“You know what I mean. They are going to be upset.”
“What exactly did you do?” Sally said impatiently. I could imagine her rolling her blue eyes as she waited to hear about the latest situation I’d gotten myself into.
“I went and bought some sexy underwear and now I’m kinda broke,” I said softly, dreading telling my story.
“Sexy underwear?” Sally’s voice was dry. “Not for this weekend with your parents at the lake house?”
“You know who will be there. I need to make my move before it’s too late.”
“Mila.” Sally laughed. “I don’t know if this is a good weekend for you to try your Basic Instinct moves.”
“I wish I had Basic Instinct moves.” I groaned and wondered if I had time to watch the movie before I got my stuff ready for the trip.
“Anyway, why would your Nonno know and care about what you bought today?”
“Because I put in a request to get an advance on my next paycheck as soon as I left the mall.” I sighed. “And of course, Cody emailed me back asking why and asked if I needed some financial and accounting classes.”
“He is the accountant at your parents’ business, Mila.” Sally laughed. “Who did you think would be looking at your request? And why did you ask for an advance?”
“I have rent due, electricity, cable, car insurance.” I sighed. “It all adds up, you know, and I don’t have a huge salary.”
“You’re training to be in acquisitions, right? Didn’t you get a raise?” Sally said. “Have they let you make any purchases yet?”
“Yes, I’m in acquisitions now. Dad had me in reception forever, but now he has rotated me into acquisitions, but that still hasn’t equaled a pay raise. I’m still on twenty-four thousand a year, as that is what all new graduates start with at the company. Nonno said that Dad doesn’t want people to think I’m advancing due to nepotism, but I’m like, come on, Dad, I’m your daughter and you own the company—what do you think people are going to think?”
“Yeah, twenty-four thousand isn’t a lot, but still should be enough, right?”
“I guess.” I sighed. “Nonno thinks Dad wants me to move back home, but I told him I’m an adult and Dad will be waiting a long time for me to come back home. I’d rather move to a cheaper place than move back home, with them in my business.”
“Or you can move in with me,” Sally suggested half-heartedly.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I said and laughed. Sally and I had been best friends since kindergarten, but we were exact opposites. She was a clean-freak and I was messy. She was good with her money and I was spend-happy. We were best friends and loved to hang out, but we didn’t live well together. We’d learned that the hard way as roommates our sophomore year in college.
“So, what do you think Cody’s going to do?” Sally asked eagerly. She’d had a crush on my brother for years. However, Sally wasn’t as bad as me. She hadn’t dedicated her life to getting Cody. She was of the mindset that if it worked out, it worked out, and while she was waiting she was going to have fun. And boy did she have fun. Some of the guys she dated almost put TJ to shame. I wasn’t sure where she found a continual supply of hotties.
“He’s most probably going to question me all weekend.” I sighed and collapsed onto my bed. “ ‘What are you spending your money on, Mila? This is why Mom and Dad don’t trust you, Mila. Why don’t you let Nonno set you up with a nice Italian boy so you can get married and have kids, Mila?’ ”
“Nonno still talking about his best friend’s grandson?” Sally asked with a laugh.
“Uhm, yes.” I groaned. “His name is Milo and no, I’m not joking. Nonno thinks it’s a sign from God. Milo and Mila. I told him hell no.”
“And then he told you to watch your language,” Sally said with a laugh.
“You know Nonno. ‘When I was growing up, girls didn’t use bad language,’ ” I said in a deep voice, imitating my grandfather. “ ‘They learned how to make pasta from scratch and how to make the best marinara sauce.’ ”
“Oh, Nonno,” Sally said, giggling. “I miss him,” she said softly and I felt wistful as I lay back on my bed and spoke to her.
“Me too,” I said with a small sigh. “I don’t get to see him as often as I’d like to. Maybe we can take him to dinner in a couple of weeks. I know he’d love to see you as well.”
“Of course,” Sally said. “That sounds great. Hopefully your folks won’t have packed you back to the motherland before then.”