The bartender finally came over to Lily and she ordered two glasses of rosé for herself and Dani. She idly tapped her fingers against the bar and glanced over again, this time catching Oliver’s eye. The two men standing in between them walked away, and Oliver smiled at Lily, sliding down the bar closer to her.
“Hey. It’s Lily, right?” he asked.
“Yes, hi.”
“Thanks for coming. It’s nice to know that people in the US office are so friendly.”
“Oh, just give it a couple weeks. You’ll see how hostile and annoying we can be.”
Oliver laughed, easy and light, and Lily felt herself smile. “I was born in the US, actually. San Francisco. I still have some family there. We moved to London when I was five for my mum’s work.” He took a sip of his drink. “I take it we’ll be doing a lot of work together.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Well, with me and Edith.”
“Any pieces of advice for me?”
You mean other than the fact that Edith is downright evil sometimes and you should avoid getting on her bad side at all costs?
“Advice?” she repeated. “I’m not sure.”
“You can be honest. I’ve already been warned about Edith.”
“Oh.” Lily laughed. “Yeah, she can be a handful sometimes.” That was putting it mildly. “Make sure you show up on time to status meetings. She hates when people are late. She’ll hold it against you forever.”
“How long have you been working for her?”
“A little over two years.”
“You must know her better than anyone then.”
Unfortunately. “I guess you could say that.”
The bartender returned with Lily’s wine, and she glanced around for Dani. She spotted her outside, holding her phone to her ear and throwing her head back in laughter.
Oliver took another swig of his drink. “I shouldn’t be drinking whiskey,” he said. “I’m supposed to run a 5K next month. I should probably give up alcohol altogether.”
“Wow,” Lily said, impressed. “A 5K, really?”
Oliver nodded. “I try to do one every few months or so. I ran a lot at university. I thought I’d become a personal trainer. Funny that I work with books now, yeah?” He leaned closer and smirked conspiratorially. “Don’t tell anyone here, but I don’t actually read very much. I listen to maybe two audiobooks a year, and that’s because they’re free through M&M’s audiobook app.”
Lily laughed, a mixture of delight and intense relief. She realized part of her had still been ridiculously suspicious that Oliver not only looked like Strick, but that he was Strick. It made no sense because she’d already accepted that Strick was most likely someone on N.R. Strickland’s team who’d thought it had been a funny joke to string Lily along. But now she could confirm that Oliver and Strick were very separate people. The Strick she knew wasn’t an athlete. Well, at least he’d never mentioned anything about running. And Strick had been a lifelong reader. At least, those were the things he’d told her. They could be completely false. Either way, Strick and Oliver couldn’t be more different.
“Your secret is safe with me,” Lily said.
“Thanks.” Oliver smiled, and Lily blushed, glancing down at her drink. He was very cute. He almost made her forget about her troubles with Nick. Almost.
Dani returned to the bar, downed her glass of rosé and handed Lily some cash. “Lily, I’m so sorry, but my roommate wants me to meet her at a gallery downtown. Free food and drinks, can’t pass it up! Please don’t hate me. I’ll make it up to you.” She hugged Lily and batted her eyes at Oliver. In a terrible British accent, she said, “And we’ll have to get lunch soon, gov’na.” Then she bid them a rushed goodbye and hurried out of the bar.
“You two are mates?” Oliver asked.
“Sort of.” Lily grinned. “Dani is friends with everyone.”
“Well, she’s the opposite of me. I kind of wonder what I was thinking moving here completely alone. Most of my family are on the other side of the country. I know maybe three people in this whole city. And one of them is my ex-girlfriend’s best mate, so it’s not like I’ll be texting her to meet up anytime soon.”
His ex-girlfriend. So . . . he was single?
“My mates dared me to make the big move, actually,” he continued. “There was no reason for me not to take the opportunity. I’m single, and I wanted to know how New York compared to London. I’ve been here for three weeks and I’m already getting tired of doing things alone. I got tickets to a comedy show this weekend because my mate’s cousin who lives in Queens said he’d like to go, but he has to attend a birthday party with his wife, so now I’ll be seeing Angela Lawrence by myself.”