“I just . . . don’t.” She pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. I’d really thought she’d like him, and the fact that she seemed so against him was quite surprising. “What is it you don’t like about him?” She’d been right there at the table—hadn’t she been able to see that magnetism between us? A complete stranger had—surely she had been able to, too! “And are you being serious right now?” I asked. “I thought you guys really seemed to hit it off. You were laughing at what he said. You were making jokes with him.”
“I was trying to be nice. And what jokes?”
“The joke about the wasabi?” That was the only one I could remember right then, but I knew there had been more.
“That wasn’t a joke,” she said. “Though I think he took it as one.”
“So you really didn’t like him.”
She shook her head. “Honestly? I liked Billy better. And he seemed into you.”
“But I don’t like him like that. What didn’t you like about Ian?”
“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “He just . . . he just seemed kind of arrogant, I guess. But subtly. Not like some grandiose, showboating asshole, which maybe would make things easier. It was really subtle, and at first I wasn’t even sure why I didn’t like him, because you’re right—he’s hot as fuck, but he’s also arrogant as fuck. And kind of possessive. You guys aren’t even going out.”
“He didn’t seem that possessive. And . . . we kind of are.”
She winced. “What?”
“We haven’t talked about it or anything, but one of the girls that was sitting near us, she came out of the bathroom when I was in there and she asked me if Ian was my boyfriend. It kind of caught me off guard, actually, but I said he was.”
Caroline sighed. “Just because you say he is to some person you don’t even know doesn’t mean he actually is. And if you guys haven’t talked about it yet, then I think you should just run the other direction, while you still can.”
“Run in the other direction?” I said with a laugh. “I work with him, Caro. He’s my boss. It doesn’t matter what direction I run—I’ll just be seeing him again next time I go back to work.”
“Yeah,” she said slowly, “that’s the other thing. Don’t you think it’s a little weird to get involved with your boss? Isn’t that against some policy or something? Or just a bad idea, career-wise?”
“It’s not maybe the most . . . orthodox thing ever,” I said, “but I certainly wouldn’t be the first person to ever get involved with her boss. And besides, the whole thing is very exciting. I feel like I deserve some—good—excitement in my life after this whole thing with Noah.”
“No one deserves something like that thing with Noah.”
“So maybe he’ll leave me alone if I’m with someone else. That will be the way he gets it through his head.
I left Failte feeling confused and very much like the wind had been taken out of my sails. I’d been practically skipping down the street to get here, thinking that I could finally tell Caroline that it had happened—I was no longer a virgin!—but I had ended up leaving without having said a word of that.
I was still thinking about this as I walked up to my apartment, digging for my keys out of my purse. How was Caroline going to react when I told her—
“Daisy.”
I froze. It was Noah.
“What are you doing?” I said. He was sitting on the front steps of my building; there was no way that I could sneak past him. He stood up and took a step toward me.
“Daisy,” he said, a relieved smile crossing his face. “Daisy, where have you been? Your car was here, but you weren’t, and then I saw some taxi pull up and you got out with some guy. Who was that?”
If he was saying that he saw me get out of a taxi with Ian, then that meant he was here Saturday night. “You were here on Saturday?” I said.
“I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I’d swing by and see if you were home. And, as I said, I saw your car, so I figured you’d be there. I know you haven’t gotten your phone issues resolved yet, because you still haven’t responded to any of my messages, but that’s okay. I’m around here a lot, so it’s easy enough to just stop over.”
“Yeah, except it’s usually considered good manners to give a little bit of notice first, isn’t it?”
“So. How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine. But I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t be hanging out on my doorstep when I get home. It’s . . . it’s weird, okay? You just need to stop all of this, Noah. Please. You seem like a nice guy; I’m sure there’s a girl out there who would really be able to appreciate that. I’m certainly not the only girl in the world, you know.”