Page 15 of Novel Problems

On the plus side, at least it would give me an opportunity to get to know her better. She’d sent through her paperwork last night, and there was a long, unexplained gap on her CV. The last job she’d listed had been six years ago, at a French café in the West Village. I knew people took time off work for all sorts of reasons and I didn’t want to pry, especially because there’d been no red flags in the two days she’d worked with me, and quite frankly, I couldn’t be too picky at this point. But it piqued my interest.

Hannah had also gotten top marks in her undergraduate English degree at NYU, graduating summa cum laude. It surprised me that, with those results and the work ethic she would have needed to achieve them, plus the student loans she would have accrued, she wasn’t using her degree. I inwardly shook myself.Um, you’re not using your computer science degree either. Remember, George? Perhaps, just like you, she decided she didn’t want to pursue corporate life. Or maybe her husband was loaded or she had a trust fund, and she didn’t need to work. Or perhaps she had kids and had taken time off paid work to look afterthem. Whatever the reason, my newest employee intrigued me.

Jenny cleared her throat. “George, this is your ticket. I figured you and Hannah would sit together.”

Heat shot up my face as I reached out my hand for them. As anticipated, Hannah and I would be sharing an intimate table for two for the next few hours.

I swallowed, trying to ignore the butterflies that had started fluttering in my stomach.

“Well, should we head over?” I asked Hannah.

“Sure,” Hannah replied.

As we turned, I thought I saw Hannah’s eyes widen as she took in the scene before us in more detail.

“Do you have these movie nights often?” Hannah asked as we walked toward out table.

“No.” I grinned. “In fact, this is Sapphire Spring’s inaugural outdoor movie night. We’re making history tonight.”

Hannah’s mouth twitched. “Well, I feel very privileged to be invited to this momentous occasion.”

We reached our allocated tables and, without thinking, I pulled out Hannah’s chair and stood behind it.

Hannah shot me an amused look, her right eyebrow quirking up.

I blinked, came to my senses and stepped away, my face burning with heat.Good lord, George. You’re worried about this feeling too much like a date, and then you suddenly go all chivalrous on her. This is not the 1950’s.What had gotten into me? Hannah was more than capable of seating herself.

Rather than sitting, Hannah stepped over and pulled my chair out with a flourish. “Madame,” she said, gesturing for me to sit.

She held my gaze for a moment, her eyes twinkling, andthen we burst out laughing. The feminist in me appreciated Hannah’s reaction, and I loved how she turned the whole situation into a joke.

If I could keep my uncharacteristically gallant behavior under control, perhaps the next few hours wouldn’t be as awkward as I’d feared.

CHAPTER NINE

HANNAH

“This is so…” I bit down hard on my tongue, desperately searching for a word to replaceromantic, which had almost escaped my mouth. “Cute,” I landed on, wincing. Well, at least it was better than romantic.

From where we sat in Dockside Park, we had a stunning view of the sunset. The fluffy clouds were tinged red and gold, and those same vibrant colors were reflected on the Hudson River. I took a long sip of my delicious piña colada, which was going down way too quickly. It was paired with a shrimp cocktail, which was equally tasty but not very alcohol-absorbent. A pleasant, warm buzz began to spread across my body. I hadn’t drunk alcohol in months. I’d been so miserable I’d been worried that booze might just make me spiral further, but on a gorgeous warm evening like tonight, in my new hometown miles away from Tania and New York, and with my new, sort-of-friend-slash-boss next to me, I was in the mood to indulge. The only gray cloud hanging over my head was the fact that I needed to tell George about my pen name at some point tonight.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the seating would be arranged like this. It’s not really conducive to you getting to know everyone.” George looked around. Amanda and Olivia were seated at a table to our left, while Blake and Jenny were directly behind us. I was now fairly confident that George and Olivia were not dating. If they had been, surely they would’ve shared a table together. That realization had, ridiculously, put me in an even better mood than I’d been in before. And I’d also been thrilled that Jenny and Blake were clearly a couple and comfortable holding hands in public. That boded well for Sapphire Springs being LGBTQ+ friendly.And maybeit supports your working hypothesis that George is queer too—queer vibes, queer books, queer friends…I shut that train of thought down abruptly.

“If the movie doesn’t finish too late, we thought we’d grab a quick drink at Builders’ Arms afterwards, if you’re up for it,” George continued.

I nodded. “That’d be nice.” Telling George who I was could wait until later into the night. For now, I just wanted to enjoy the beautiful evening. Perhaps the pub would be a more relaxed atmosphere. “Hey, I forgot to ask. Do you know what the movie is?”

George chuckled. “Sorry, no. I got all my information about this from Blake, who’s notoriously bad at details. I probably should’ve asked Jenny. I figure, if it’s terrible, we can always leave after we’ve finished eating.”

The organizer of the event announced that the movie would begin once it was dark. So, George and I still had some time together, just the two of us, without a movie to distract us. Just me and my very attractive boss. I swallowed.

George nudged me. “What do you think their story is?”

She nodded her head toward a man in his forties with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a white shirt and tan chinos, and a pretty woman in her twenties, with brown hair and a floral dress. I smiled. Making up stories about strangers was one of my favorite games. I loved that George had instigated it. I tilted my body to get a better look and accidentally brushed George’s shoulder, my arm tingling where we made contact.Focus, Hannah.

“He’s a finance bro who works on Wall Street, and she’s his third wife,” I said confidently. “He’s been working weekends for months—probably having an affair with his soon-to-be-fourth wife—and she put her foot down and insisted they visit Sapphire Springs for a romantic getaway.”

George chuckled. “That’s actually Mark, who runs the ice cream parlor, and his daughter, Kim, who’s home from studying law at Princeton.”

---