What You Need(37)
“As if we couldn’t tell when you were on your phone instead of admiring all that beautiful naked female flesh. Anyway, why are you calling me?”
“You bragged that you could get into any club in town.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Prove it. I’ve got a date tonight and I want to take her to Flurry.”
“A date? Already?”
“Shocking, isn’t it?”
“Completely. But seriously . . . Flurry? That doesn’t seem like your scene.”
“It’s probably not, but I won’t know unless I give it a shot. So can you get me in?”
“Not only can I get you in, I can get you into the VIP section.”
I stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the garage level. “Is it that much different?”
“You wouldn’t be asking for access to Flurry if you weren’t trying to impress this woman. VIP passes guarantee you’ll get laid.”
“Like I need your help with that. Just get me and a guest on the list, okay?”
“Done.” He paused. “So what are you gonna wear tonight?”
“A loincloth. God, I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it.”
Nolan laughed. “You should think about it. Don’t show up looking like an accountant. Maybe I ought to come over and help you pick out an outfit.”
“Piss. Off.” I hung up and used the remote to open my car. Just as I climbed inside, my phone rang. I answered it without looking at the caller ID. “For the last time, I don’t need your help picking out clothing.”
“Well, I should hope not,” my sister answered. “And I really don’t want to know who you were talking to.”
“Nolan.”
“Ah. That explains it.”
“So what’s going on?”
“I know how much you love small talk”—she snorted—“so I’ll cut to the chase. I need you to back out of going to Mom and Dad’s tomorrow afternoon for the football game.”
I nestled my head into the headrest. “Can I ask why?”
When Annika stayed quiet for about ten seconds, I waited to hear what excuse she’d fabricated off the cuff.
“It’s a work-related issue. I dropped the ball big time and I need tomorrow to fix it. And it’s one of those things that if I don’t get it handled, it’ll steamroll, and I don’t need to blow this.”
“What project?”
“Secret shopper. And don’t get mad. I know I was supposed to have all the data done last week; I just got sidetracked. You, of all people, should understand that work comes first, Brady.”
“Nice one. I, of all people, do understand that work comes first, which means I suspect you didn’t prioritize this project and that’s why you’re scrambling.”
She sighed. “As project manager I know my opinion holds a lot of weight, so I can’t very well admit I hadn’t stepped foot in any of the restaurants. So now I’ll spend ten hours tomorrow eating.”
“I agree that your personal input is necessary since I’ll be tasked with making the final financial decision about the restaurants’ future.”
“Thank you. You can see that I’m in a bind. So can you call Mom and Dad? They’re used to you bailing out on family day. Then it won’t be such a big deal if I back out.”
That stung, but mostly because it was true. “Yes, I’ll call them. But you do realize Walker will be pissed if he’s the only one there?”
Annika laughed. “Right. Like Mom won’t call him and ask if he’s going to back out like you and I did, which gives him an excuse not to go either.”
“You’re right. See you at the track Monday, since you’ll need to run off all of those sweets you have to eat tomorrow.” I hung up before she let loose and cursed me with a barrage of names.
It’d be best to just get this over with. I dialed my mother’s cell number, instead of going the chickenshit route and calling their house phone.
She picked up on the fourth ring. “My darling boy. You’re just in time for dinner. Come over and you can tell me in person what’s on your mind.”
Mom felt it was her duty to feed me. But since she gave the cook weekends off, I couldn’t guess what oddball Swedish “fusion” she would concoct and pass off as a home-cooked meal. “I’ll take a rain check. I’m calling to let you know I’ll have to miss family game day tomorrow.”
Silence.
I hated the silent treatment.
“Because you are working,” she said flatly.
“Working” sounded like whore-king and I bit back a laugh. “No, actually I have a date tonight and it might end up being a late one. Since the Vikings are playing the early game, I just wanted to err on the side of caution.”