Something Blue - Emily Giffin [54]
I blew my nose and looked at her hopefully. "Who?"
"You remember Josh Levine?"
I shook my head.
"Well, I have two words for you. Hot and loaded," she said, rubbing her thumb against her fingers. "His nose is rather large, but not offensively so. Your daughter might need a minor nose job, but that's the only issue," she said brightly. She rolled up her sleeves and set about rinsing my dishes covered with day-old Kraft macaroni and cheese residue. "You briefly met him at that house in the Hamptons with the eighteen-person hot tub? Remember? He's friends with Eric Kiefer and that whole crowd?"
"Oh, yeah," I said, conjuring a well-dressed, thirty-something banker with wavy brown hair and big, square teeth. "Doesn't he have a girlfriend who is a model or actress or something?"
"He did have a girlfriend. Amanda something or other. And yes, she's a model… but the low-rent catalog kind. I think she wore some pleated cords in Chadwick's of Boston or something. But Josh dumped her two days ago." Claire looked up smugly. "How's that for hot off the presses?"
Claire loved being the first to get a scoop.
"Why'd they break up?" I asked. "Did Josh catch his best friend hiding in Amanda's closet?"
Claire chuckled. "No. Word is she was just too dumb for him. She is as vapid as they come. Get a load of this one … I heard that she actually thought paparazzi was the last name of one particular Italian photographer. Apparently she said something like, 'Who is this Paparazzi guy and why didn't they arrest him years ago after he killed Princess Diana?'"
I laughed for the first time in weeks.
"So anyway, Josh is a-vail-a-ble" Claire sang and spun around ballerina-style.
I became momentarily suspicious. "Why don't you want him?"
"You know my uptight Episcopalian parents would never let me go down the Jewish-guy road or I would have claimed him for myself… But you better act fast because the girls in this city are ready to pounce."
"Yeah. Don't let Jocelyn catch wind of this," I said.
Jocelyn Silver worked with Claire and me, and although I liked her in small doses, she was a total alpha female, way too competitive for me ever to trust. She also bore a strong resemblance to Uma Thurman, and if I had to watch her pretend to be annoyed when one more stranger approached her to ask if she was Uma, I was going to puke. Which, incidentally, was what Jocelyn did after every meal.
"No kidding… I haven't mentioned anything about the breakup to her. Even if I did, Josh would totally go for you over her."
I smiled with false modesty.
She continued, "So how about this? I'll make sure Josh comes to our club opening next week—the one Jocelyn's going to miss for her cousin's wedding…" She winked at me. "So stop this sniveling over Marcus. I mean, Christ, what was the deal there anyway? He could be fun, but he's certainly not worthy of macaroni-and-cheese-level grief."
"You're right," I said. I could feel myself cheering up as I thought of how Jewish men were supposed make great husbands. "Josh sounds divine. I'm sure I could convince him to have a Christmas tree, don't you think?"
"You can convince anyone to do anything," Claire said.
I beamed. That theory had been proven wrong a few times in recent days, but surely I was going to get back on track with my charmed life.
"And I had another thought on my way over…" Claire smiled mysteriously, poised to reveal another terrific surprise.
"What's that?"
"Well," she said as she uncorked the bottle of Patron, our favorite brand of tequila. "What do you say we move in together again? My lease is up, and you have a spare bedroom. We could save a ton on rent and have a blast together. What do you say?"
"That's a fantastic idea," I said, remembering fondly our roomie days before I had moved in with Dex. Claire and I had shared the same shoe size, the same taste in music, and the same love of fruity mixed drinks that we consumed in quantity as we primped for our big nights out. Besides, it would be great to have her around when the