Chapter 4

I went home to shower, and then I headed to work. It was about a half an hour sooner than I usually went in, but I was up. I got there and realized it wasn't even open yet. I waited around outside. I was about to go get a donut, when Connie arrived.

"What are you doing here so early?" she asked.

"I would have been here in 20 minutes anyway," I defended myself. I waited for her to unlock the door and then I followed her in. "The guy my mom set me up with had to go to work early."

"I just heard two conflicting things," Connie said, putting her purse down and raising her eyebrow. "'The guy my mom set me up with,' and 'he woke me up.' What was he doing with you the next morning?"

"It's not like it sounds," I told her. "I was a little tipsy when we left the bar and I wasn't in the mood to drive."

"Did you actually go on a date with this guy?" she asked. "All the guys your mom likes are goofs."

"It wasn't a date," I said. "He just asked me out for a drink afterwards."

"Uh," Connie said raising both her eyebrows.

"It wasn't a date!" I tried to convince her. "He felt he needed a drink after spending 2 hours with my family. I just gave him a ride…and then happened to want a drink too."

"I'm not going to argue with you about this," Connie said, walking around to her desk. "How was he?"

"I didn't sleep with him."

"I meant, what kind of guy he is," she clarified.

"He's cool, I guess," I replied. "He's definitely a notch higher than the guys she usually finds. Possibly 2."

"You like him?"

"I wasn't looking at him like that."

"You took his offer to get a drink, you trusted him to sleep over at his house. Sounds like there's something there."

"I know all arrows point to me liking him, but I honestly don't know," I told her. I really didn't know. Most of our time together consisted of sibling-like camaraderie and me being weird at the bar.

"You going to see him again?" she asked.

"I have no idea," I said. "I don't have his number."

"Who's number?" Vinny and Lula both asked. They came in at the same time. Lula was her usual self, with the addition of fire engine red hair. Vinny was basically his usual rat faced self, but he looked like a drowned rat.

"A guy Stephanie spent the night with," Connie told him.

"Spent the night?" Lula asked surprised.

"You couldn't put that level of energy into finding an FTA's number?" Vinny asked.

"It's not what you think," I told Lula. "And back off," I told Vinny.

"What's his name?" Lula asked.

"I was wondering that too," Connie said.

"Adam," I replied. "He's a sports writer for the Trenton Times."

"Adam Litchfield?" Vinny asked.

"You know his full name?" I asked.

"I read the sports section," Vinny told me.

"You read?" Lula asked in disbelief.

"You slept with Adam Litchfield, isn't he a little young?" Vinny asked.

"I slept on his couch," I told the room. "And he's not too young. Just, younger."

"Isn't he like, fresh out of college?" Vinny asked. "He looks barely legal in his column photo." I saw that he had a copy of the Trenton Times in his hand.

"He's 27," I told Vinny.

"And you're…" Vinny was about to say.

"You look like a drowned rat!" I spat at him.

"My neighbor's sprinkler turned on me," he said.

"I think Stephanie wants you to drop it," Lula said.

"Why?" Vinny asked.

"Why does it matter?" I asked.

"I think Steph is getting sensitive about her age," Lula said behind her hand at Vinny.

"Am not," I argued.

"You've been really testy about it lately," Connie said.

"And you lied about your age on Facebook," Lula said.

"It…was a joke!" I said, starting to feel like I needed to defend myself.

"What age did you put?" Vinny asked.

"24," Lula said.

"HA!" Vinny burst out.

"Can I not be the center of attention right now?" I asked, annoyed.

"I don't get how we got on the subject of you anyway," Vinny said.

"She's going through a midlife crisis," Connie explained. "And it is amusing us."

"Mid life?" I was offended. "I'm only…29."

"HA!" Vinny repeated.

"Go back in your hole!" I growled at him. And like a rat, he fled.

"Whoa…" Lula commented. "You woke up on the wrong side of your boy toy's couch this morning."

"Please let something big fall on my head," I said to the ceiling.

"Here's something to get your mind off of it," Connie said. And she threw a bunch of folders onto her desk. "FTA's. Get to work."

I grabbed the folders, and Lula and I headed out. We decided to take separate cars. Lula avoided sharing a car with me if she could help it, considering my track record. When I got to my crappy old Sprint, Morelli was leaning on it.

"Have an interesting night?" he asked. Shit.

"A night with my parents," I said. "It was a blast."

"Really, did they spend the night in an apartment above a pizzeria?" he asked.

"Gazzara got to you huh?" I stated more than asked.

"He seemed really confident when he came up to me," Morelli said. "But the further he got into his story, he started to falter."

"His sugar high war off," I said.

"So, did you enjoy yourself?" Morelli asked.

"I just slept on his couch," I said.

"Your bed at home not doing it for you anymore?"

"Ugh," I said. "I don't have to explain myself."

"Humph,"

"We are on a break, Joe. I don't owe you anything."

"I never said this was about me."

"Then why are you interrogating me?"

"Last serious talk you and I had," he told me. "Was about the b-word."

"Bitch?" I asked.

"No,"

"Bastard?"

"Cut the crap."

"I honestly don't know what B-word you're talking about."

"Yes you do."

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"What grade are we in?"

"Steph," he said. "I'm trying to be serious here."

"All I did," I said. "Was sleep on his couch because I didn't feel like driving home after we drank at a bar. I met him at my parents' house. It was a set up by my mom. He's not a total weirdo like her previous attempts, so I hung out with him for a bit. Is that enough info for you?"

"I moved on from that," Morelli told me. "I'm talking about how the last fight you and I got into, was about babies."

"I was hormonal that day," I said. "I can't be held accountable for what I may or may not have said."

"Cupcake, we are past the point where we avoid talking about our issues. You were seriously asking me about our future. You're worried about running out of time."

"I'm not dying or anything," I said, looking away.

"A part of you is," Morelli said. I heard a honk from down the street. Lula was raring to go.

"I've got people to find," I said. I walked around to the driver's side, and fought with the door.

"Steph," Morelli said.

"We'll talk later," I told him. And I drove off.

I could see Lula's Firebird behind me. I got a call on my cell from her.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Of course I'm okay," I said.

"You were 30 feet away from me and you made my mirrors fog up. What happened with you and Morelli? Want me to kick his ass?"

"Let's focus on kicking someone else's," I told her. And then I hung up.