Chapter 21
Gilda set the shakes down at their booth and left. Emma tapped her fingernails on the frosted glass. She had little crystals embedded in the tips of the nails. “What are you going to do?”
“It’s obvious what she’s going to do,” Janet said fiercely. “She’s going to come back and work with me.”
Alyssa gave her a watery smile. “Thanks.” She took a sip of her shake, then said pensively, “I wish I could start my own business. It would be something no one could take away, you know? Nobody could make some stupid decision I don’t even know about and then everything disappears.”
Emma gave her a sympathetic nod.
“But if I get bad word of mouth, it won’t be possible,” Alyssa went on. “And I don’t think I could swing it financially anyway.”
“Start-up is always slow,” Emma said, spinning the salt shaker.
“What would it actually take?” Janet said. “Could you work out of your apartment?”
Alyssa drew a finger threw the condensation on her shake glass. “I’d have to have a place to see clients. To show them my proposals, samples—all that. I really need an office space.”
“So get one,” Janet said. “If you really want to make a go of this.”
“I do. It’s just …” Alyssa was quiet for a moment, worrying a cuticle. Finally she said, “It would take such a big splash to start. An ad campaign so people know I’m there, and getting a work space. It’s such a huge gamble.” Janet and Emma exchanged a glance. “Stop it, you two,” Alyssa said crossly. “This isn’t about my father gambling everything away.” Janet arched her eyebrows and made fish lips, but she kept her eyes on the tabletop. “I just can’t do it right now,” Alyssa said.
Janet leaned forward. “I have so many Halloween parties scheduled. I’m actually overbooked—seems the harvest spirit is strong this year.” Alyssa gave her a half smile. “Work for me on a week-by-week basis. No benefits, but buckets and buckets of cash.”
“When did you get so solvent?” Emma asked.
“It’s aspirational. But I definitely can take someone on through spring at least. And there’s nobody I want as much as you.”
“Aw,” Alyssa said. “You’re a good friend.”
“Yeah, but it’s also a smart business decision,” Janet said. “You’re so good at this stuff, Alyssa. Of course I want you.”
Gilda brought their plates over and set them down with a clink. The china was white and thick, and the buns glistened with grease.
“Speaking of good …” Emma said. “You got fired for sleeping with Nick Sorensen?”
“Yep.” She dropped her face into her hands dramatically.
“Put that on your sign.” Emma smirked.
Alyssa lowered her hands and raised an eyebrow. “Designs by Unethical Skank?”
“You are not a skank!” Janet said. “There’s nothing wrong with sex. Unless you don’t tell your girlfriends every single detail. That would be wrong.”
“Very wrong,” Emma said. “So what’s his best feature? Legs? Chest? Butt?”
Alyssa threw a fry at her. “I actually like him,” she said miserably.
Janet and Emma exchanged a glance. “Ohh,” Emma said.
“And the card on the flowers told you to kiss off,” Janet said, putting the pieces together.
Alyssa nodded miserably. “He said he regretted it.”
“Bastard,” Emma said. “Let’s go … do a thing … he wouldn’t like.” She looked at them. “What? I don’t know anything about hockey. Maybe we knock his goalpost over?”
“That’s the spirit,” Alyssa said listlessly.
“Aw, honey,” Janet said, sliding a hand across the table to squeeze Alyssa’s. “You just have to finish his apartment and that stupid sewer department thing, right?”
“The sewer department’s done except for a couple of missing tables. I put everything else in place this afternoon.”
“So you finish SexyTime Nick’s place and work for me at the same time. There can’t be that much more to do on it.”
“The design’s done,” Alyssa acknowledged. “I need to put a second coat on his bedroom.”
“Oooh, I’ll bet you do,” Janet said and Emma gave her a high five.
“When he’s not around,” Alyssa qualified, rolling her eyes. “Then it’s just getting everything put in place.”
“I have a group of nurses throwing a pirate-themed Halloween party, and I have done nothing for it so far except make sure I have enough plastic cutlasses on hand. And a banker is having a sophisticated autumn-themed dinner at his sprawling estate. There’s a caterer, but we’re in charge of everything else. I could really, really use you to make the decorations for the front door and the veranda, where people will wander out with drinks. And—”
Alyssa put her hand up. “Sold. I’d love to come back. Thank you.”
“Yes!” Janet pumped her arm. “And if you decide you want to be full-time and permanent, you just let me know. I’ll figure it out.” Alyssa gave her the best smile she could pull off.
Before they were done with dinner Alyssa had backslid to her fifteen-year-old level of professional accomplishment—doing the decorations for other people’s parties—and Emma had told Gilda about Nick. Gilda wrapped a cookie for Alyssa to take with her and when Alyssa hugged her in thanks, she inexplicably started to cry.
Alyssa got the second coat on Nick’s bedroom when he wasn’t home, and checked in by text when she wanted to swap out the bathroom linens because she’d found something better.
Apart from those minimal interactions, the next couple of weeks passed without them speaking at all. As far as she knew, he didn’t even know she’d been fired.
She was sitting at the reception desk at the party store, where she took turns with Janet, and Roberta when she showed up. She was eating a tuna sandwich she’d brought from home, and doodling possible signs for her someday-design business when Janet stopped by. “More logos?” Alyssa nodded absently. “That’s a lot of logos. You think you’ll open the place?”
“I want to,” Alyssa admitted. “I guess I could get a smaller apartment if I need to.”
“You could room with Mrs. Gilroy.”
Alyssa smiled. Mrs. Gilroy was her gerbil. “I don’t think she’d share the wheel.”
“So,” Janet said, back to business, “the nurses’ pirate party is tonight.”
Alyssa nodded. “I’m prepared! I’ve got a lot of kitschy decor already in the van. The joke awards are in that box.” She pointed by the door. “The hors d’oeuvre trays that look like little ships are still in the back. The caterer will want them immediately, so I thought we’d load them last. Last on, first out.” She beamed. The pirate party was going to be fun. She was glad the nurses were going to have a good evening, because she had begun feeling inexplicably lonely for the first time in a very long time. That was the beauty of this job—it brought people joy. Even if she was doing the same thing she’d done in high school and her prospects for a future were sinking and …
“You could open a sign-designing factory,” Janet said, tapping the desk.
“That would be a graphic design firm.”
“Oh yeah.”
Alyssa finished the tuna sandwich and went back to work, calculating how many spikes of Styrofoam berries and fabric leaves she’d need for a Thanksgiving party in three weeks. She would also have to text Nick and tell him he wouldn’t get his bed for about that long. It was an antique she was having expanded because Nick was a big guy and wanted a king-size bed, but the carpenter had just had a knee replacement and was taking extra recovery time. She really didn’t want to discuss his bed with him. It was mortifying—especially since when she’d ordered the bed, he’d suggested she install a goal horn on the headboard that would go off when he scored. She was pretty sure he’d been kidding but kept visualizing another woman’s hair splayed across his second pillow.
Figuring out the Thanksgiving decorations gave her a sense of control. She would choose the ribbon when she was actually looking at them—they had tons of ribbons on-site, so that could be a last-minute choice. The party would be fine. She could work for Janet as long as she needed to, and start her business when she could. And soon she’d never have to see Nick Sorensen again. Everything was perfectly fine.
And for the next three and a half hours, at least, it was.