Page 97 of Last Summer

Not just asleep, but seriously passed out. She slept through two alarms. She vaguely recalls slapping the snooze button on her clock.

It was 5:00 a.m. when she finally toppled into bed, unable to keep her eyes open and head up any longer. Thank goodness she found the article she drafted last summer. Otherwise she doubts she’d manage tonight’s deadline.

Ella meets up with Andrew at the Espresso Bar in the Westfield San Francisco Centre. Bundled in a thick hoodie, jeans, and Ugg boots, with a trucker’s cap covering her still damp hair, Ella whips off her reflective Ray-Bans and Andrew grins.

“Rough night?”

“Long night writing. Coffee first.” She points at the bar.

With one vanilla latte with a double shot of espresso in hand, Ella turns to her brother. “Okay. Show me what you’ve picked out so far.”

He shows her his empty hands. “I got nothing.”

“Nothing? What have you been doing for the past hour?”

“Waiting for you.”

“You’re hopeless. Come on.”

Giving him a nudge, Ella leads her brother up the escalator to the men’s furnishings floor in Nordstrom. “Tell me about this girl,” she says, sipping her coffee.

“Corey?” Andrew’s face lights up. He leans a hip on the moving rail. “She’s cool. Nah, that’s not right. She’s real.” His grin spreads. “There’s nothing fake about her, if you know what I mean.” His brows waggle.

“Stop.” Ella smacks her brother’s chest. “Gross.”

Andrew’s expression sobers. “She isn’t like most women I’ve dated.”

“You mean she has a brain?” she lobs.

“High expectations,” he returns. “A lot of people I work with want big rewards for minimal work. Not Corey. She works her ass off.” He cringes and clears his throat. “Sorry. I mean she’s driven. She’s earned everything she’s been offered. She’s genuine with people. Just an all-around great lady.”

“You’ve been dating for two months? I can’t believe you haven’t told me about her.”

“She works in marketing at Talbert & Dean.”

Ella’s brow furrows. “Isn’t T&D the investor in your app?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Ah.”

“We’ve been keeping it under the radar, but now that we’re getting serious, we don’t want to hide anymore. Aunt Kathy always said, ‘Honesty’s the best policy,’ right?” He nudges her in the ribs.

“You could have told me.”

“I wanted to but...” He shrugs. “You’ve been dealing with your own stuff. I didn’t want to add to it.”

The escalator drops them off on the men’s floor. Ella touches his upper arm. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

“Me too. Where are you taking her tonight?”

Andrew slides his fingertips into the front pockets of his jeans. “Dunno. Dinner? Maybe a jazz club after?”

“Impressive. My little bro is growing up.”

“Bound to happen at some point.” He snorts a laugh. “Might as well start acting my age.”

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