Val turned to me. “Disgusting, right?”
“I’ll have the same,” I said.
We took our trays of food and found an empty table in the corner, near the window.
I closed my eyes and let the sunshine pour down on me. “It’s weird that the weather is so beautiful, and it’s barely March.”
“It’s not weird. It’s glorious. The temp has been higher than average for this time of year, but even when it’s not, it’s perfect. Everyone would be happier if the world had San Diego’s weather.” Val dipped her golden curly fry into a small cup of ketchup. “Try the fries. Dear God, try the fries. They are so good. I crave them at night sometimes when I’m alone, which is more often than you’d think.”
“I don’t think anything,” I said, dipping a fry into my own small cup. I popped it into my mouth.
She was right. I quickly grabbed another.
“Speaking of, do you have a guy? Or girl? I’m just asking.”
I shook my head.
“Did you? Have you ever?”
“Kissed a girl?”
Val cackled. “No! Have you been in a relationship?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Oh. It’s complicated. I gotcha.”
“It’s not complicated at all actually.”
“Listen,” Val said while chewing the first bite of her burger, “I’m a great friend, but you’re going to have to open up more. I don’t care to hang out with strangers.”
“Everyone is a stranger at first,” I said, thinking of my stranger.
“No, not in the Bureau.”
“Why don’t you just open my file?”
“That’s no fun! C’mon. Just the basics. Did you transfer to move up or move on?”
“Both.”
“Perfect. Keep going. Do your parents suck?” She covered her mouth. “Oh my hell, they’re not dead, are they?”
I squirmed in my seat. “Um…no. I had a normal childhood. My parents love me and each other. I’m an only child.”
Val sighed. “Thank Christ. I might as well ask the next offensive question.”
“No, I wasn’t adopted,” I droned. “Lindy is Irish. My mother is Japanese.”
“Is your dad a ginger?” She smirked.
I glared at her. “You only get two offensive questions on the first day.”
“Continue,” she conceded.
“I graduated with honors. I was dating a guy. It didn’t work out,” I said, tired of my own story. “No drama. Our breakup was just as boring as our relationship.”
“How long?”
“Was I with Jackson? Seven years.”
“Seven years. No ring?”
“Kind of,” I said, making a face.
“Ah. You’re married to the job. Betty Bureau.”
“So was he.”
Val puffed out a laugh. “You were dating an agent?”
“Yes. He was SWAT.”
“Even worse. How did you live with him for that long? How did he handle coming in second place for that long?”
I shrugged. “He loved me.”
“But you gave back the ring. You didn’t love him?”
I shrugged again, taking a bite. “Anything I should know about the office?” I asked.
Val smirked. “Changing the subject. Classic. Hmm…what you need to know about the office. Don’t piss off Maddox. He’s the Assistant Special Agent in Charge.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said, brushing my hands against each other to wipe off the salt.
“All the way in Chicago?”
I nodded.
“It’s justifiable gossip. He is a huge, gigantic, enormous asshole. You’ll see tomorrow morning at the meeting.”
“He’ll be there?” I asked.
She nodded. “He will tell you that you’re worthless as an agent even if you’re the best of the best just so he can observe your performance when your confidence has been crushed.”
“I can handle it. What else?”
“Agent Sawyer is a slut. Stay away from him. And Agent Davies is, too. Stay away from her.”
“Oh,” I said, processing her words. “I don’t see myself engaging in interoffice relations after the debacle that was Jackson.”
Val smiled. “I have firsthand knowledge of both…so you should stay away from me, too.”
I frowned. “Is anyone here safe to hang out with?”
“Maddox,” she said. “He has mommy issues, and he was burned bad a while ago. He wouldn’t look at your tits if you flashed him.”
“So, he hates women.”
“No,” she said, looking off in thought. “He’s just sworn them off. Doesn’t want to get hurt again, I imagine.”
“I don’t care what is wrong with him. If what you say is true, I definitely don’t want to hang out with him.”
“You’ll do fine. Just do your job, and go on with your life.”
“The job is my life,” I said.
Val lifted her chin, not trying to hide that she was impressed with my answer. “You’re already one of us. Maddox is a hard ass, but he’ll see it, too.”
“What’s his story?” I asked.
She took a sip of water. “He was focused but tolerable when I came to San Diego until a little over a year ago. Like I said, he was burned by some girl in his hometown—Camille,” she said the name as if it were poison in her mouth. “I don’t know the details. No one talks about it.”
“Weird.”
“Will you feel like having a drink or five later?” she asked, losing interest now that the conversation wasn’t centered on my personal life. “There’s a cool little pub in Midtown.”
“I live in Midtown,” I said, wondering if I would see my neighbor again.
She grinned. “Me, too. A lot of us do. We can drown your sorrows together.”
“I don’t have sorrows. Just memories. They’ll go away on their own.”
Val’s eyes were bright again with interest, but I wasn’t enjoying the interrogation. I wasn’t that hard up for friends. Well, I was, but I had boundaries.
“What about you?” I asked.
“That is a Friday night conversation, told over stiff drinks and loud music. So, are you here to swear off men? Are you finding yourself?” she asked the questions without an ounce of seriousness.
If my answers were yes, I wouldn’t admit it. She was clearly hoping to ridicule me.
“If I were, I have already failed miserably,” I said, thinking of the night before.
Val leaned forward. “Are you serious? You just got here. Someone you know? Old high school classmate?”
I shook my head, feeling my cheeks flush. The memories came quickly but in flashes—Thomas’s hazel-green eyes glancing over at me from where he’d sat at the bar, the sound of my door from him pushing back against it, how easily he’d slid inside me, and my ankles high in the air, jerking with each amazing thrust. I pressed my knees together in reaction.
A wide grin spread across Val’s face. “One-night stand?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”
“Complete stranger?”
I nodded. “Sort of. He lives in my building, but I didn’t know that until after.”
Val gasped and then sat back against her wooden chair. “I knew it,” she said.
“You knew what?”
She leaned forward and crossed her arms, resting them on the table. “That we are going to be great friends.”