(13) Winning and Losing

                                        

                                              

Adrianna spent the week after the vacation trying to learn the Catwalk timing with the other models Honey had selected, realizing they had less than a month to get ready. Honey had given them 'mocks'; outfits similar enough so Adri could work on the transitions while the actual outfits were being built. Her only time not spent on Catwalk was spent on trying to decipher Jerred's little notebook, focusing on the problem she could try to solve. 
Because despite her best efforts to remain practical, she had enjoyed all but fooling around with Tom during the vacation. The fact that Westley definitely had suspicious about it only warned Adri that she had a limited amount of time left to decide if she wanted a relationship with Tom. Once West talked she'd either be with Tom for real, or it'd all be over and done with. Part of her was afraid it was the adrenaline of it all getting to them; the slightly forbidden nature of it combined with the potential for danger, and some very real physical chemistry. 
She certainly hadn't intended to date the Goon, though more as an act of self preservation; she'd away fiercely protected her private life. Which made her mother's drunken declaration about her type of birth control all the more mortifying. Both her mom and her grandmother had ended up pregnant teens from failed hormonal birth control and condoms alone, Adri wanted an IUD and used condoms for extra precautions, and had held very high standards for any lover to meet. Grace hadn't been wrong when she'd commented that it'd been a while since Adri had tried to date. 
Adri has drawn up a pro and con list, trying to use logic to talk herself out of a crush since her psychology training hadn't prevented it in the first place. Only she found it very hard to write anything down at all; she knew Tomas' faults yes but not a damn single reason not to date him.
Fuck shit.
She focused back on the pictures of Jerred's notebook, starting with the picture of everyone's names from the Casino Royale Night. That made it feel like a day planner to her, but with no obvious dates, and most of it in code, she couldn't figure out the rest. The first handful of pages were code, then the Casino Night was normal, the last two dozen or so pages were back to code, except for the only page with a date on it that read May 24 Public. The last seven pages were back to code. Adri went back to the start and flipped through page by page; the Casino Royale Night was near the start and as she absently counted the pages the May 24 one was in fact the 24th page. 
Holy fuck.
[Think I may have just proven its a day planner] She texted the Goon even though it was a Friday and he'd be at work. They hadn't spoken since she's sent him the picture of her last pancake, but they'd both been working so it wasn't a surprise
[If you break in, bring food. I've officially found something I won't eat] and he sent a picture of something so terrible her brain didn't want to process it. [New chef boss hired; the French Canadian taco] she was seeing a poutine, on a taco; fries, cheese curds, gravy, shredded beef, salsa, lettuces, cheese, hard shell.
[Is that sour cream?] she was afraid to ask, it didn't look right.
 [Mayonnaise] his answer made her gag a little.
She didn't reply right away, knowing she had the evening while he was stuck in a building with that thing being eaten. It took a little figuring, but Adri packed a few things, took some of the frozen leftovers she'd cooked, and slipped out of her parents' house without any hassle at all. The bus ride over was a little awkward but she'd managed worse trips with bigger bags. It was only after she'd put the food into the fridge and took a picture of it that she replied to let him know to expect her. 
[Healthy shit?] he had the fucking nerve to ask. 
[Beggar Kings can't be choosy ones] she hit send before thinking better of it.