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

to find Josh dressed like Austin Powers and Katie as Vanessa Kensington, complete with a silver minidress and matching knee boots. She was even wearing a brown bouffant wig.

“Oh my god!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, jumping up and down and hugging them both. “Perfect! You guys are absolutely perfect!”

I immediately introduced Katie to Dana and Simon. Then Lucy and Kyle joined us, and I introduced them as well. Josh and Katie headed to the bar. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” began to play.

“The Queen has arrived!” George informed the crowd.

We turned around to see Jackie emerging from the elevator dressed as Cleopatra. More specifically, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. Everyone began to clap. I thought George was going to faint.

“In my next life, I want to come back as her,” he said.

“Who? Cleopatra? Elizabeth Taylor, or Jackie?”

“All of them.”

“That’s your boss?” Dana asked.

I nodded. Jackie made her way through the loft greeting everyone and posing for photos. I introduced her to all of my friends. She commented on how much she loved their costumes, graciously thanked them for coming to the party, and even asked if she could get anyone a drink.

Now the DJ was playing “You Should Be Dancing” and Josh was in full-on John Travolta mode.

“That’s who he should be for Halloween next year,” I said to Katie. “Tony Manero.”

“What was Dalton gonna be tonight?” Dana asked.

“He refused to wear a costume.”

“So he was just coming as an asshole,” Lucy said.

“Exactly.”

“You know who you should have invited,” Katie said, giving me a look. I knew she was talking about The Waiter.

“Too soon.”

“Not too soon!” Katie, Lucy and Dana all said in unison.

“Next week guys. I promise I’m going to get in touch with him next week.”

“I hope it’s not too late,” Katie replied.

Her comment startled me. What if it was too late? What if he was already seeing somebody else? I certainly couldn’t blame him. I decided I would call him on Monday after Dana and Simon left and hope for the best.

My platform boots were starting to hurt my feet. I had a pair of sneakers in my desk drawer, so I decided to go change. I passed Jackie sitting at the bar.

“Sammy,” she said, motioning me over. “Come, sit.”

I took a seat next to her.

“How have you been? Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Thank you so much for yesterday. Thank you for this party, for everything. I really love it here.”

“We love having you here. You’re doing great work.”

“That’s because you inspire me. You inspire all of us.”

“That’s sweet,” she said. “I truly hope I do. I just want work to be productive and fun. Otherwise, what’s the point of getting out of bed every morning, right?”

I smiled. “Have you always been this confident?”

“God no. It’s taken me a really long time and a shit ton of mistakes. Don’t let it take you that long.”

“I’m definitely done making the bad relationship mistake,” I stated emphatically.

“Oh, you’ll make more, trust me,” she said. “Don’t close yourself off. This city has so many experiences to offer you. Just be open. Don’t let fear stop you from living your life out loud.”

I nodded.

“And with that,” she said, “I’m going to go shake my groove thing.” She got up and sauntered over to the dance floor.

I went to my desk and sat down to take my boots off. When I opened the drawer to get my sneakers, there sat the fancy bottle of sparkling grape juice. I smiled. Then I made a mental note to make sure that Dana and Simon tried the grape juice at the GreenFlea tomorrow. I made another mental note to call The Waiter on Monday.

God, I hope it’s not too late.

CHAPTER 23

◆◆◆

The next morning, I took Dana and Simon to Cafe Lalo for a late brunch. Late because we didn’t leave the Halloween party until two and we all wanted to sleep in. Dana had been dying to go to Cafe Lalo ever since she saw it in You’ve Got Mail.

“Wow, this place is tiny,” she said as we sat down. “It looked a lot bigger on-screen.”

“I need coffee,” I whined.

“That was the best Halloween party I’ve ever been to. Your coworkers are so much fun.”

“It was fun. But my entire body is paying for it right now.”

“Mine too,” Simon agreed. “I’m gonna need a nap before we go to the parade.”

The waitress came over to take our order. After she left, Dana looked at me. “So, how are you, really?”

“I am really hungover.”

“No, I meant with the whole Dalton situation.”

“There is no Dalton situation anymore.”

“Sam, I know you’re hurting. Do you want to talk about it?”

Was I hurting? It had only been two days since I’d left him, and I’d been so busy that I hadn’t really had time to think about it. My arm still hurt. Today I hid the bruise underneath a long-sleeved cashmere sweater.

“Well, I’m pissed that he cheated on me. My ego is bruised. I mean, Rhonda? Seriously?”

“You are way more attractive than she is Sammy. It’s not even close.”

“You have to say that. You’re my best friend.”

“Nah, she’s right,” Simon said. “Rhonda’s not even pretty. She’s just average.”

“And you have to say that because you’re my best friend’s boyfriend. But I love you both for trying to cheer me up.”

“See!” Dana said. “I knew you were upset.”

“The strange thing is that I’m not even that mad at him. I’m mad at myself for being so stupid.”

“You weren’t stupid, Sam. You were in love.”

“No, I was insane. The poster child for insanity. Repeating the same mistake over and over again and expecting a different result.”

“So you spent the last ten years in the looney bin,” Simon said. “Now you’re out. I mean, I don’t know how sane you are now, but at least you’re out.”

Dana and I both laughed. “Well, in any case, Dalton has a new punching bag now,” she said.

“I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, Dana. Not even Rhonda.”

“And yet, you had no trouble putting yourself through