We were almost at the door when it swung open, and Jonathan walked in. He jumped, obviously not expecting to see us right there.
“We were just heading out,” I said. “I was about to lock up, but since you’re here, I’ll let you handle it.”
His eyes shot from me to Daisy, then back to me. “Oh? Where are you going?”
“We’re just going to get a drink,” I said. “I figured it would be good for me to get to know Daisy a little better outside the work environment.”
Jonathan shifted uncomfortably. “A drink,” he said. “Maybe . . . maybe I should come along, too.”
“That’d be great—” Daisy started to say, but I cut her off.
“I think there’s some stuff you’ve got to take care of here,” I said. “Isn’t there? I need you to go over the applications we’ve received so far and get the top twenty to me so we can start the interviewing process.”
“Oh . . . okay . . .” he stammered. I waited until Daisy wasn’t looking at me to give him a big wink.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “This is just going to be a friendly thing. You’ll come with us next time. Hell, maybe it’ll be the two of you going out, and I’ll be the one left behind!”
I ushered Daisy out before either of them could say anything else.
Chapter Eight
Daisy
It looked like Jonathan wanted to say something, but Ian herded me out the door before he was able to.
“Don’t worry about him,” Ian said. “He’s got a bunch of stuff he needs to handle there right now. Plus, he can’t hold his alcohol for shit.” A half smile curved the corner of his mouth and he shook his head. “I’m just kidding, of course. Jonathan could outdrink an Australian.”
“An Australian?”
“Yeah. Drinking’s like the national past time there. Dan, our field manager, he’s originally from Australia. Not Sydney . . . Brisbane, I think it is.”
“Oh,” I said. “I didn’t know that.”
“He’s only got a little bit of the accent left, which comes out a lot more when he’s drinking. So,” he said as we walked down the sidewalk. “What do you think of Jonathan?”
The question caught me off guard. “Jonathan?” I said. “He’s great.”
“Yeah, he is a good guy.”
“I really appreciate that he was able to get me a job interview with you, and that you decided to hire me.”
“Anything to help a friend out,” he said, and I wasn’t sure if he was referring to me as a friend, or to Jonathan. “You want to take a cab or drive?”
“Where are we going?”
“Back Bay. The Knock. Ever been?”
“No.” It was an upscale bar that Caroline had been to once before. “Um, we can drive I guess. My car’s right here.” I pointed a few feet ahead of us.
“This little thing?” he said. “Jesus Christ, you drive a Prius.”
But he said it with a smile on his face, like he was giving me a hard time, but in a good-natured way.
“Yes I do,” I said. “I don’t think I’d be able to manage to parallel park anything bigger.”
We got in and he directed me to The Knock. I tried to remember what Caroline had said about the place, but I couldn’t really recall anything. Right away I could tell it was filled with people I wasn’t going to feel very comfortable around. Everyone in there looked like they could be on the cover of a magazine—handsome men and beautiful women all dressed immaculately, exuding an air of confidence that seemed to saturate the place. The walls were backlit with a warm pink light that cast everyone in a cheerful glow. I felt shy as we stepped through the door, though I shouldn’t have; no one was going to notice me.
But people were certainly going to notice Ian.