Page 108 of Not Part of the Plan
“I think we need alcohol for this,” Summer predicted. They ordered beverages from Cheryl, and Joey got an order of wings.
“Let’s go back to this ambush,” Gia suggested, sipping her beer.
With nothing better to do while waiting for her food, Joey kicked back on her barstool and crossed her arms.
“First, let’s talk teams,” Emma insisted. She pointed at Gia.
“Team Emma of course,” her sister rolled her eyes.
“Team Niko,” Summer announced, “unless he did something incredibly stupid, which I’m not putting past him since he has a penis and all.”
“Team Hot Wings for now,” Joey said when Emma pointed at her. “I’m withholding judgment on the conflict until I hear the whole story.”
“Fine. Here’s what happened. We’re having a great time in the city. I meet his family, he and his dad are patching things up, and I think I’m really getting the hang of this ‘see where we go’ thing. And then bam!” She slammed her palm down scaring Ellery who was splitting a pizza with Anthony Berkowicz a few stools down the bar. “He takes me to the show where apparently I’m his muse, and now he’s in love with me.”
Summer choked on her chardonnay. “I’m sorry, what? Nikolai Vulkov professed his love for you?”
Emma handed her a napkin.
Gia covered her eyes. “Hang on, girls, my sister’s about to tell us how stupid she was.”
Emma sniffed indignantly. “I told him I needed some time and space to think about it.”
“And?” Gia prodded.
“And then I snuck out of his apartment at five o’clock this morning and caught the train back.”
Summer put her head down on the bar. “Emma, Niko has never told a woman he loves her. Never. And you just run out on him? You probably just scarred him for life!”
Joey was finally interested in the conversation. “Hang on. Catch me up here. You are like Madam Monogamy, aren’t you?”
Emma shrugged.
“Yeah, you are. You’re all ‘step one, step two, step three’ and then ‘oh hey look, perfect life,’” Joey pressed. “So why would having someone who looks at you the way Bad Boy Biker looks at you be a bad thing?”
“Because he’s not the settle down and build a life kind of guy,” Emma said in exasperation. “He’s the ‘let’s jet off to Paris in the middle of the week so I can do a photo shoot’ guy. Niko is not the let’s refinance our mortgage and talk about retirement guy.”
Gia chugged her beer and set the empty glass down on the bar. She burped and signaled for another drink.
“So you’re saying you’d rather have mortgages and retirement than Paris?” Joey frowned.
“Exactly!” Emma pointed a finger in Joey’s face. “See? She gets it. I’m not crazy.”
“No, you’re batshit crazy. Don’t try to pull me into your delusion. You can have mortgage and a retirement with literally anyone with a pulse. Now, Paris? You only get that once in a lifetime, and you just ran away from that. Team Niko,” Joey decided.
“You could have had mortgages and retirement with what’s his face.” Gia waded back in.
“Mason?”
Gia snapped her fingers. “That’s the one. What was he? An accountant? Why didn’t you just go off and start a 401k with him?”
“Mason wouldn’t have been interested in leaving his life and moving across the country to Blue Moon,” Emma argued.
“But Niko would,” Summer put in.
“Niko’s life is in New York and whatever other fabulous destinations he travels to. He doesn’t fit into my life. That’s why the Beautification Committee never came sniffing around us. They knew we wouldn’t make a good couple.”
“Then why did you date him?” Summer demanded.
