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

to. Growing up, when my older sisters would pore through stacks of bridal magazines dog-earing their favorite dresses, I would flip to the back and dream about having my own heart-shaped tub like the ones in the Poconos. I had devoured enough Cosmopolitan magazines in my youth to view marriage as limiting. As a teenager, I had photos of Helen Gurley-Brown and Gloria Steinem on my bulletin-board. I wanted to grow up, move to the big city, and live the city girl life. And to me, that didn’t include marriage. As crazy as I was about The Waiter, and as excited as I was about him moving in with me, deep down I knew I didn’t want to marry him. I didn’t want to marry anybody.

“Well, speaking of marriage,” Lucy said, “I know my wedding is only two months away, but I want you guys to be bridesmaids.”

“Of course!” Katie and I said at the same time.

“I only have two bridesmaids right now, and they’re my cousins. You guys have become my best friends. I want you up there with me.”

“I think I’m gonna cry,” I said.

“I think you’re drunk,” Lucy replied.

“What do the dresses look like?”

“Anything you want. As long as it’s black.”

“We get to pick our own dresses?” Katie asked.

“Dresses, pantsuits, jumpsuits. You can wear overalls for all I care. As long as they’re black and stylish. And as long as you’re comfortable in it.”

“This is so exciting!”

“So you’re excited about being in a wedding,” Katie said, “as long as you’re not the bride.”

“Correct.”

“Well, at least I know who not to throw the bouquet to,” Lucy said.

“Throw it to Katie.”

“No! I don’t want to scare Josh off.”

“You couldn’t scare that boy off if you tried,” I replied. “He’s crazy about you.”

“So, Katie,” Lucy teased, “if Josh asked you to marry him, what would you say?”

“Yes. In a heartbeat.”

“Oh my god! We’d be family.”

“We’re already family,” Katie said.

Lucy held up her mimosa and proposed a toast. “To family.”

“To family!” We clinked our glasses together. Then the conversation turned to the upcoming holidays.

“Oh, by the way, Jackie invited all of us to her place on Thanksgiving to watch the parade. George says she has the perfect view.”

“She does,” Lucy said. “Her apartment is right on Central Park West.”

“That’s so nice of her,” Katie stated.

“We have to start planning Thanksgiving Eve,” Lucy said.

“It’s all about the pub crawl,” Katie said. “But it starts with an early dinner. And then we go to the balloon inflation.”

“And then we drink,” Lucy added. “I was thinking we could have dinner at Carmine’s first.”

“Oh god, I love the frozen cosmos at Carmine’s,” Katie said. “I’ll be drunk before the Snoopy balloon gets its first pump.”

I immediately spit orange juice and champagne all over my omelet.

Lucy laughed. “Katie, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

“I agree.” I blotted my eggs with a napkin.

After brunch, I decided to walk the thirteen blocks back up to my apartment. It had warmed up a bit, and I needed to walk off the mimosas. As I approached the Columbia campus, I suddenly missed The Waiter like crazy. I walked past the main gates at 116th Street. Tomorrow, he’d be right here, headed to one of his classes. I thought about how his female classmates must be crazy about him. But he was mine. Even though he was someone else’s before. I knew I was going to have to get over the fact that he’d been married. Part of me wanted to hail a cab and head straight down to the restaurant just so I could see him and tell him I loved him. Then my phone rang.

“Hey Red,” The Waiter said. “How was brunch?”

“I had two mimosas and I miss you like crazy.”

He laughed. “Are you sure you only had two?”

“I’m sure.”

“Well, the fact that you miss me makes me very happy. You make me very happy.”

“You make me very happy, too.”

“I get off at nine babe. Want me to bring you something from the restaurant?”

“Yes! The fettuccini with basil, please.”

“You got it.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too. I’ll see you at home.”

I hung up the phone. My stomach fluttered. Home. He hadn’t even moved in yet, but he considered my apartment home because that’s where I was. And that’s where he wanted to be.

The fact that he was married before suddenly didn’t matter. In six hours and counting, he was coming home. To me.

CHAPTER 29

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The day before Thanksgiving should have been an official holiday. Nobody was getting any work done. George and Jackie were huddled in her office going over the breakfast menu for tomorrow’s parade watch party while the entire IT department was watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles in the conference room. Their sporadic roars of laughter distracted me from finishing up an article, inspired by Josh, about what to wear with a puffer coat so you won’t look like a tick. But that wasn’t the only thing distracting me.

This Thanksgiving would be the first one I wasn’t spending with my family in Georgia. The first one without my father. And the first one I hadn’t spent with Dalton in years. It made me a little homesick and a lot of sad. Of course I was looking forward to celebrating tonight with all of my friends, and especially with The Waiter, but I still missed home. I missed my Mom. I missed Dana. She and I always got together with friends from high school the night before Thanksgiving. I’d talked to her this morning, and she told me it wouldn’t be the same without me. I’d also called my Mom. She seemed to be okay with me not being there because she was so excited about meeting The Waiter. He was coming home with me for Christmas.

Around three o’clock, Jackie told everyone they could leave for the day. I was looking forward to the long weekend. The Waiter was on Thanksgiving recess from Columbia and didn’t have to work until Saturday. We had officially