Page 68 of New Girl in the City
“Maybe those people should stop looking at women as things, and more as people with real emotions and real needs,” I told her, hands going flat on my desk. “Those same people should also reserve judgement for the men involved with those “certain types of women” instead of putting it all on the woman.”
Her eyes widened and I watched her mouth fall open at my words. Her cheeks flushed and she swallowed hard with a quick nod. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s not fair.”
“No, it’s not.”
“And I wasn't fair either. I did the same thing.” Her hands came together again, fingers twisting, and I heard her sniffle against what I knew were soon to be tears. “I did the same thing, and I’m ashamed of it.”
“I’m not going to tell you that it’s okay or pretend that it didn’t happen because it did. But I can forgive it. I can move past it if you can. Because I know that no one is the sum of one mistake and that's what this was, a big mistake. That being said, I accept your apology. It was big of you to come in to talk to me. I know it wasn’t easy for you to do. Thank you for coming to me.”
“Yeah, it was, I—it was really hard, but I had to tell you that I’m sorry, Ms. Pérez.”
Now it was my time to bite my lip in chagrin. She’d remembered that I had told her to call me that, and I sighed at myself. I’d been quick in my anger telling her to do that. No one I worked with called me Ms. Pérez. I couldn’t even think of a time that anyone ever had, other than at my doctor appointments or when I was getting my taxes done.
“You don’t have to call me that,” I told her. “I was pissed when I told you that, and I’m sorry for that.”
She huffed out a laugh. “I got off easy if that was you pissed.”
“Yeah, you did,” I agreed, unable to stop myself from laughing as well, “but let’s just move past this. I meant what I said about wanting you here. Lydia is impressed with the work you’ve been doing. You’re killing it for us, and we need that right now.”
“Arington Press has been a lot. The work just keeps coming, no matter how much gets done.”
I blew out a sigh and crossed my arms, leaning back in my chair. She was right about that, I nodded in commiseration. “That’s exactly it. We have a brutal week ahead, but it’ll be worth it. You’ll see, and besides the company is taking everyone out for a celebration at the end of this. It’ll be a really nice time to kick back and relax with everyone. I hope you come with us then.”
“I’m invited to that?” she asked in surprise.
“Of course. You did the work, you deserve the reward. We would love to have you.”
She beamed. “Then I’ll be there.”
* * *
“My sister’scompany is doing a production and she’s the lead. I want you to come with me,” Liam said, his hand on my knee. We were sitting in Central Park, the warm weather lending itself to a relaxing picnic between us. I hadn’t known if he would be excited about the picnic when I proposed it on Friday, but he had been wholeheartedly for the entire thing.
That morning when I’d been packing the basket full of sandwiches and fruit, he had helped me by making a pasta salad he said was a family recipe. I looked from the pasta salad and up at him, chewing the bite I had just taken.
“Like on a date?” I asked when I swallowed.
“Well, isn't that what boyfriends and girlfriends do?” he returned and leaned back on his elbow. He was stretched out on his side beside me, legs crossed, and face upturned towards the sun.
“Yeah, it is,” I said, my eyes falling to his hair which glinted in the sunlight. I reached out my free hand, combing my fingers through it with a grin when he winked at me.
He popped a grape into his mouth and smiled up at me, squinting into the sun. “Then yes, it’s a date, Princess. Do you wanna go with me?”
“Of course I want to go with you. You could ask me to go to a hardware store with you and I’d go, so long as I was with you. You know that right?” I asked him.
“Good to know.”
“Don’t abuse that.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not into hardware stores. More into building muscle at the gym than building anything else,” he told me, and I considered that.
“I could do the gym.”
“Forget the hardware store. Now that I’m going to hold you to.”
“Really?”
He nodded, pushing himself up into a sitting position. “Oh hell yeah. A chance to see you in yoga pants? Count me in.”
