Bad Ideas (First & Forever 4)

Once we finished eating, Seth brought in some perfect little chocolate cupcakes, one of which held a lit candle. They all sang to me, and I sent the same wish out into the universe as the day before when I blew out the candle—can I please just get laid sometime this decade?

Obviously, I didn’t tell anyone what I’d wished for, because it sounded desperate. Instead, we all laughed and joked some more, and then I opened several gifts, even though I’d begged them not to get me anything. One of the presents was a deep blue V-neck sweater in a fancy department store gift box. As I held the incredibly soft garment to the front of me, I said, “This is nice, and it’s perfect timing. I can wear it to the hospital’s holiday party tonight.”

Flora asked, “Where are they holding it?”

“In some hotel. The Renard? Or Renault?” I thought about it for a moment, then said, “The first one. The second one’s a car.”

“The Renard is quite upscale,” Flora told me. “You’ll probably want to wear a suit and tie.”

“Yeah, all my coworkers are dressing up, but I don’t actually own a suit.”

Seth perked up at that. “Want to borrow one of mine? We must be close to the same size.”

I knew he meant well, but for some reason that stung a little. Even so, I kept my tone cheerful as I replied, “No thanks, I’m good.”

“You sure? It’s no trouble. I’ve got three suits fresh from the cleaner’s hanging in my closet, and you could take your pick.” He pointed to the ceiling, or more specifically to their shared bedroom, which was directly above us on the second floor.

“But that’s not me,” I muttered, “and I wouldn’t be comfortable. Besides, who am I trying to impress?” My brother looked like he had more he wanted to say on the subject, but he let it drop.

After the cupcakes were consumed and our coffee cups were drained, we all moved into the den for more light conversation. Even though I was desperate to make my escape, I politely waited for a suitable amount of time to pass. Then I got to my feet and announced, “I hate to scarf down your kale and run, but I have several errands to do before the party tonight. Thank you for all of this. It was great.” I’d been shooting for an hour of socializing after we finished eating, but a glance at the clock on the mantel showed it had barely been twenty minutes. Oops.

George made me promise one more time that I’d cash the check, and Seth helped me gather up the gifts before saying, “I’ll walk you out.”

The closest parking spot I could find was at the end of the block, and for some reason my brother accompanied me all the way to my car. I unlocked the hatchback and put the gifts inside, and then I turned to him with a smile and said, “Thanks again. You guys shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”

“It was no trouble at all. So, are you coming over tomorrow to watch football?”

“Oh. No, I have to work. Sorry, I forgot to tell you.”

“They’re sure piling on the hours at the hospital.”

“It’s by choice. With the holiday season, a lot of people are asking for time off. You know I like to stay busy, so I’ve been picking up some extra shifts. It’s actually a miracle that I have tonight off and can attend the holiday party.”

He asked, “What about everyone who has to work tonight? Do they all just miss out? Obviously the hospital can’t just hang up a ‘be back soon’ sign and shut its doors for a few hours.”

“The people working tonight are getting time and a half and a nice, catered buffet dinner, along with double the raffle tickets for the prizes being given out at the party. Nobody’s complaining, from what I’ve seen. Besides, not everybody likes fancy parties.”

“I’m glad you’re going. I hope it ends up being fun, even if it doesn’t really sound like something you’d be into,” Seth said, as he absently fixed his blond hair, which didn’t need fixing.

“I wasn’t going to go, but Yolanda twisted my arm. She can be very persuasive. I’ll be hanging out with her and JoJo all night, so just call me Third Wheel Willy.”

I hadn’t thought about what I was saying, but my brother’s cheerful expression wavered, replaced by a look of guilt at the whole third wheel thing. But then he stuck a smile on his face and said, “You must be allowed to bring a plus-one, since Yolanda’s taking JoJo. Why don’t you ask your cute roommate to be your date?”

“Which of my roommates is cute?”

He looked at me like I was dense. “Both of the guys I met are absolutely adorable, but I was referring to Lark. He seems fun.”