"We work together," I said.
Ivy put her phone down. "Yes, dear, I know you work together. What I didn't know is that you looked that great as a couple. I mean, no wonder the paparazzi were snapping photographs. You look pretty cozy."
I opened my menu like a shield. "Please tell me I can order a drink with lunch."
"Yes. How about a nice Riesling? We'll have the whole bottle at the table," Ivy told our attentive waiter. He bowed and moved off through the linen-draped tables. "Whatever it takes for you to tell me the whole story."
I knew I couldn't put Ivy off. There wasn't much that she didn't get one way or another. Plus, outside of my pregnant and preoccupied sister, Ivy was the only one I had to confide in. Still, I tried to distract her. "Do you think I should have a shrimp salad?"
Ivy shook her head. "We don't order off the menu, darling. The chef will send something out with his compliments. Now, tell me."
I plucked at the tines of my silver fork. "What's to tell? There was an attractive man and a lapse of judgment, but we work together, so it was a mistake. One that will never be repeated. Did you hear me? Never."
"Oh, yes, I heard you. Sorry, Tasha, but saying 'never' twice is a sure sign it'll happen again." Ivy gave me a sympathetic smile and laid off until the waiter had filled our glasses.
I took a sip of the crisp wine and tried again. "One mistake is enough for me."
"But did you get enough of Rainer?"
"Ivy!" I felt a blush heat my cheeks and had to force cooler thoughts. "Besides, I'm in between projects now at work, and I really have to focus."
"What happened to the community garden?" Ivy asked. "I think that brilliant bit of PR is one of the reasons you ousted Ellison from the society pages. You managed to turn public opinion one-eighty, and now no one can get enough of you. Not even—"
"Don't say his name," I said. "All I can think about right now is why Stan would cut off the funding so abruptly."
Ivy gave a delicate wave to a notable couple not far from us. "If funding is the only problem, just give me five minutes. I have enough friends in this room alone to fund ten more years of that darling garden."
"No. No, thanks. I'm sure Stan had his reasons. I mean, he's right. The whole point of GroGreen and the campaign was to show that communities could do this on their own," I said, hoping to convince myself.
Ivy was not fooled. "It's important to you. Why not throw in some of your own hard-earned money and I'll match you dollar-for-dollar? How expensive can it be?"
I sighed. "To keep a national campaign going across multiple media is much more than you'd think. Plus, I'd like to update the application with message boards and ways for the community gardens to share photographs and plans. That means paying a development team and my team is definitely not cheap."
Ivy held up her glass. "Well, then here's to kicking in some serious money. I'm not kidding, Tasha, you name your figure, and I'll match you. Then we'll get at least three more tables to do the same without even getting up."
"Thanks, Ivy." I smiled at my audacious friend. "The only problem is that I don't have anything to contribute. My finances are, um, not liquid anymore."
Ivy raised one perfectly groomed eyebrow. "What have you done, Tasha?" she asked.
Now my cheeks were bright red. "I invested it all and only left myself what I earned last year."
She caught my dodging gaze and leaned forward. "And why did you lock away all your newly made billions?"
I took another long sip of wine and tried to sort it out in my own mind. "It felt like a lot of pressure. I'm sure you felt it when you got married. All of a sudden everything's different when really it's just a lot more numbers in your bank account."
"And what did you do before this big decision?" Ivy asked.
"What do you mean? Why?" I searched my memory. "I was at work and my useless assistant was calling out tabloid headlines. I got up to shut my office door and just decided."
Ivy was not convinced. She saw that I had suddenly paled. "Rumors like Rainer getting engaged to Ellison?"
I wanted to cry; the connection was so sudden and so awfully true. I had invested all of my money as some sort of spiteful response to Rainer's personal life. "Oh, god, Ivy. Why am I ruining my life?"
She patted my hand and refilled my wine glass. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think you're the only one doing crazy things. I mean, Rainer is refusing to get engaged to Ellison. Ellison Ramsey! You're both nuts."
Ivy's words stuck with me long after we finished our three-course lunch and said goodbye at the valet stand. I went back to work and was horrified to see Rainer chatting with Otto. He jumped up as if he'd been waiting for me.
Otto leaned on the security desk and grinned. "Hello, Ms. Nichols," he called. "We were just talking about you."