“Hold on a second…” I say, then mouth, “The usual,” to the barista, switch my phone to the Starbucks app to pay, and go wait in line for my order. “Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Responsible Adults, you can both relax…”

“Yeah, why?”

“Diego’s entire family is in law enforcement. He’s hardly serial killer material.”

“Mmm, hello? Have you seen Dexter?”

“Dexter only zapped the bad guys, so I should be safe anyway, no?”

“Unless one of his serial killer buddies decides to take it out on the girlfriend.”

“Fake girlfriend, and, Blair, life isn’t a TV show. But if Richard really wants to meet Diego, tell your boyfriend to come to the casting on Tuesday. But please also tell him to be subtle and not to interrogate Diego, deal?”

“Oh, great, I wasn’t sure he’d come.”

“Why? Because you took his fingerprints? It’s a good opportunity for him. He’s a professional; why wouldn’t he come?”

“I don’t know… He could be busy planning his next murder?”

“I’m hanging up.”

“No, nooo. I was just kidding. So, how did your first night go? What did you guys do?”

“Skinny mocha vanilla latte for Nikki,” a barista shouts.

I shove the phone back into my coat pocket and grab the coffee, gladly wrapping my hands around the warm paper cup, before returning to the freezing temperatures of a New York morning in December.

“We opened a bottle of wine and chatted, you know, to cover the basics: family, education, career…”

“And how was it?”

“Pretty cozy; he’s an easy guy to talk to. I mean, for someone that looks so, mmm…”

Blair supplies the definition for me, “Freaking hot?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not getting too cozy, are you? He’s there only because you’re paying him.”

“I’m aware, thank you. I was just saying that I expected a narcissistic showoff, and instead, he’s rather easy going, funny, even… But don’t worry, he’s not my type at all.”

“Yeah, about that… I was wondering why you picked someone so… not you. Isn’t your family going to get suspicious?”

I stop a few steps away from my building’s main entrance. “You want the ugly truth? The one I could tell only my best friend without being judged?”

“Yeah-ah…”

“He’s Julia’s type,” I confess. “For once, I want her to be jealous of me, even if it’s just for a second and it’s all fake. Am I too pathetic?”

“No, you’re not, and I don’t have any siblings to compete with, so I’m really not an expert on the subject of sisterly envy. I can’t even begin to think what I’d do if my imaginary sister was marrying Richard, so…”

“Thank you,” I say, relieved she’s in my corner no matter what crazy ideas get into my head. “Listen, I’m at the office, I gotta go.”