Page 116 of Awestruck at Dusk
“See you around, girls,” Eric said to us.
Zara stopped and said to Nina over her shoulder, “I’ll call you.”
Nina bit her lip and nodded. Zara smiled and left.
I walked toward my apartment and texted Aaron about helping Zara with her things. Nina followed me. I dropped my phone and keys on the foyer table as she shut the door and leaned back on it with a grin.
“What did I miss?” I asked with a laugh as I washed my hands in the guest bathroom. “Have you guys been in touch? I thought you said you weren’t talking to each other.”
“No! We haven’t!” Nina said, laughing back. “I hadn’t seen her since your birthday. We texted a bit for a few days after—you know, but it kinda faded off as I’d told you already.”
“Right.” I walked out, and it was Nina’s turn to wash up. “So? Aren’t you sort of dating Aiden?”
“I mean, he’s great. I like him, but it’s not like we’re exclusive,” she said, drying her hands with a towel. “We have great conversations, but he’s too serious sometimes. If I were older, I’d probably be all in, you know what I mean?”
I knew exactly what she meant.
“You like her, don’t you?” I pried as we both made our way to the dining room, where Mimi had everything set up for us. We were both starving.
Mimi stepped out of the kitchen to greet us, dragging the back of her hand along her forehead. She offered us coffee and went back to the kitchen since she had a few things on the stove to look after. She always left me food for the weekends.
“So?” I insisted, adding a spoonful of cottage cheese over my bowl of fruit. “Are you curious about Zara?” Nina hadn’t really given me any details about her little escapade with Zara that night, although I did want to kill her for not telling me sooner. I’d been pulling my hair out just thinking it’d been William, because why would I ever think it was Nina?
The only thing Nina mentioned was that she had a great time, which I don’t doubt at all from what I heard, and that Zara’s bisexual.
“I don’t know. Maybe?” she said with a shrug, bringing her cup of coffee to her lips and taking a sip. “It’s weird. I’m not really attracted to girls. It’s not something that had ever crossed my mind before, but that night I don’t know what got into me. And she—” Nina trailed off, took another sip of her coffee, and placed it on the table.
“She—what?” I chuckled. “Come on, you’re killing me!” I took a piece of cantaloupe to my mouth and chewed away as I waited for Nina to spill the beans.
“I guess I don’t like girls, but I likeher,” she finally admitted. “She’s fun and interesting. And I mean, look at her. She’s beautiful, right?”
Yeah, I’ve already covered that before. Drop-dead gorgeous.
I rolled my eyes because all the Sjöbergs were impressive, and she was half a Sjöberg. And her Saunders genes weren’t half bad either.
“So, what’s the verdict?” I pushed.
“I’m gonna take that call.”
My phone buzzed when we were done with breakfast. It was an unknown number. I walked over to the living room to take the call and gestured for Nina to come to sit with me.
“Good morning. I’m looking for Billie Murphy.”
“This is she.”
Nina jerked her chin with a frown, inquiring who I was talking to, but I still didn’t know, so I shrugged in response.
“This is Mel from Haute Magazine. I am calling on behalf of Joaquín Serrano,” she said. “We have an opening in our internship program, and we believe you might be a great fit for it. Joaquín was very pleased with the results of last Monday’s photo shoot, and he definitely wants someone like you in our corner.”
OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod!
I took my hand to my mouth, and Nina shook my shoulder. I widened my eyes at her.Wait! I wanted to mute the call and jump up and down on my sofa, but I needed to compose myself and actually accept the offer.
“That’s—of course. I’d love to. How long does the internship last? When do I start?”
Mel chuckled. I guess my response wasn’t as controlled as I thought it would be. I just made a fool out of myself with my overenthusiasm.
“We would love for you to start next Monday. And the internship lasts the entire month of August. You would be coming in from Monday to Friday on a part-time basis during the morning schedule. Occasionally, if there’s something else that might be a right fit for you, we’ll ask you to stay through the afternoon. Does that work?”
