Page 43 of Down Beat
“Ooo. A Sagittarius.” She waggles her eyebrows.
I hop onto the counter and fold my legs. “Why ‘ooo’?”
“Very outgoing, and very open-minded, if you know what I mean.” She gives a thrust of her hips to cement the point.
I drop my head back and roll my eyes. “Ugh. As if it would ever get to that. They’re flowers, babe. Flowers can be totally platonic.”
“Do you want it to get to that?” She leans her elbows on the counter beside me, popping her butt out behind her as the milk heats.
I frown, stuck for words. Would I? Getting a bit ahead of yourself there, girl. “I don’t know.”
“But you like him, right?”
“He’s a jackass,” I deadpan.
She turns her mouth down and wiggles her head side to side. “I can see that, I guess.”
“He’s arrogant, messed up, and not to mention totally out of my league.”
“How?” she challenges, retrieving her hot mug. “You want one?”
I shake my head. “He’s like famous and shit, and I’m.…”
“Human? Like him?” Kendall cocks an eyebrow as she adds her cocoa.
I reach out with my foot and knock her in the arm. She responds with a “Hey!” as her hot drink sloshes over the side of the mug.
“Sorry.” I pull my jaw back, giving her apologetic eyes.
“Look.” She grabs the cloth to clean the mess. “All I’m saying is that boundaries are all in your head. It’s a mental block, thinking he’s some untouchable god just because a gazillion people know his name.”
I lift an eyebrow at her.
“Take a horse for example.” Now she’s lost it. “Raise it in fenced paddocks all its life, and then place it on a patch of grass with nothing but a single line of tape around it. Know why it doesn’t try to escape even though it could jump that single line, or knock it down easy enough?”
“Because it’s stupid?”
“Because it believes it can’t up here.” She taps the side of her head. “It has a mental block that’s been trained into it. Nothing physically stops it from leaving, just like nothing physically stops you from getting in touch with Rey to say thank you. It’s all in your head, Tab.”
“Do you really think they’re from him?” I look to the bunch, suitably impressed with how full and symmetrical the blooms are.
“Who else would they be from?” She takes her mug across to her purse, and then retrieves her phone. “I’m messaging Toby now to say you want Rey to know the flowers were beautiful.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” I slide off the counter and leg it for her.
She lifts her phone high with an, “Ah, ah, ah! I have a hot drink in my hand.”
Ugh. “Seriously, don’t though. What if Toby doesn’t know he did this? Don’t embarrass him.”
Kendall narrows her gaze on me, lips firm. “Fine. But you have to promise me you’ll get in touch with Rick to find out Rey’s number so you can thank him yourself.” Her eyes go wide. “Or even better, stalk him on Facebook and send a message.”
“Probably be easier,” I cede.
“Do it now.” She takes a smug sip of her cocoa. “I want to see the message when you’re done.”
I return to where I left my phone on the counter with a groan. “Why do you always have to be so difficult?”
“Because it gets results, babe. It gets results.”