The Waiter by Bradleigh Collins (bill gates books recommendations .txt) 📕

dyed it. And I’ve been a redhead ever since.”

Jackie laughed loudly and without the least bit of self-consciousness. I wanted to be that confident in my own skin.

“I love it!” she said. “Lucy was right. You’re perfect for this job. I always hire people on instinct. And I want you to come work for me. Can you start next month?”

I wanted to stand up and scream, but I tried to keep my composure. “Seriously?”

“Let’s see,” she looked at the calendar on her desk. “How about Tuesday the 12th? Monday is Columbus Day and we’re closed.”

I had absolutely no idea how I was going to find an apartment and get moved in such a short time frame. But I didn’t care. I would make it happen no matter what it took.

“Yes, that works for me. Oh my god, I’m so excited!”

“Well, there’s just one thing,” she added.

I braced myself. I knew this was too good to be true.

“We don’t pay for relocation expenses, but I will pay your freelance rate if you can write your first piece over the next month.”

“Of course! I’d love to.”

“I want you to write about what to wear for a job interview, using your own personal experience and how you ended up with that dress. Scoop will love it.”

“I can do that. Great!”

She stood up. “Okay, I’ll have Victoria send out your offer letter and all the other paperwork. And here’s my business card. If you have questions about anything, anything at all, call me.”

“Oh my god, thank you so much.” I stood up and extended my hand. She walked over and hugged me instead.

“Welcome to the family. I think you’re going to fit in well here, Sammy.”

She walked me back through the loft to the reception area. George was back.

“George, this is Sammy St. Clair. She’s our new Online Editor. She’ll be joining us in October.”

“Girl, that Missoni is everything.” George was obviously gay. I had several gay friends and had spent enough nights at Backstreet to have a finely tuned gaydar.

“Thank you,” I responded. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Oh! I’m doing a show in November! Off-Off-Broadway. You must come!”

“George is a fantastic actor,” Jackie added. “We go to all of his shows.”

“I’d love to,” I responded. “Jackie, thank you so much. You have no idea how excited I am.”

“Me too,” she said.

The elevator door opened and I stepped inside. Had it not been for the two other people in there with me, I would have broken out into a very awkward happy dance.

I walked out of the building and back to Starbucks. The Waiter was sitting at the counter by the window reading a book. I tapped on the glass. He looked up and knew immediately by the look on my face that I had gotten the job. He came outside.

“You got it?”

I nodded.

“Oh my god, Red! Congratulations!” He picked me up and swung me around. “I told you so. Did I tell you so?”

“You told me so,” I said. I was shaking.

“When do you start?”

“October 12th. I have a month to find an apartment and get moved.”

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand and stepping out into the street to hail a cab. “We’re going to celebrate before you have to leave.”

I had already checked out of the hotel and just needed to pick up my luggage before heading to the airport. A car service was picking me up at the hotel at six.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To my apartment. I want one last chance to get you out of that dress.”

“My lucky dress?”

“Yes,” he said as we slid into the back seat of the cab. “Broadway and 74th,” he instructed the driver.

It was three o’clock in the afternoon and The Waiter and I were making out like teenagers in the middle of midtown traffic. In that moment, I, just like Jackie, was completely confident. I had just landed my dream job. And, from the look of things, I may have landed my dream man too.

CHAPTER 14

◆◆◆

Friday after work, Dana and I were sitting in Atlanta traffic on our way home to Douglasville. We were going to visit our families for the weekend while Simon played golf.

I’d already put in my two weeks’ notice. Bitchy Brenda knew I was leaving. She ignored me the entire week, and for that, I was grateful. My boss was thrilled for me. He had grown up in New York and gave me a list of places I might find an affordable apartment. I called all of them and put my name on a wait list. I would take one sight-unseen if it was in a decent neighborhood.

“I still can’t believe you’re leaving me,” Dana said. She was leaning over into the backseat, trying to retrieve something as I drove.

“We’ve already worked this out, Dana. You’ll come to New York one weekend a month, and I’ll come home one weekend. I have to or my mother will kill me.”

“How is she handling this?”

“Better than expected. I think she’s just happy I’m getting away from Dalton. Although she has this vision of New York in the seventies ingrained in her head, so she’s really concerned about my safety. The fact that Josh is there helps.”

“Ah, got em! I wanna look at these again.” Dana was back in the front seat with the packet of photos from my trip. I took the disposable camera to a one-hour photo place on Tuesday during my lunch hour.

“I take it you won’t be showing your mom this pic,” she said, holding up a photo of The Waiter and me lying in bed, him shirtless and me wrapped in the sheet. He snapped the photo of us Monday morning.

“No. I don’t think she’d approve of me sleeping with someone I’d only known for three weeks.”

“I can’t decide which is better. The chest or the cheekbones,” she said, still looking at the photo.

“They’re both equally impressive,” I replied.

“Have you guys been having phone sex this week?”

“No,” I laughed. “We