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Well, that wasn’t so much of a surprise. The young QB was barely twenty-one, pretty as a boy-band member and with a record of pulling crazy stunts. Made him something of the press’s darling. A blip compared to Carter, sure, but Carter had settled after he started dating someone seriously a few years back, and no longer provided off-field stories.
I wrapped the story, complete with links to a few of the other articles we’d run on him and included some appropriately pithy quotes, and then moved on to my next article. But I couldn’t help glancing at my phone every five seconds, waiting for Abe.
I still started when it dinged.
You ready?
Yeah—you almost here?
I’m downstairs.
Oh, God. My fingers around my cell went numb. For some reason, I’d figured he’d give me a few minutes’ warning. I jumped up and started haphazardly throwing all my things in my bag, while Jin and Mduduzi watched with amusement. “Where’s the fire?” Mduduzi asked.
“I’m meeting someone for dinner and he’s here—I didn’t think he’d be here this soon. ”
“You guys going anywhere interesting?” Carlos asked.
Why hadn’t I thought more about the overlap between my work and personal life? Not that Abe was my personal life. I mean, he was. But he wasn’t. . .
Whatever.
The point was, was it bad that I hadn’t mentioned that I was going to dinner with Abraham Krasner? Then again, how was I supposed to bring that up? It would sound a little awkward—oh, yes, I’m going to Ryan Carter’s for dinner. No big deal.
I smiled. “A dinner party. ”
Tanya’s door swung open. “Kiddos, Abe Krasner’s downstairs in the lobby. Carlos, go down and find out what he’s doing here. Get a picture, too. ”
I froze and my eyes widened. Was it overkill to curse again?
Mduduzi leaned back in his chair. “The hell is he doing here?”
Oh phew. Oh phew, oh phew. They hadn’t put two and two together.
Tanya shook her head. “I have no idea, but as long as he’s in our building, he’s not leaving until we get him. ”
I cleared my throat. “Why don’t I go?”
Carlos was already out of his chair and grabbing up his key card. He patted me on the head fraternally as he shook his head, in a clear mimic of Tanya—I just couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not. “Sorry, kid. You have to earn the honor of running after celebrities later. ”
I smiled awkwardly and nodded. And tried not to look super conspicuous as I grabbed up my cell. One of my coworkers is coming down to take your pic.
There was a pause, and then to my shock, my cell phone rang. I almost dropped it. Who called in response to texts? Beside my mother.
I mean, unless you texted something really bad. “Hello?”
Abe’s voice came across tinged with displeasure. “You set me up?”
What? No! “I didn’t! Someone must’ve spotted you and called up to my boss. ”
“I’m not giving an interview right now. ”
“I don’t think they want an interview,” I mumbled into my cell as I walked into the corner. “Just a pic. Maybe to tweet it. ”
He groaned. “Fine. If you do it. ”
Oh, God. “Abe, no. I’m the rookie reporter—I don’t cover celebrities. ” Another silence stretched, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Don’t let that go to your head. ”
“What if I say you or no one?”
Carlos had to be almost to the lobby by now. Or he could already be there, watching Abe talk irritably into his phone. “I’d say you’re not that stubborn. ”
Now surprise flavored his words. “You don’t think I’m stubborn?”
I shrugged. “You’re go with the flow-y. ”
“And you don’t think rivers are stubborn?”
Huh. Come to think of it, rivers were incredibly stubborn, as long as everything flowed in their direction. This was a problem. “Please don’t do that. I’ve only been here a month. It’ll be weird. ”
“What’s in it for me?”
Um, nothing really. Abe’s existence didn’t contain blackmail material. “I won’t tell your mom you were the one who broke the Wedgwood vase when you were sixteen. Be there in two minutes. ”
“Wait, don’t hang up, you’re my excuse—”
I hung up with a smile.
Shrugging on my coat, I waved goodbye to the guys. Mduduzi gaped at me. “Don’t you want to stay for the Krasner gossip?”
I made what I hoped was an expression of great reluctance. “I would, but. . . ”
He nodded. “Right. You’re late for your friend. ”
Please, don’t connect the dots. “That’s right. ”
I hopped in the elevator and buttoned up my coat, anticipation speeding through me and making my fingers tremble. When I stepped into the lobby, I saw him immediately—or more, saw the direction all the heads were turned in.
Abe stood in the corner, holding his cell in a loose grip, a polite smile on his face as he spoke to Carlos.
Then Abe caught sight of me and his gaze brightened. I smiled back, but also held a finger to my lips. For some reason, I didn’t really want my coworker seeing me interact with Abe. It felt. . . weird. Unprofessional. Like I shouldn’t be hanging out with someone I was supposed to be interviewing.
For the first time, it struck me that it might legitimately be unprofessional. But that was ridiculous, right?
Abe rolled his eyes at my silencing, and I started to creep past them.
“Tamar. ” It was Carlos who spoke my name and beckoned me over. “Have you met Abe Krasner?” To Abraham he said, “Tamar is one of our newest reporters. ”
Abe smiled. “We’ve met. ”
“So is there something we can help you with?” Carlos kept his tone light, but he couldn’t help his clear fixation on Abe’s answer, or the way he canted his body forward liked he was ready to catch the story of the year spouting from Abe’s lips. As though Abe had come here just to share a secret.
Abe could see it too, and he grinned widely. “Just picking something up. ”
Carlos tried to puzzle that out, because surely by all accounts, Abe had stepped into the Today Media lobby, talked on the phone and done nothing else. “Really?”
“Mm-hm. ” Grinning even wider, Abe nodded goodbye and started to walk back out the doors. Carlos and I exchanged a quick look—his intrigued, mine trying very hard to convey equal surprise—when Abe turned back. “Hey, either of you know if there’s a Duane Reade around here?”
I shot Carlos another glance, this one to let him know I was going for it. “There’s one on my way to the subway. I’ll walk you by it. ” With a quick nod at Carlos, I ran after Abe.
He started laughing almost as soon as we cleared the doors, but I found myself oddly indignant. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
He grinned at me. “Didn’t you?”
Maybe the smallest bit. “I’m not so good at subterfuge. I’m not even sure why we were doing that. ”
He raised one brow. “I was following your lead. ”
I lifted my face into the crisp October breeze, much brisker here than at home. “They don’t know we know each other. ”