"And then, of course, there's the SEP IRAs for those who are self-employed. Though I recommend individual 401ks more because you can contribute as the employer and the employee."
"Oh. Yeah. Cool." I nodded, hoping that this conversation would end soon. "But anyway. I'm going to see if I get this marketing job before I try finance."
"Okay. Because if you are interested in finance, my company has a program we've recently started for new associates. And if you are interested, I could put in a good word."
"Oh. Well, that's amazing. Thanks, Foster."
"No worries," he said. He gave me that sweet, charming look that he'd been giving me my entire life, and I could feel my heart melting as I stared at him.
"So what do you want for dinner tonight?" I asked him quickly, not wanting to think too much about our relationship and where I wanted it to go.
"I don't know. I figured maybe we could get a pizza."
"Oh sounds good. Yay. Do you know what movie you want to watch? You said there was a movie you wanted to watch with Sylvester Stallone."
"Oh" he says. "I totally lied. It's actually with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I don't really like Arnold Schwarzenegger after he cheated on his wife."
I shrugged. "So maybe we can find something else."
"I guess," he said, chuckling. "I think there might be a newFast and Furiousmovie out."
"Oh no," I groaned. "NotFast and Furious."
"I take it you're not into those movies."
"Not since Paul Walker died. He was so hot, and well, it just seems kind of sad to watch them without him."
He nodded. "Okay then. Well, why don't we order a pizza, and then we can figure out what we want to watch."
"Will do. Oh and Foster," I said, my voice trembling slightly.
"Yeah?" He looked at me curiously.
"I told Molly about, well, what happened years ago."
"What do you mean?" he asked, shaking his head. "I'm not quite sure I follow."
"That time I snuck into that college party, and you know…" I wrinkled my nose.
"Ah, yes. Okay. You told her?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. And you told her everything?" He stared at me for a few seconds with an intense look on his face.
"Yeah. I wanted her to know, and I feel really guilty that I told her and I haven't told Rosalie yet. So I was planning on calling her and telling her because I'm kind of scared to tell her in person. I don't want her to completely fall and..."
"You have to tell her in person, Alice." He stepped forward. "I know you're embarrassed if..."
"No, I just feel bad. We're best friends, and I withheld this information from her for so long."
"You have nothing to feel embarrassed about," he said. "And I know you have nothing to feel guilty about. That was a really traumatic experience for you, what that guy did."
I stared at him blinking. Did he really think that that had been the most traumatic part of the night? Yeah, I had been completely gobsmacked and taken aback when I'd been on that bed and I'd been scared as hell, but nothing had happened before Foster had come to my rescue. I was far more embarrassed about what happened next, about being naked in his bed, about telling him that I loved him, and even more embarrassing was the fact that I had thought he loved me, too. Not that I would ever tell him that. I didn't want to see him laughing or feeling sorry for me.
"Alice, I know you feel guilty about sneaking to that party, and maybe a part of you thinks that if you hadn't gone, you wouldn't have been slipped that roofie, but it wasn't your fault. You know I reported him, right? And he got suspended."
"Oh I didn't know that," I said. "Did you tell me?"