Tavon sighed and put his hands behind his head. “Which is?”
“Penny has an in with the boss. So if we all play our cards right, we now have a connection that none of the other interns have. You should be happy about this, not pissed off.” He gave me a small smile. Having him on my side could be a good thing.
“True,” Tavon said. “Maybe the four of us could get drinks one night this week? And you could bring Hunter?”
“Umm…” I let my voice trail off. I didn’t know what James would think about hanging out with a bunch of his interns. “I’ll ask him. But we’re really busy the next few weeks.”
“With all the wedding planning?” Sierra asked. “It’s probably going to be the most lavish wedding of the year.”
I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to say. Was she waiting for me to invite her? “I can ask James about getting drinks one night though,” I said instead.
“I can’t wait!” Sierra said. “I’ve always wondered what he was like outside of work. It’s like hanging out with a celebrity. I’m so jealous of your life.”
“If you don’t tone it down Fight Club won’t even ask him,” Tavon said. “We’ll be cool, I promise. I’ll get Sierra under control.”
I laughed. I glanced at Zach, but he was just staring at me skeptically. “Yeah, I’ll ask James and let you guys know.” I turned my attention to the computer screen. Maybe hanging out outside of work with them would help us bond. And Zach seeing James and me together might get him off my back.
Tuesday
I grabbed the handle as soon as the door buzzed. Tyler had done well for himself in New York. He had aced his first interview and landed the job he had wanted as a business reporter. And he had already gotten a few promotions. Him moving here after he graduated had been wonderful. I think the time we spent apart allowed James to move on from everything that had happened between me and Tyler. They were actually friends now. And I guess it had been good for Tyler and me too. We still talked on the phone every now and then while he was still in Delaware, but we weren’t very close anymore. As soon as he moved here, though, it was like we were best friends again. Our friendship had picked up right where it had left off, minus the sexual tension.
I stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor. Transferring to NYCU had been hard. Everyone had already made friends freshman year, which left me pretty much on my own. Luckily Mason had started dating Bee. She was pretty much the only friend I had made in New York besides for James’ friends. And they didn’t really count because I couldn’t really talk to them about anything personal, despite how inappropriate Rob was all the time. Bee was so great because even though I hadn’t known her in Delaware, we could easily talk about home. We even knew a lot of the same people. And the fact that our dating situations were similar made it even easier to confide in her.
I stopped outside of Tyler’s apartment. Josh had broken up with Melissa after he graduated. He didn’t even want to try to attempt a long distance relationship. Melissa had been devastated. She started coming up and visiting a lot more afterwards. But now I was wondering if she was more interested in seeing Tyler than she had been in spending time with me. How long had this really been going on? How could I have not realized it? And why were they hiding it from me? I knew that Melissa thought Tyler was hot. She had repeatedly talked about his abs and thought I was crazy for not jumping at the opportunity to be with him. Had she liked him that whole time?
And Tyler hadn’t dated anyone since moving to New York. At least, not that he told me about. I felt like I could talk to Tyler about anything. It hurt to realize that he didn’t feel he could do the same with me. It hurt even more that Melissa wouldn’t tell me about their relationship. But I had kept James a secret from both of them for a long time. Maybe I deserved to be kept out of the loop. This whole thing was so weird. I knocked on the door. I didn’t want to force them to tell me about their relationship. But if I didn’t bring it up, I was worried they never would.
When Tyler opened the door he had a huge smile on his face. He was still wearing a suit from work. For some reason I always expected him to be wearing jeans and a polo like he had in class. But I was the only one that seemed to be having a hard time transitioning into the real world. “Hey, Penny. It’s nice getting to hang out with you on a night that isn’t Friday.”
Tyler and I always watched Shark Tank together on Fridays. It was our thing. James never wanted to watch it with us. We had concluded that he was just bitter that he hadn’t been asked to be one of the sharks. And he didn’t deny it.
“I thought it would be fun for the three of us to hang out,” I said.
“Yeah.” He didn’t sound quite as convinced, but it could have been my imagination. “I just have to go change. I’ll be right back.”
I walked into his apartment and sat down on the couch. I hadn’t been there since Melissa had moved in. Despite the fact that she claimed it was only temporary, her stuff was everywhere. There was only one bedroom and the couch I was sitting on hadn’t been made up with a sheet or pillow or anything. They were definitely sleeping together.
Tyler came out, pulling a t-shirt over his head, and collapsed beside me on the couch. He looked exactly like he did in college when he wasn’t in his work clothes. “How’s the new job going?”
“It’s good, I’m still getting used to…”
“Geez, what happened to your face?”
“Nothing. I’m still getting used to the dynamic at work,” I continued. “I just told all my co-workers that I was marrying the boss.” I laughed and kept my face turned away from him.