* * *
I was lying on my sofa, reading comics. Okay, to be honest, I was drifting off—getting laid for the first time in seven years last night had been pretty eventful, and Jon had practically tortured me in my physio session today, making me work the functioning muscles in my legs until they screamed. “Someday they’re going to have a way for you to walk again, man,” he’d said with perfect confidence. “Science is moving fast. Your legs have to be ready.”
So I was dozing, imagining I could actually feel some of the pain below my knees, when my phone rang. I knocked the comic off my chest and saw that it was Tessa. “What’s up?” I asked when I answered.
“Were you asleep?” she asked. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I looked at the time: six o’clock. She should be working her shift at Miller’s right now. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Maybe? Yes. I think? I’m coming over.”
“What?” I sat up and checked the security feed. Sure enough, Tessa was coming out of her front door across the street, holding the phone to her ear, instead of pouring drinks at Miller’s. “Why aren’t you at work?” I asked her, running a hand through my hair.
“It’s a long story.” I watched her lock her door and start across the street. She was wearing a long sundress that went all the way down to her ankles, but I could still see how her body moved under the loose fabric. She had a bag over her shoulder. “I kind of don’t work at Miller’s anymore.”
“Kind of?”
“Okay, I completely don’t work there anymore. I got fired. It’s been kind of a crazy day.”
“All right,” I said. “Come in.”
I buzzed her in and moved my feet to the floor so I wasn’t hogging the sofa. Tessa came in, bringing the smell of sweet summer air with her. She’d had a shower and scrubbed her makeup off, and her hair was damp. Her eyes were a little wild. She was frazzled.
She dropped down onto the sofa next to me and smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I said. “You don’t look upset that you got fired.”
“I’m not, really.” She bit her lip. “Actually, my boss asked me out again, and when I said no, he fired me. I told him he was an asshole, and I left.”
I stared at her. “Your boss fired you because you wouldn’t date him?”
“Pretty much. He also called me a cunt while I walked out the door.”
I felt my hands curl into the fabric of the sofa. “He called you what? I’ll go punch his fucking teeth in.” I didn’t know how I would do that, of course. I’d have to get over there first. Maybe I’d call a cab, or an Uber. I was willing to brave a car if it meant I could smash this guy’s face.
Tessa smiled at me, a dreamy sort of smile. “You’re awesome when you’re angry, but he isn’t worth the assault charge.”
“He can’t just do that,” I ground out.
“He already did, but forget it. I’m not upset, I promise. I didn’t want to work there anyway.”
I remembered that today was the last day of the photo shoot, so she didn’t have any more money coming in. “Are you going to get another job?”
“That’s just the thing,” Tessa said, opening her bag and pulling out papers. “I don’t have to rush to get another job. Because I got these today.”
She handed them to me, and I read them over. It was from Mrs. Welland’s estate lawyer, informing Tessa that she had inherited funds from her grandmother. I looked at the number and blinked. “Holy shit, Tessa. Even after the taxes and the rest of it, this is a pretty good amount of money.”
“I know. It won’t set me up for life, but I can get by for a little while, don’t you think?”
“Sure you can.” I looked up at her, then remembered it was dinner time. She never ate at photo shoots. “Are you hungry? I’ll get you a sandwich.”
She watched me lever myself off the couch and into my chair with widened eyes. “Andrew, no. I can get it myself.”
“Relax, I’ll get it.”
“Andrew.”
I held up a hand. “Bea Arthur. Remember? You’re being an ass. I can make sandwiches, despite the fact that I’m catastrophically infirm.”