight? I can meet up with you when you get off work.”

Tonight? What about Aquafit? A change of clothes? Rachel looked down at her standard work outfit: ankle length black skirt (no leg shaving required) and gray sweater set. Hardly a good outfit to make a good impression. In fact, she was wearing the same outfit the last time she’d seen him. That just wouldn’t do. She really needed some new clothes. “Um, tonight would be okay, but can I meet you somewhere? I’ve got to do an errand right after work.” She prayed that he didn’t ask her about her supposed errand, she was scrambling with the conversation as it was.

“Okay, you tell me what time and somewhere that’s convenient.”

Rachel added up how long she figured it would take her to get home, change and be somewhere to meet Brian. So much for Aquafit class. “How’s six at the Starbucks on Chester Street?” She automatically suggested her favorite coffee house. The one she hadn’t been to since she had stopped to get her and Sheri drinks over two weeks ago. She wasn’t sure if she could turn down a mochaccino if it was staring her in the face.

“That sounds fine, I’ll see you then, Rachel.” He paused. “But, um can we not tell Sheri about this?”

I wasn’t planning on it
, Rachel thought. But suddenly she was struck through with a sharp pang of guilt. How could she lie to her best friend? “Sure,” she said, figuring she should see what Brian had to say and would then decide what to tell Sheri.

“Thanks, see you then.”

“Okay, Brian,” Rachel shivered when she used his name. “Bye.”

She hung up the phone and shoved her Weight Watchers journal back into her purse. Pushing the growing knot of guilt to the back of her brain, she jogged out of the staff room to get back to work, hoping the rest of her day would go by quickly.

* * *

Wanting to get there first so that she could choose the table and already be sitting at it, Rachel walked into the café almost a full ten minutes early. Her heart palpitating hard in her chest, she looked around the restaurant, mostly to scope for Sheri or someone who knew Sheri. She already had a guilty conscience and wished she’d picked somewhere neither of them frequented.

Sitting at a little table in the corner was Brian. He did a little wave when her gaze fell upon him. Damn. So much for getting a good table. Instead of sitting at one of the tables with the plush upholstered chairs, he was at a wrought iron French patio set. Not only would the chair be too narrow, but she was also going to end up with waffle-ass. Well, she didn’t plan on being there long. Brian needed to say what he needed to say within twenty minutes or her raw nerves would get the better of her. She felt like a cheating wife.

She headed over to the table to deposit her coat before she made the fateful drink order.

“Hi Brian,” she said as she draped her coat over the back of her chair.

“Hi Rachel, you look great. Sheri told me about how you’ve been going to Weight Watchers. I hope it’s not out of line to mention, but I think that’s great. My mom goes also.” He was all smiles. Rachel’s knees nearly gave out. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

“I’ll just get a tea,” Rachel said. She couldn’t exactly order a mochaccino in front of someone who’d just complimented her on how great she was doing (even though she didn’t actually believe that he could see a difference: counting the Chanukah catastrophe, she had actually only lost five pounds. Although it was a nice sentiment). Taking her purse to the counter, she perused the mind-boggling selection of teas, as she tried to contain her embarrassment that Sheri had even told him about her diet in the first place.

Settling on an herbal raspberry concoction, she got an extra-large (she had been a bit low on her water consumption for the day) and asked for it in a paper cup, not having used a china mug since a lipstick stain incident. Carrying the monolithic cup in her hand, she headed back to the table.

She sat down on the wrought iron chair, placing the tea down on the table in front of her. She smiled back at Brian as he sipped on his steaming beverage, the wafting sweet aroma of it telling Rachel that whatever it was, it had caramel in it.

Her heart began to thump so hard in her chest, she was sure Brian could hear it.

He just looked at her. She raised the tea to her lips, hoping he would speak first. He had been the one to arrange the meeting, he should be the one to open.

She took a sip. The tea couldn’t have been hotter if it had been dredged directly from hell by Satan himself. Stifling a squeal, Rachel put the cup down and pressed her scalded tongue against the back of her teeth, surveying the damage.
I’ll live
, she thought,
but it won’t be good
.

Brian continued to look at her, wordless.

Rachel couldn’t stand it anymore. “So?” she said, her burnt tongue feeling raw and fuzzy.

The smile drained from Brian’s face. “So. You know what happened?”

Rachel nodded.

Leaning forward, Brian folded his forearms and rested them on the table. “She won’t talk to me. Won’t take my calls. I even tried her at work and they won’t put me through.” He shook his head. “Can you explain to me what happened?” He looked helpless. It was the same way poor Aaron had looked when he had come to Rachel about
his
relationship problems.

Eyes wide, Rachel stared at Brian, trying to process what he had said. “You mean you want me to tell you what happened?”

Brian nodded, his brow creased. “Well
she
won’t talk to me, she won’t explain anything.” He threw up his arms. “I thought everything was going great. I really like this girl and the next thing I know, she dumps me.” His eyes were glossy, quickly filling with tears.

In that instant, Rachel realized exactly why Brian had called her, why he wanted to meet with her. He wanted to reconcile with Sheri, and he wanted Rachel to help him do it. He wasn’t interested in Rachel at all. How could she have been so stupid? And worse: how could she have been so ready to betray her best friend over a guy?

“She’s got a bit of a commitment problem,” Rachel offered. “I think you scared her.”

Brian blinked several times before he began to nod. “That makes sense.” He took a sip of his drink. “That totally makes sense. I shouldn’t have mentioned the idea of her moving in. It was too soon.”

Rachel shook her head. “
Any
attempt to move the relationship forward would have resulted in the same thing. She’s a total commitaphobe.” It was true. Sheri got bored easily, usually finding a reason to discard men before she tired of them. Any sort of attempt to progress the relationship had often been the catalyst for Sheri’s quick departure.

“So what am I supposed to do? Is this over?” Brian’s eyes pleaded for encouragement.

“You really like her don’t you?” Rachel asked, carefully taking the lid off her tea. She raised it to chin level and blew on the steaming surface.

Brian looked down and nodded. “I think I’m in love with her.”

Rachel sighed.
He loves her
.
Of course he does; he wants to
live
with her.
“I’ll talk to her. I’ll see what I can do.” She smiled, hoping that he couldn’t see the pain—or was it jealousy?—in her eyes. 

He looked at her. “Thank you so much, Rachel.”

“Don’t thank me yet, there’s no promise I can fix this. This is completely unprecedented.”

Grinning, Brian nodded. “I do appreciate you trying.” He lifted his mug to his lips and drained its contents in one final swig. “Well, thanks so much for meeting me, I know this must have been sort of awkward for you.”

You have no idea
, Rachel thought. “It’s okay. I didn’t have much going on,” she lied, thinking about the Aquafit class that was missing.

He put his hands on the table as though he were going to push himself up, then looked at her. “Oh, I totally forgot. How was your date with Leo?”

Rachel looked at Brian, shocked that he didn’t already know
. Seriously?
Rachel wanted to scream. Instead she just sighed, “Not great.” She shook her head, hoping Brian wouldn’t pursue it further. She was hoping to sweep the whole horrific experience under the rug and never speak of it again.

“Oh.” Brian looked at her and frowned. “I’m sorry about that. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him this week.”

Rachel looked down at her steaming tea. “I don’t know how close you and him are, but let’s just say he didn’t give me the impression that he was interested. Can we just leave it at that?” She looked up and squinted.

“Okay.” Brian looked uncomfortable and regarded Rachel for a few seconds. Then he stood abruptly. “Well, thanks again.” He took his coat off the chair, sliding his arm into the sleeve. She stopped and looked at her. “Should I call you to find out what happened with Sheri?”

Shaking her head, Rachel smirked. “You’ll hear from her one way or another, I’ll make sure of it.”

Brian smiled and finished putting on his coat. “Okay, then. Have a great night,” he said as he left Rachel to sit by herself with her boiled-by-Satan herbal tea.

She looked down at the full cup, shrugged and put the lid back on.
At least I got it to go
, she thought as she vacated the table, wondering what time Sheri got off work. She had a call to make.

Chapter 22

“He’s totally into you. Get your shit together and call him,” Rachel blurted the second Sheri opened her apartment door. She wasn’t even inside, but the words had been whirling around in her head since she’d left the Starbucks and just sort of fell out.

“Uh excuse me?” came Sheri’s stunned reply, her hand still on the door.