“We have one Indian place that I know, but...that’s not really Middle Eastern food, is it?”
“No.” Ellie chuckled.
“If you can tell me what to order, I’m game to try it.”
“Deal.” Ellie flashed her a smile and rolled the windows up. “Thanks for going to lunch with me. I was going stir crazy at home.”
“No problem. I don’t know what I’d be doing anyway.”
“Nate being a bad host?”
“Oh, no. He’s great.” Cara scrambled out of the car, following Ellie into the building. “I was supposed to go home last night, but...I’m staying through the rest of the week.”
“That’s awesome. If Nate has to work and you’re bored, hit me up. This is the slow part of my year and I hate it.” Ellie made a disgusted sound and pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head. Her hair was wound up in some sort of huge Tinkerbelle bun that somehow still looked...trendy. Stylish. But not like she was trying.
Ellie was quite simply the kind of girl Cara wanted to be. Pretty. Likeable. Different and yet normal. Cara could try to be like Ellie, and Cara would fail. Thoughts like that used to depress her, but she’d given up worrying about it. She was who she was.
The café hostess seated them in a booth and left them with menus and water.
“Um...Ellie?” Cara blinked at the pages.
“Oh, shoot.” Ellie peered at her menu. “I can read it for you if you like.”
“What...language...is that?” Cara tilted her head to the side, as if that would make the script any easier to read.
“Pakistani. My family knows the people who own the place and I come here way too much. Lulu probably didn’t even think about it. What do you normally like to eat?”
They went over the food, Ellie offering commentary and little facts about the different dishes. How her father made, it versus the restaurant. What was tweaked to appeal to the American patrons and what was authentic. In the end, they settled on an appetizer and two entrées. Cara still wasn’t sure what she was getting, but it was an adventure either way.
“So...may I ask if you’re...um...about the language?” Crap. Was this one of those things she shouldn’t ask about?
“How do I speak Pakistani?” Ellie chuckled.
“Is that okay to ask?”
“I’m Pakistani. It’s not a secret. I was born there and my parents immigrated when I was very little. I don’t really have memories of what it was like, but my parents are pretty big on making sure I know about my history.”
“Oh. Wow. Is it...can I ask why?”
“You can ask whatever you want. My mother was from Israeli and a Jew. Dad from Pakistan and Muslim. They were kind of like...Romeo and Juliet. Completely forbidden love, no way it would work out, but they went for it. They couldn’t keep living in Pakistan without my mother being in danger and they couldn’t live in Israel because of my dad’s faith. So, they immigrated.”
“Wow. Are they glad they did? I mean, is it better here?”
“Yeah, but they still got divorced. They love each other, but there were too many differences.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Ellie shrugged. “They’re still friends. Dad gave mom away at her second wedding. My step-dad and he are golfing buddies. It’s kind of weird, but they’re happy and now, instead of two parents, I have three. Four, if my dad ever gets over his fear of commitment. He’s been dating this really great woman for three years now. I keep telling him if he doesn’t ask her soon she’s going to leave him. She’s way out of his league, too.”
“That’s...that’s great. For them. You.” Cara couldn’t imagine a world where her mom and dad could be in the same room, much less friendly.
“What are you guys doing this week? Any big plans?”
“No, not really.” Cara shrugged.
“So...you and Nate, huh?”
“Uh...” Cara’s mouth stopped working and her whole body suddenly went boiling hot.
What was she supposed to say? Do? Were they admitting this? Nate had held her hand last night around Josh and Bryan, but the guys hadn’t so much as glanced their way. Were they telling people? What would Nate do? Was it a secret?
“Wow.” Ellie’s eyes went wide. “Are you...okay?”
“Yes. Fine. I don’t know how to answer that question.” Cara hated how high her voice went, but her throat was tight, her mouth dry. She stared at the table, wishing the ground would swallow her up. Here, she’d been proud of herself for handling the friends to...dating with Nate with little ultra-awkwardness. It seemed that she was saving all of that for moments like this.
“I, uh, just assumed...you want a drink?” Ellie nudged the water across to Cara.
Cara tore her straw open and stuck it in the ice water, sucking deep, trying to cool herself from the inside out. Ellie watched her the whole time without comment.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked when Cara finally sat back.
Cara opened her mouth and shut it. Staring at the table, she could see Ellie’s reflection in the glass. It was better than having to look at her befuddled expression.
Normal women didn’t act like this, did they?
Cara was hopeless.
God, what was she doing?
“You and Nate seem like you fit. Sorry, I just assumed it was, ya know, a thing.” Ellie tore her straw wrapper into tiny bits, making a pile of paper snow.
“It’s...well, it wasn’t a thing. Until recently, I mean. I’m still,” Cara gestured to her face, “not sure what’s going on.”
“You want to talk about it?” Ellie asked again.
“I don’t know?” Cara did, and she didn’t know how to. Where to start.
“Some guys do that to you. The good ones at least.” Ellie smiled and propped her chin in her hand. “Just from the way he’s talked about you, since I met him, I sort of figured it was a meant to be thing.”
“Really? He...he talked about me?”
“Yeah. I went through a really rough patch this last year and Nate was a great friend. Sometimes, I just needed to talk to someone and he’d go off, telling me these stories about you guys and the stuff you used to do.”
“Oh.”
“It’s just...the way he talks about you. He always gets this,” she gestured to her face, “smile. It’s different. Like, you make him really happy. I duno, it just seemed like that kind of feeling, that happiness, was... I’m talking crazy. Sorry.”
“No... Thank you.” Cara pushed her hand back through her hair. What did she say? “I suck at being a girl. I don’t know how to talk about any of this, or what to do, or what I might be doing wrong or...”
“Wow. Take a breath. Here’s our food.”
The same woman delivered a tray of steaming hot food. Cara’s stomach growled, sounding a lot like a yeti.
“Try this first.” Ellie nudged the appetizer dish toward her. “You don’t have to tell me anything, by the way. I’m just nosey is all. Nate’s been a really good friend, and I feel like I know you from listening to him. He’s a great guy, and I’d like to see him happy.”
Nate talked about her?
Weird, he’d never mentioned Ellie until now. Why was that? He’d also not talked a whole lot about other people, too. Like Samir, who appeared to be one of the regular guys now. As often as Nate talked to Cara, she couldn’t understand how these people didn’t come up more often. Maybe Cara had just monopolized the conversation. She did that with Nate sometimes. It was probably nothing.
“I could...use some advice.” Cara tried not to squirm. She couldn’t ask Ellie about Nate’s particular tastes. That wouldn’t be right to share something that personal, but there were other, not-him things she could ask about.
“Oh? About what?” Ellie chewed her food. “Full disclosure, I’m not good at relationships.”
“Me neither.”
“There you go.” She grinned.
“I need to get some more clothes. I didn’t pack a whole lot f
or this trip and I’ve already washed some of my clothes twice.”
“Shopping. Oh, man, that’s dangerous. I can totally hook you up though. Little known fact? The thrift stores here are crazy, if you go into some of the swankier areas.”
“Oh my God, yes! I got a sewing machine this morning at one. I can’t tell if it was ever actually used.”
“I get crazy stuff at thrift stores. Actually, there’s one across town that’s having a big clearance event. Want to go this afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“Sweet. I really didn’t want to go by myself.” Ellie wrinkled her nose.
Cara was going shopping. With another girl. It was like some crazy Twilight Zone version of her life. She’d always wanted friends to go shopping with. At best she could sometimes get her mom to go with her, but that was happening less and less often these days.
“Just an FYI, we could run into some of my least favorite people.” Ellie rolled her eyes.
“Yeah?”
“You know I’m Josh’s assistant, right?”
“Nate told me.”
“See, I do PA work for four different people. I used to just work for two people, and one of them was a raging dick. He used to send me to thrift stores to look for old games. Now, I don’t work for him anymore, and I run into him sometimes. It’s messy.”
“That sucks.”
“It so does. And like, I have a restraining order because of some bullshit that happened, and he doesn’t care. So if we’re shopping and he shows up, I have to leave because he won’t. Restraining orders are such crap.”
“Wow. That serious?”
“Nate didn’t tell you?”
“I don’t think so...no?”
Ellie blinked at her. Was Nate somehow involved? Had he just not told Cara? What was the big deal?
“Well...so...there’s this show called Legend. They used to have this guy named Adam as their lead anchor, personality dude. Adam was my boss. He also plays video games professionally, does a lot of cons and contests and shit. Total dick. I...started working for him at a really desperate point, so even though I hated the air he breathed, I needed the job. Things got really complicated and I couldn’t quit for a few different reasons, even though I really wanted to. At the end, I was just working for him when the shit hit the fan. You remember Tamara?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she was on the show, Legend, before she came to HitPoint. Adam used to harass her daily. Like, I don’t know how she didn’t knock the shit out of him, she’s a professional badass. Anyway, he pushed her too far finally and she went after him for assault and harassment. Adam goes ballistic, he and I butted heads, some shit went down and I finally walked away. Josh hired me and brought me on to HitPoint, which has been amazing. So, super long story short, I had a terrible boss that made me hate my life, day dream about killing myself and getting out probably saved me.”
And Nate had never mentioned any of it. Cara knew the name Legend, but the rest of it was news to her.
“You are probably regretting coming to lunch with me now.” Ellie sighed and tucked a stray piece of hair up into her bun.
“No, not at all.”
“It’s okay. Pretty much everyone hates me now, and I can’t say that I blame them.”
“I don’t hate you. I’m glad I can...get to know you.”
“Well, that makes two of us. Seriously, if it wasn’t for these goofy guys,” Ellie shook her head, “I don’t know where I’d be.”
“I’m glad they were there for you.” Now, if Cara could just strangle the green-eyed monster coiling around her chest, she’d be fine.
Why hadn’t Nate ever mentioned Ellie? If he was such a close, personal friend, shouldn’t he have told Cara about her? She told him everything, often too much, and now she was learning all sorts of things about him she’d never known before. It was like...she’d never really known him until now.
13.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey.”
Nate held the door open for Samir and shoved his annoyance down. Nate was hungry, it was time for dinner, and Cara was still gone. All he’d had was one, single text from her about shopping with Ellie, and that was it.
Ellie wasn’t replying to him either.
What the hell was she doing?
Why was she trying to hang out with Cara?
“Earth to Nate?” Samir waved his hand in front of Nate’s face.
“Sorry, long day.” Nate trudged away from the door. Thinking about Cara wouldn’t summon her home. If it worked like that, she’d have been back hours ago.
“You look like shit. What’s going on?” Samir set the canvas bag on the rolling cart island.
“I don’t know, man.” Nate scrubbed a hand over his jaw.
Everything had seemed so simple. Of course, he and Cara could make things work. They loved each other. What else mattered? Now... What if Ellie spouted off the unvarnished truth? What if...fuck, what if something else happened?
“Do you...want me to leave so you can cry into the cushions?”
“Fuck you.” Nate flipped Samir the bird.
“No, thanks. That’s how half my problems start.” He held up his hands and laughed.
Nate rolled his eyes. Samir was a smooth talking light weight who had a bad habit of falling into bed with women. Usually, the wrong ones.
“Do you need a shoulder?” Samir held his arms open.
“Get out,” Nate snapped.
“Wow, okay. So what gives?”
“Nothing, man.”
“What’s up with everyone lately? Is Josh going to fire me?”
“What? No.”
“Okay, I just thought...never mind.”
“No.” Nate sighed. “It’s...Cara and Ellie and Bryan and Josh and it’s a mess.”
“You guys have an orgy and not invite me? I didn’t know you swung that way, man.”
“Fuck you. I don’t.”
“I know you and Ellie have been...close?” Samir’s brows lifted.
“Yeah.” Nate glanced away, even thinking about it ramped up his guilt.
“You and Cara...?”
“Yeah, something like that.” Nate leaned against the kitchen counter.
“Okay, you have to throw me a bone. Something.”
“I don’t know, man.”
“You don’t know what’s going on?”
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Are you sleeping with Ellie?”
Shit. Did everyone know? Was it that obvious?
“I saw her phone once, some text she’d sent you about panties.” Samir shrugged.
“Oh. Um. Yeah.” Nate sighed.
“But then there’s Cara...right?”
“Fuck. Yes.”
“So...you like Cara, but you sleep with Ellie? Is that it?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.”
“Well...” Samir flashed Nate his phone. “They’re hanging out together and it’s on Facebook, so, you might want to figure out what’s going on.”
“Ellie knew. I was straight with her the whole time.”
“And Cara?”
“Doesn’t know everything. But, apparently, everyone else does. God damn it.” Nate was going to have to tell her. He hadn’t realized his involvement with Ellie was obvious to everyone else.
“So, what’s Josh and Bryan’s deal? They’ve been super pissy all weekend.”
“Josh and I talked. Everything’s cool. Bryan...it’s not my business to go there.” Even if Bryan was making Nate’s business his.
“How’s this all going to go down? I mean, we work together. The hostility is going to leak out if we don’t handle it. You get that, right?”
“Yeah.” Nate sighed. “I’m going to have to talk to Cara and figure out how to make her understand how things were aren’t how they are now.”
“That’s great and all, but...coming as a guy with sisters? You might want to have done that before Cara hung out with and became sort of
friends with Ellie.” Samir shrugged. “That’s not going to go well.”
“I’ll...explain it to her.” Maybe Nate could get Ellie’s back-up on this?
Except Cara wasn’t wired like he and Ellie were.
Fuck.
And then, what about Bryan? His threats?
Nate needed time. He had to figure out how to make Cara understand and smooth everyone’s feathers.
“Well, not to be a dick and change the subject, but I had some ideas for on-location shoots with Tamara, if you’ve got a second? I wanted to run them by you before I pitched the segments to Josh.”
“Sure, man, sure. Oh, hey, when are you guys doing another MonsterGo update? I was going to take Cara out to the nests.”
“Unofficially? No new updates for another two weeks, so you should be good, but I don’t work on the nest code, so I’m just telling you what I’ve heard. Off the record.”
“Are you going to be able to do MonsterGo segments?” Nate paused and tilted his head to the side. That was a quandary he hadn’t thought about yet.
“Probably not, but Tamara could.”
“Okay, cool.”
Samir pulled a notebook out from the bag he’d brought Nate and spread it open on the island.
This was what Nate could use. A project. Something to wrap his brain around and chew on for a bit.
Laughter from the stairs brought Nate’s thoughts to a complete stop.
He tilted his head to the side.
Cold, invisible fingers stroked down his back.
“Or maybe another time.” Samir clicked his pen a few times.
That was Ellie’s cackle and Cara’s chuckle. He could pick the notes apart without thinking about it.
Nate crossed to the door and opened it, just in time for Ellie to lead the procession of bags and whatnots into the apartment.
“What’s...all this?” he asked.
“Ellie took me to a few thrift stores.” Cara grinned up at him.
It was difficult to hold onto his anxiety in the face of her smile. Nate glanced at Ellie giving Samir a quick squeeze.
Maybe everything was fine?
“Are you done? Do you need me to leave?” Cara shuffled the bags between her hands, still hovering in the doorway.
The Adorkable Girl and the Geek (Gone Geek 5) Page 12
