Not One Of The Girls
Dahlia
“I can’t believe they upgraded us from a suite to a penthouse suite when the convention switched hotels.” Sheridan spins around in the room after the butler walks out.
“I’ve never been in a place this fancy.” Juniper gapes. “And I’ve never been so happy for leaky pipes. We should do the authors’ convention here every year.”
Like we could afford this. The convention runs on the cheaper side to allow more people to attend. Nothing about this hotel says cheap. The original hotel’s insurance company has got to be paying big bucks to move all of us here.
“Do you think Dylan, Garnet, and Piper’s room is just as nice?” Sheridan opens the mini fridge behind the bar. “Because we have cold pressed organic juice in here and nuts.”
“Probably. They’re on the same floor as us. ”
“Why don’t we all settle into our rooms? Then we can get together for a huddle and decide what to do.” Juniper grabs her bag and heads towards one of the three massive bedrooms.
We always share a suite not just for safety, but because Juniper and Sheridan can barely afford the trip.
“Sure.” I could use a few minutes of quiet before the nonstop fun of the convention starts.
“I know that smile. Prue is going to go call her boyfriend.” Sheridan points at me.
“Don’t tease, Prue.”
Thank you, Juniper.
“There will be plenty of time to do that later, as we pump her for all the details.”
And here I thought Junie was the sweet one of the group. These girls are going to keep me on my toes as they try to pry everything out of me. I grin.
The suite is outrageously lovely and my room is no different with its massive king-sized bed that’s covered in pillows. I flop down on the bed with phone in hand.
Me: Got here safe, Darling.
Vex: Good. How do you like the hotel?
Me: The wildest thing happened, and the convention switched hotels last minute.
Vex: Oh? Where are you now? You aren’t at some nasty hotel in a bad neighborhood.
That’s kind of what I expected when the people at the front desk were telling us about the hotel.
Me: No. They moved us to this 5-star hotel.
To be fair, if it was possible, this place probably would get six stars.
Vex: Where are you, Dahl?
Me: Suncatchers. It’s one of those super fancy Kentworth Hotels.
Vex: Good. They have decent security .
Me: Is that all you can think about?
Vex: When it comes to you, yes.
Me: I love you.
Vex: Love you too, Dahl.
Vex: You know I could be on a plane on my way to you in the next hour.
Me: Don’t even tempt me.
Me: The girls and I are going to have a group meeting in a few minutes to decide what to do.
Vex: Oh?
Me: We usually do something wild the first night.
Vex: Wild?
Me: Dinner and a show are wild for us. Don’t get all twitchy over there.
Vex: I don’t get twitchy. I get trigger-happy.
EEEK! Though it says something about the change in our relationship that Vex can joke around with me about stuff like that.
Me: Haha. What are you going to do without me for a whole week?
Vex: Worry.
Me: ?
Vex: Are you going to do the same?
Maybe
Me: I’m going to lay in this big bed and wish your arms were around me.
I snap a picture of me on the bed and send it to him.
Vex: Dahl, you do know I don’t have that much willpower. Can I please come?
Me: Nope. I’m sharing a room with two other people. You’d scare them. And I won’t be in here much. We’ll probably do midnight sprint sessions.
And gossip. It’s impossible for us to get together and not chatter like a bunch of birds.
Vex: You’re going to the gym?
Now that’s funny .
Me: LOL. No. We sprint, or type as many words as we can in a set time, to get in all the words we’ll miss out on through the week.
Vex: That sounds like work.
Kinda is.
Me: But it doesn’t feel like work.
Vex: Are you going to eat any vegetables this week?
Me: Probably not
Vex: Dahl
Me: Have I told you how cute you are?
Vex: We’ll have brussel sprouts when you get back.
Me: I’m shaking in my boots.
Vex: You make me smile.
My heart flutters.
Vex: You’ll stay safe. And tell me where you are, so I don’t have to worry.
Me: Even if we do something truly wild.
Not that I think we are.
Vex: Then I want pictures.
I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips.
Me: If I had to guess, we’re going to stay right here. It’s doubtful most of us will ever get to stay at a resort like this again.
I could afford to do this once in a while, but it would be a big hit to my budget. Juniper, on the other hand, can barely afford a meal in one of the restaurants here.
A few hours lying by the pool with a book in hand sounds wonderful.
Vex: We can go anytime you want?
Me: Don’t spoil me too much.
Vex: That wasn’t a no.
Of course, it wasn’t. What girl doesn’t want to be taken on luxurious vacations?
Me: We’ll talk about it when I get back.
“Prue, the people are arriving,” Sheridan shouts .
Me: Gotta go. The fun is about to begin.
Vex: Stay out of trouble.
Me: I’m not trouble.
Vex: Love you, Dahl
Me: Love you, Darling
It takes more than a little bit of effort to get off of the comfortable bed and make my way out to the living room.
“I never want to leave this place.” Savie is curled up on the white couch that could easily fit a dozen people with knitting needles in hand. She never goes anywhere without them.
Dylan, Garnet, Keely, and Piper walk in together.
“Your room is just as nice as ours. How do you think the convention managed this upgrade?” Garnet walks over to the bar.
No idea.
I sink down onto one of the massive armchairs.
“It makes no sense, but I hope it happens every year. Has Stella arrived?” Keely sits down next to Savie with Piper taking the spot next to her.
“She’s on her way up now.” Garnet pours a glass of red wine and then sits down on a barstool. “You guys haven’t started talking about Prue’s guy yet, have you?”
“We don’t have to talk about him.”
Garnet laughs at me.
“If we talk about anything else, I’ll be shocked.” Piper slips her shoes off and folds her legs under the wide, flowing skirt she always seems to wear during these events.
Dylan stops by the massive windows overlooking the pool. “Just be happy you don’t have a ring on your finger or this would have turned into a wedding planning session.”
“Who’s getting married?” Stella walks in with her cowboy boots and skin-tight jeans, looking both fabulous and powerful.
“No one,” I practically shout .
“Prue’s guy hasn’t asked her yet.”
It would be wrong to throw something at Garnet.
Very wrong.
“Oh honey, I’m sure he will soon.” Stella glides over to the couch next to me.
Where normal people just kind of flop down, Stella floats down until her body meets the couch without causing any kind of indention at all.
“No, he won’t. We can’t get married.” Why did I say that? Now they’re going to be rabidly seeking details.
“Who can’t get married?” Fiona steps in with Daria right behind her.
“It doesn’t matter.” I fold my arms and give everyone a no-nonsense glare.
“There’s a story there. But first Daria has something she’d like to ask the group.”
We all turn to Daria. She lifts the tablet that she rarely uses to speak for her up and types. “I invited a writer friend to join us.”
Daria has a friend outside of us?
“That’s wonderful.” Juniper takes the words right out of my brain.
Daria’s fingers fly across the screen. “But I need all of you to say yes to him joining the group.” She stares at each of us.
Our group has always been all women. It’s slowly grown over the years as people invited friends to join in. How will the dynamics change?
But Daria has a friend.
Does it really matter if things change a tiny bit? She needs our support. “I think he’d be a wonderful addition to our group.”
Dylan gives me an eyebrow raise. “Me too.”
All the rest of the women chorus our response.
Daria opens the door and holds a hand out to the man waiting by the threshold.
A man of Middle Eastern descent steps in. He’s classically beautiful if a bit too lean, though there’s a strength about him that would make most women think twice about approaching him. But it’s his eyes that tell the tale of why this man is holding hands with Daria .
He’s broken, just like all of the women sitting in this room.
Each one of our stories seems to be worse than the next, but they’re all bad. And they’re what drew us together. We all write for various reasons, but each of us uses our words to cope with what’s broken inside of us.
“This is my friend Colin Knight.” Daria smiles at him with pride. “He’s a poet and an author.”
That’s another tie. Daria writes poetry, but she never shares it with anyone. They say her poems are the rarest of gifts, and that she only gives them to a person when that person needs them.
How can a person truly ‘need’ a poem?
But if she’s shared her words with Colin, he has to be someone very important to her.
“What do you write, Colin?” Savie comes to the rescue, breaking the tension in the room.
Daria and Colin move to the couch as he answers, “I write historical fiction.”
“How many books have you published?” Dylan asks.
“My tenth comes out next month.”
“Are you traditionally published or indie?” Garnet takes a sip of her wine.
The doorbell rings, and Dylan walks over to open it.
“Sorry, I’m late.” Harper steps in. “My flight got in late. Can you believe that they switched us to this hotel? I’ve never been in a place this fancy. Did you know there’s a butler? I just about fainted when that sweet man told me to follow him up to your rooms.”
Harper’s sun-kissed braids bounce as she walks. She’s already slipped off her shoes. There’s always something joyful about her, even though she has the hardest life out of the bunch of us taking care of her siblings in some small town in the middle of nowhere with barely two pennies to rub together. She first came on a scholarship from the event, but Dylan and I put money together every year to ensure she ‘wins’ again. Otherwise, there’s no way she could afford it.
Harper freezes. “There’s a man on the couch.”
We all burst out into giggles .
All she needs are some pearls to clutch. She’s already wearing her Sunday best. Harper’s old school and never travels in jeans or sweats to be comfortable. Traveling is an event.
“That’s Colin Knight. He’s another author that’s joined our little group.”
“A man in our midst.”
Uh oh. Is Harper not going to be okay with this? How will we handle it?
“Well, isn’t that just dandy? Now we have someone to ask when we have a question about the male point of view. My cousins have been hiding on me lately.” With a mixture of a skip and a sashay, Harper makes her way over to the couch, completing our little group. “What did I miss?”
“Colin was just telling us if he’s indie or trad published.” Savie clicks her needles together.
“Everyone calls me Knight. And I’m traditionally published.”
“Ohh,” a few of the women chorus.
“Being trad published isn’t so bad. Daria and Prue are also trad.” Dylan could have gone trad. A few of them have offered her deals over the years, but she likes control too much to sign on the dotted line.
I like traditional publishing because it allows for anonymity and a bit more of a hands-off approach to publishing. It doesn’t hurt that my publishing house actually spends money to advertise my books. Which isn’t something they do for many authors.
The doorbell rings again.
Who could that be?
Eyes roam around the room, searching just like I am to figure out who it could be. Everyone is here.
“Did anyone else invite someone?” Savie sets down her knitting.
Not a single person speaks up.
“Would you ladies allow me to answer the door?”
“Please.” I have no problem letting a man answer the door. Or anything else if it will keep the group safer.
We’re careful, but women alone can never be too safe at these things .
There’s something about the way Colin walks to the door that reminds me of Vex. It’s certainly not a physical similarity. The two men are polar opposites.
Danger.
There’s an air of danger around Colin. Like just beneath the surface, he hides a lethal power that’s ready to spring out at any time.
“I have a delivery for Ms. Fleur.” The butler’s distinctive voice is clear even though I can’t see him.
“One moment.” Colin closes the door and turns to us. “Is one of you, Ms. Fleur?”
“That’s me.” I stand up. What delivery could I possibly have? All my suitcases made it to the suite.
Colin nods and turns back to the door. “Ms. Fleur will accept the delivery.” He steps back for the butler to enter, followed by a younger man carrying a massive teddy bear.
This thing rivals the man in size and is probably larger than I am.
Nestled inside the bear’s arms is a vase full of dahlias.
Vex did this.
“Where would you like this?” the butler asks.
“In my bedroom. It’s this one.” I walk over to the open door, gesturing to an empty chair to place the bear on.
Oh, I need to tip them. I rush over to my purse to grab some money. “Thank you.” I walk over to the younger man to shake his hand.
“You’re welcome, but everything has been taken care of.” He doesn’t accept the bill I try to slip to him.
Vex.
I slide the card out of the floral arrangement and make my way back to the living room as the butler leaves.
“Who is it from?” Harper asks.
“Prue’s boyfriend,” Junie answers.
All eyes turn to me. “We still haven’t talked about our accomplishments from last year. ”
Dylan snorts but doesn’t push back.
“Who wants to start?” Garnet leans back against the bar, setting her glass down.
Junie raises her hand. “I’ll go first.” There’s excitement in her voice. “My latest release hit number one on the charts for the first time ever. It stayed there for over a week.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“Way to go.”
“You worked so hard for this.”
We all cheer for her.
As they go around the room, I sneak a peek at the card.
Dahl,
I thought you might need something to hug since you won’t have my arms around you, helping you to fall asleep.
Stay safe
Vex
“Prue, you’re up. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?” Keely asks.
“I got a job in Urbium,” I blurt out the words without thinking about where that might lead the conversation.
“Wait, you live in Urbium?” Fiona asks from the corner where she’s sitting reading a book. “We live in Urbium.”
“You do?” How did I not know that already? That means I have friends in town.
“Yeah. You need to come visit the café and have lunch with Daria and I.”
That would be a dream come true. Friends. I’d have real live girlfriends to hang out with.
Garnet jumps up in her seat. “Now that everyone has had a turn—”
“Colin hasn’t,” Piper interrupts.
Everyone turns to look at him .
“My biggest accomplishment this year was moving back to Urbium.” There’s vulnerability in his voice.
Moving shouldn’t have been a big deal for me, but it was. Why was it as hard for him?
“Okay, now can we go to the pool?” Piper looks around at the group.
A pool day it is.