Anybody out there (pags. 82-83)

I slammed the phone down and turned to Teenie. “You know what? I’ve had it with New York men. They’re fucking lunatics! No wonder they have to go to speed-dating, even in a city where women are crawling the walls with desperation for a date. Whoever heard of going on a date and building a house? A fucking house-“

The phone rang, interrupting my rant; I took a deep raggedy breath and said, “Candy Grrrl publicity, Anna Walsh speaking.”

“Hey , Anna Walsh, it’s Aidan Maddox speaking.”

“Oh, right.”

“What have I done?”

“Are you calling to ask me out?”

“Yes.”

“Bad timing. I’ve just sworn off New York men.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’m from Boston. So what’s going on?”

“I’ve had the weirdest week, with the weirdest dates. I don’t think I can take another one.”

“Date? Or weird date?”

I thought abou it. “Weird date.”

“Oh-kay. How about we go out for one drink? Is that unweird enough?”

“Depends. Where are we having it? A beauty salon? A freezing park? The surface of the moon?”

“I was thinking more of a bar.”

“ok. One drink.”

“And if by the end of the drink, it’s not working out for you, just say you’ve got to go because there’s a leak in your apartment and the plumber is coming. How does that sound?”

“Okay. Just one drink. And what will your get-out clause be?” I asked.

“I don’t need one.”

“You could say you’ve got to get back to the office to finish stuff for a breakfast meeting the next day.”

“that’s very thoughtful of you,” he said, “but I don’t think so.”