Read Online Sushi for One? by Camy Tang - Free Book Online Page A

keystrokes.
    “You finally quit from Pear?”
    “Not yet.” Lex glowered at the unchanging screen.
    “Which company is this for?”
    Lex pounded a key over and over. “SPZ.”
    “Whoa! Doing what? I’m the programmer — I should be the one applying.”
    Lex shot him a wicked look. “Oh, you’d be perfect for the position.” She did a hard restart of the laptop.
    He knew her too well. His excited expression shifted to guarded and wary. “What position? Lemme guess. Janitor?”
    “No, this is more in your line, since you’re so chaaahming.” Lex fluttered nonexistent lashes like his most recent psycho ex-girlfriend had done.
    Richard closed his eyes and exhaled low in his throat. “Give it up already. She went back to China. What’s the position for?”
    “Receptionist.”
    Richard coughed. “You? Receptionist? Miss I-don’t-want-to-hear-your-problems?”
    “Hey, it’s at SPZ, baby! And I can’t stay at Pear anymore.”
    “You’re finally admitting it? You’ve been keeping your goodChristian-girl stiff upper lip for two years.”
    “Can you not knock my faith for just one second?”
    “Okay, okay. So what’s making you think of quitting?”
    “The Gorgon admin. Cari the Princess. The Gossip Twins. Everett the Super Swine. Jerry the Drunk.”
    “You do nothing but monku-monku-monku about those people. The difference today was . . . ?”
    Lex didn’t want to relive the horror. “I realized I’d never want to meet anyone those people knew.”
    “Meet? What?” Richard’s slashing brows met above his stern nose.
    Uh, oh. Her big mouth. Much as she loved Richard, no way could she tell him about Grandma’s ultimatum. “I was going to ask for the names of real-estate agents they’ve used, but they were so impossible that I realized I didn’t want their recommendations. Then Chester called, and I thought, ‘I should just quit and work someplace I’d actually want to be.’ ”
    “It’s a pay cut, right?”
    “But think about it. It’s SPZ. The single largest sports presence on the net. It’s like the iPod of the sports world. How much better can you get?”
    “Something besides a receptionist position that pays less than nothing.”
    “You’re thinking too negatively. I’ll be surrounded by sports all day. I’ll be in Nirvana.”
    “While answering phones and talking to stupid people?”
    Richard knew her too well. “Maybe I can get promoted or transferred. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could work there. They hardly ever hire new blood, and I don’t have the skill set, but here’s my chance.”
    Richard glanced at the rebooted computer. “You wanted a real-estate agent? You can’t move out if you’re working for minimum wage. Not in the Bay Area, anyway.”
    True . . . “But I have some saved up. If I live a few more months with Dad, I’ll have enough for a down payment. And I’ll rent out a room — lots of people do.”
    “I know a real-estate agent.”
    “Oh?”
    Richard flashed that famous grin, the one that made women flock to him like cats to an ahi steak. “He’s your type too.”
    “No th — ” The disgusted refusal came automatically, but then Lex remembered what had changed in her crazy life. Namely, Grandma’s claws. “Well . . . okay.”
    Richard’s eyebrows disappeared under his four-hundred-dollar sculpted haircut. “Really?”
    Hastily, “Well, I don’t have any other recommendations.”
    His eyes narrowed, and a smirk made his dimples flash. “For a real-estate agent, or a date?”
    “Shut up.”
    Richard smiled.

    George had a face like an Asian Backstreet Boy — clean-cut, good-looking, with that indefinable sparkle-charm. A hint of sexy.
    “Nice to meet you.” Lex dropped his hand like a hot cup of tea, opening and closing her fingers. She still couldn’t get used to even professional touches by strange men.
    He didn’t get the hint. His other hand landed on her shoulder —meant to be a reassuring gesture, but she became as