Ashley arrives before I do and I spot her sitting at the bar. I approach her and pull out a barstool for myself.
"Girl, don't look behind you!" she squeals.
Of course, as soon as someone tells me to not look at something, I reflexively do. Immediately, I know what she's talking about. Twenty feet away, I spot Nadia and Derek sitting at a table.
"That's your boss, right?" Ashley asks. "Is that a new boyfriend of hers? He's kind of hot."
"Oh god, Ash—hide me," I say, slinking down in my barstool. "Remember that billionaire I mentioned earlier?"
"Of course."
"Well, that's him."
"What the fuck?" she says. "Just when I thought things couldn't get weirder." I can see a genuine sense of shock on her face.
"Shit, Derek sees me," I whisper. It's clear that I'm in their line of sight and Nadia is pretending to not notice that I'm here.
I look over again and Derek is now waving us over to his table.
"Looks like you better go say hi," Ashley suggests. "He seems pretty insistent."
We grab our drinks and walk over.
"What are you doing here?" I ask casually.
"I'm here—I mean here at the Carlyle—just until my apartment is decorated."
"Oh nice," I say, and then I immediately kick myself for sounding so stupid. 'Nice?' Is that really what just tumbled out of my mouth?
"You ladies should join us," Derek offers. "Pull up a chair."
"Oh, we don't want to interrupt your date," I say.
"Yeah, Derek, we should let these two friends enjoy their evening together," Nadia chimes in.
From the annoyance in her eyes, it's clear to me that we are ruining her date.
"Nonsense! Sit down. The more the merrier," Derek insists.
I figure he isn't going to take no for an answer, so Ash and I decide to sit down and join them after all.
"What are you two ladies up to tonight?" he asks.
"A little Pilates, a little dinner—and here we are," I laugh. "Exciting, right?"
"Sounds like a decent night to me," Derek smiles. "And now you're here with me. Even better."
Just then, Nadia clears her throat.
"It's getting late," she says, pretending to look at her watch. "I'm going to call it a night."
She turns to Derek and asks, "Dinner tomorrow night?"
"I—uh—I'll have to check my calendar," he replies.
"Well, whatever's on your calendar, cancel it," she says with a devilish grin.
"You bet," he replies, not wanting to argue, but I can detect some reluctance. "See you tomorrow."