Page 45 of Pick-Up
“Excuse me for a second,” he says, then heads off to anywhere else. Even Michael has inched farther and farther away until he is safely situated in the driver’s seat of my golf cart. Ethan and I sure know how to clear a room.
Now, he and I are alone, for all intents and purposes. I run a hand down my cheek and sigh, unable to right myself. “I’m so confused. What is happening? Is this a coincidence?” But I know it’s not. Because Ethan doesn’t seem remotely surprised. I am the one off-kilter. I am the one off my game.
“No.” He shrugs. “I heard you were a good producer, so I suggested that Derek take a meeting with you when we realized we needed someone.”
I give him an impatient look.
“Seriously! I looked you up. I saw what you do. I asked around. It was perfect. The timing felt fated.”
Fated?“But why didn’t you say anything? Once you knew I was hired for the shoot?”
“Honestly? I thought you knew. Who applies for a magazine job and doesn’t look up the name of the editor?”
Me!Me. That’s who. Someone who needs the job so badly that she doesn’t care. I feel like the world’s biggest idiot. And I can’t help but feel like Ethan designed it this way.
Suddenly, our cotton candy bonding session feels null and void. I am hoodie-era frustrated all over again.
“Didn’t you think it was odd that I never mentioned it?” I say.
“Yes, a little. But I figured you were trying to keep your professional and personal lives separate.”
“But I didn’t see you at my interview—at theEscapadeoffices!”
“Oh. Yeah, I was kind of locked in my office on calls.”
Yet another humiliating scene flashes before my eyes. I cover them with my hand as if I can stop from seeing it. “When I saw you at the supermarket, I told you I was going on a trip! Like you didn’t know!”
“That did seem weird. But, honestly, that whole interaction was weird. I mean, you saluted me, so.”
So he noticed that. A part of me dies.
I drop my hand. He holds my gaze for a beat. I sip my rum punch, resigned. I’m experiencing a cocktail of emotions, but, above all else, I’m confused.
I am not the only one.
“You really didn’t know? That it was me?” Ethan seems almost disappointed. He thought I knew and still came. Could he havewantedme to come? I can’t begin to unpack that.
“I really didn’t know,” I manage. “I thought we were strictly in the Monster’s Ball zone. Celeste thought you looked familiar, but…”
“Who’s Celeste?”
“Celeste Alameddine? Tall, statuesque, beautiful? I’m always with her at PS421 events? You’ve worked with her as a set stylist, I think?”
He racks his brain, then begins to nod. “Oh! Celeste! Of course. She’s fantastic. I didn’t even know she was a parent at the school.”
“How is that even possible?” I ask. But I know.
“Well, I never did drop-off really until six months ago. I still don’t do pick-up. I haven’t been around.”
And that makes me angry all over again. I don’t even know why. Because he’s a man? Because I have to do both?
“Hi, Sash,” says Stephanie, who has appeared at my side bearing the gift of a new nickname. She leans her elbow on my shoulder, tilting her head toward me. “So, I see you’ve metEthan. Our fearless leader! Isn’t he the greatest?” This is the first time in my life I have actually seen someone flutter their eyelashes.
“The greatest,” I say.
“Ms. Rubinstein?” prods Michael, who has left the golf cart and bravely crept closer again. “Should we take you to your room? You’re going to love it!”
I look at him adoringly, like he is a saint for getting me out of this. And I think he knows because he widens his eyes and then winks at me.
