Desperate Measures(49)
“What’s the toast?” asked Kiki.
“Here’s to weekends not spent in the emergency room,” he said, smiling at Aimee.
“I’ll drink to that,” she said, taking another big gulp. She used her fingertips to wipe off her mouth.
“Well, I don’t mean to break up your party, here.” He moved as if to go, but turned to Aimee before he did. “Maybe I could get your number ... so I could call you sometime ... if that’s okay ... ”
Aimee got a scared look on her face. “I don’t know ... ,” she said, tentatively.
“Give me your phone,” said Kiki, gesturing for Joe to hand it over. She was pulling her own phone out of her bag.
He handed it to her wordlessly and everyone at the table watched as she typed two sets of numbers into his keypad. When she was done, she handed the cell back to him.
“The first one is her cell number. The second one is her house number. We’re roomies.”
Joe smiled and held his phone out to Aimee. “Is this okay with you? I don’t want to call you if ... you’re not into it or whatever.”
“I have baggage,” she burst out. A split second later she got a panicked look on her face and whispered loudly, “Did I just say that out loud?”
Kiki nodded, laughing but trying to hide it.
“Don’t we all,” said Joe, standing up. “I’ll call you. If you want to talk to me, pick up the phone. If you don’t, that’s okay, just don’t answer. I’ll probably try three or four times before I give up.” He smiled before casually walking away, going back to the bar and his group of friends who weren’t trying to hide their curiosity.
“I wish Betty were here,” said Aimee, her head back on her arm.
“Why?” asked Elizabeth, wondering how a ninety-something-year-old woman could possibly make this better for her.
“Because she has a gun,” said Aimee’s muffled voice.
Elizabeth looked at Kiki. “She’s a serious lightweight. Did she drink before she came here?”
“Not that I know of. But she’s under a lot of stress. Her ex is seriously bad news. Lawyer. Cheated on her.”
“I can hear you!” came Aimee’s cranky voice.
“Well, sit up and join the conversation then, you big baby,” said Elizabeth in a friendly, encouraging voice. “You made it through your first potential hook-up scenario unscathed. You’re in good shape. You got the hottest and probably nicest guy in the place to ask you for your phone number.”
Aimee sat up, a smile dawning on her face. “I did, didn’t I?”
“Yes,” nodded Elizabeth, “you did. Now, can we talk about our plans? Because if I don’t get to these talking points before we leave, I’m going to be so stressed by the time I get home, I’ll probably clean my whole house before I go to sleep.”
“That sounds like a condition,” joked Kiki.
“It is. It’s called OCD. I’m pretty sure I have a mild form of it.”
“I think all accountants do,” said Kiki.
“Okay, so as I was saying, before Officer Hottie came to drool over Aimee, is that I suggest we come up with a basic plan. An outline. And then we meet over the next few days to hammer out the details. Since none of us are currently employed, I figured we might as well put this free time to good use.”
“I agree with your proposal,” said Kiki, without hesitation.
“I agree too, even though I’m not really sure what I’m agreeing to,” said Aimee, her head up now and her happy look back on her face.
Elizabeth could see it was taking a lot of Aimee’s concentration not to look over at Joe, so she sighed and said, “Go ahead. Look over there once. I know you want to.”
“What’s he doing?” Aimee whispered.
Kiki looked over. “He’s pretending like he’s watching the soccer game on T.V., but he keeps checking you out. Hook, line, and sinker, baby. You’ve got him. He’ll call you tomorrow. I’ll bet he doesn’t even wait the standard three-day period.”
Elizabeth looked over. “You’re right. I agree with that.”
“Standard three-day period? What’s that?” asked Aimee.
“Guys like to play this game and pretend that they’re not as interested in you as they really are. So they wait at least three days to call. Makes you wait by the phone and shit. Very annoying,” explained Kiki.
“Some guys aren’t playing. They really don’t care enough to call sooner,” said Elizabeth.