Chapter 3: Beau

Beau

"I can do this. This will be a good thing." A chant. My mantra ever since I set this meeting up with Zoe. Something about the way she reached out to me - how earnest she looked while telling me not to be prideful - resonated with me.

Made me call.

Once more I walked the length of the sidewalk.

"Planning to have this conversation out here? Should I fall in step?"

"Shit!" I yelped, while my companion laughed. Placing a hand on my chest, I looked over to my left and glared. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's not kosher to sneak up on people? How rude it is?"

Zoe watched me try and regulate my breathing with an amused expression of her face. "My mother did tell me that all the time - hated when I'd sneak up and scare her half to death."

"And yet you continue to do so?"

"Never been able to kick the habit." She shrugged unapologetically. "Didn't grasp the concept." My reply was a quick flip of the bird which caused her to snort. "Real mature, Beau."

"Wasn't trying to be."

"So..." she trailed off and bumped her shoulder with mine. "Going in, or do I start my spiel now? Your choice."

"Hungry?" I asked, tilting my head toward the deli a few stores down from where I'd stopped. It was considered a hole-in-the-wall inside the posh neighborhood surrounding it, but made the best soup and sandwiches in town.

"Only if it's my treat." At my frown, she grasped my hand in hers and squeezed. "Promise that it won't cost me a dime."

Didn't miss the emphasis on the word me.

"Let's go in."

Zoe gave an exaggerated bow. "Lead the way."

Nodding, I walked down the sidewalk and toward the small shop. Without looking back, I entered and settled into a small booth near the back of the eatery. The guys working behind the counter all called out a "welcome" as we made our way inside.

Zoe followed and took a seat across from me. "Does this place have a waitress?"

"Nope." It was my turn to snort. "No menus other than the giant blackboard upfront. Your treat, you order."

"Well aren't you a little shit!" The more she spoke, the more I liked her. Zoe wasn't the pretentious girl I'd taken her for. Here and now, she was just like me. Just another chick from the university in town who was hungry and hanging out with someone she semi-knew. Flipping her burgundy hair over her shoulder, she pursed her lips. "What do you want? What's good?"

"I'll have the croquette with everything and eenie minie mo it...it's all awesome."

"Chick, give me your favorites."

Tapping my chin, I mentally ran through my preferred list. "Try the house Cubano...it's really good and legit."

"Noted." Her phone went off, but instead of answering, she turned it off. "Drinks?"

"I'll have a Jupiña."

"The pineapple soda, right?"

"Yup."

"I'll be back, brat. Call you to give me a hand?"

A giggle escaped me. She seemed so out of place in this shop. "Sure."

Zoe made her way to the counter of the semi-full shop, and I studied her. She had a presence about her, and it was more than being just another pretty face. Everyone turned to look at her. She commanded attention.

And I envied that.

Not because I had low self-esteem or anything, but because of the carefree attitude she exuded.

As if she had no problems.

From inside my wristlet, my phone rang, pulling my attention away from my new friend. Ruby's names flashed across the screen and for a small second, I felt guilt.

I'd never told her about this meeting, or the day Zoe gave me her card.

"Hey! How'd the date go?" Sniffling came through the line, and my smile vanished. "What's going on? Did he not show up?"

"Max came yesterday and spent the night." A sigh came through the line then. "He just left."

"Okay..." Because her tears were making no sense. Unless he…? "Did he dip and split? That ass. Jesus, babe, I'm so - "

"Max asked me to be his girl, and I said yes," Ruby rushed out, interrupting me.

For a second, I pulled the phone from my face and counted to ten. As much as I loved my friend, she had the tendency to overreact. To make a crater out of an ant hill. "You still there?" It was distant, but I heard it.

"Yeah, I'm here," I answered in the most cheerful tone I could muster. Today of all days, I couldn't deal with a meltdown. My nerves were already shot.

Not until I figured out what this meeting between Zoe and I could mean.

"Aren't you going to ask what happened? Why I'm so distraught?"

"So why the tears, Rubes? Hit me." The words passed through my lips before I could stop them.

"Does it make me a horrible person to be so happy? Because I'm on cloud nine, Beau..." Ruby continued to speak, and yet I checked out.

What. The. Fuck.

Here I was a nervous wreck, my career on the line, and she calls me to gush? Scared the heck out of me with her tears to tell me she's happy?

"I got to go," I mumbled through a small lump in my throat. "Call you later."

"But wait!" Her screech hurt my ears, and I pulled the phone away. "Let me at least tell you the best part before you go back to being a worry wort."

That stung.

"Sure, talk. I'm not busy or anything."

"Beau, Max wants to take me away on a little getaway to his parents' summer home in North Carolina. Says he wants me to meet them. Isn't that amazing!"

Dear God, this woman had the worst timing. Truly, I wanted to be happy for her, but her loss of tact grated on my nerves. Most of the time I brushed it off, even when it annoyed me.

Take her as she is.

Since our first year of college when I met her at orientation, she'd been a good friend. Self-absorbed, but cared for me, and I needed to remember that now.

My misfortunes were not her fault.

Zoe slid into the booth then and pushed the platter with my sandwich and chips toward me. "Everything okay?"

"Who's that?" Ruby asked; she'd heard my companion, and her curiosity sprang into action. "Where are you? Did they make you work the afternoon shift too?"

"No. Not at the bar, Ruby." I was never much of liar, but each time I'm around Zoe they seemed to slip through my lips with ease. "I'm at an interview for a position I stumbled across in the newspaper. Caretaker."

Zoe coughed. "You'll be taking care of something all right." At my funny look, she shrugged.

"Are they there with you now?"

Ruby's question caught me off guard, and I choked on the sip of soda I'd just taken. "Yeah, let me call you back."

"Sure. There's so much I'm going to need your help with."

"Of course, babes. Call you later."

"Hey, Beau?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck." She hung up before I could reply.

Setting the phone down beside me, I pushed my food to the side and settled my focus back on Zoe. Wasn't lying when I told Ruby that this was a job interview, at least that's what it felt like to me.

"That friend of yours is something else." Zoe took a bite of her sandwich and moaned in appreciation. "This is so good."

"She is. Everyone has their good and bad side." Left no room to discuss her any further. No one talked crap about someone I cared about.

"Point made."

"Why am I here? What are you offering?"

"Right to the point. I like that." Mimicking my position, she pushed her own sandwich aside and sat back to watch me fidget.

"Talk." At my demand she raised a brow, and I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Anxious or not, I couldn't be rude to someone just wanting to help. "Please."

"Okay," she said, but for some reason it looked as if she were speaking to herself. Preparing. Pushing her shoulders back, she sat straighter in her seat and looked me dead in the eye. "I know people who can make all your financial troubles disappear, Beau. Have a way of paying off all your student loans and the rest of your tuition without you spending a single cent out of pocket." Her words were spoken low, but concisely. "That you could go to bed at night without ever shedding another tear due to the stress. No more bills."

"What exactly are you offering me, Zoe? And how would you know I'm in need of financial help?" Only Ruby knew of my troubles.

Her motives and knowledge were beginning to worry me. That, and every time something sounded too good to be true, it always was.

"You want a bullshit answer or the truth?"