Nothing to Lose by Norah McClintock Page B

nicest, most considerate person he knew and that you’re lucky to have me as a friend.”
    â€œUh-huh.” Either Billy had been experiencing a completely different Morgan from the rest of the world over the past ten or so years, or love really was blind.
    We signed out at the security desk and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
    â€œSo now that you’re sprung, what are you going to do?” I said.
    â€œGo home, take a nice long bubble bath, and crawl back into bed,” she said. “You?”
    â€œGo back to Henri’s, I guess.”
    â€œWhat about Nick?”
    â€œWhat about him?”
    She looked at me. “You weren’t kidding, were you? You two really had a fight.”
    â€œA big one,” I said.
    Morgan hooked an arm through mine. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go for coffee. You can tell me all about it.”
    We were on our way to Morgan’s favorite coffee shop when I heard someone call my name.
    â€œUh-oh,” Morgan said. “It’s Barry.”
    Barry Osler—life objective: millionaire by age thirty— was beefier than the burgers he served up in his restaurant and had a complexion that was oilier than his fry pit.
    â€œMaybe he wants to ask you out again,” Morgan said.
    â€œLet’s pretend we didn’t see him,” I said.
    â€œToo late,” Morgan said.
    Barry was scurrying toward us, his jacket flapping open over his fast-food uniform and his name badge—
Barry. Manager
.
    â€œRobyn,” he said, beaming and breathless. “What a coincidence. I was thinking about you. I was going to call you.”
    â€œI told you so,” Morgan whispered.
    â€œHi Barry,” I said. “How are you?”
    Most people recognize that question for what it is—a polite but empty greeting. Barry was not one of those people. He shook his head and sighed. “That’s exactly why I was going to call you. When I tell people that I’m a manager at a restaurant, they think, how hard could that be? But it’s way harder than it looks.You know why?” He didn’t pause to let me even attempt an answer.“It’s true what they say—good help really
is
hard to find. Just last week, one of my employees stopped coming in for his shift. Just like that. When I called him to find out where he was, he said, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I quit.’ Like he wouldn’t have let me know if I hadn’t tracked him down. The same week I had to fire another guy. I can’t tell you the trouble
he
caused. That’s when I thought of you, Robyn. You’d be a great addition to my team. Christmas is just around the corner. Who couldn’t use some extra money, am I right?”
    Morgan nudged me. I elbowed her back—hard.
    â€œThanks for thinking of me,” I said. “But I’m pretty swamped with school right now.”
    â€œActually,” Morgan said, “I think Robyn’s boyfriend works at your place. Isn’t that what you told me, Robyn?”
    Barry looked confused. “Boyfriend?” He stared at me as if he were my boyfriend—and he’d just discovered that I was cheating on him.
    â€œNick D’Angelo,” Morgan said, oh-so-sweetly. She was going to be sorry if Barry decided to make things hard for Nick. “He works for you, right?”
    â€œThat guy is your
boyfriend
?” Barry said. “I never thought you’d associate with someone like that.”
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œNick is the guy I fired last week—after some friends of his came in and busted up the place for the
second
time. I had to call the cops.” He seemed to enjoy breaking this particular bit of news. “That guy was nothing but trouble. Always giving me attitude. I hope he isn’t expecting a reference from me, because he isn’t going to get one.” He dug a business card out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Any time