Chapter 6 What’s The Worst That Could Happen?
WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?
MABEL
Mabel
Dear Daniel Joseph Flowers,
I am writing to formally request that you vacate the rental property located at 123 MABEL QUINN LANE, as your lease agreement has expired due to violations of said lease agreement.
I am providing you with this written notice to vacate the premises immediately.
Please take the necessary steps to vacate the premises as soon as possible, and ensure that you leave the property in the same condition as when you first moved in, minus normal wear and tear.
Danny
What the hell is this?
Mabel
It’s your eviction notice. I’m kicking you out. You have 30 seconds to get the hell out of my head.
Danny
How can you evict me from a place I live rent-free?
Mabel
I hate you. You got into my head, and now I’m spending my night with Ryder Finch.
Danny
Oh my god, the drama.
Mabel
He invited me to play poker with him at The Bellagio tonight, and I couldn’t get your voice out of my head. I’m supposed to be lying in bed, watching Big leave Carrie at the altar and shoving baked goods in my mouth, but now I’m hiding in a public bathroom, stalling.
Danny
Mabel.
Mabel
Danny.
Danny
Do you have time to run back to the room? You should change into that white, iridescent fringe dress I packed for you. It makes you look like a virginal slut.
Mabel
That’s an oxymoron. And it doesn’t matter. I’m not going. I just decided. I’ll wait here in the bathroom until Ryder gives up or assumes I died, and then I’ll sneak back to the room for my date with my bed.
Danny
I don’t love your hair curled with the fringe dress, though. See if Ryder will meet you at the casino so you can sneak away to my friend who works at that salon in The Cosmopolitan. She’ll give you the world’s quickest blow-out and you’ll look fab.
Mabel
I. Am. Not. Going.
Danny
Or if you’d rather just focus on getting your back blown out, I know Ryder loves your hair in braids. Do those pigtail things, you’ll drive him wild.
Mabel
I hate you. I’m not going.
Danny
I hate you, too. And yes, you are. Go make bad decisions!
Mabel
Danny, I’m serious.
Danny
So am I, Mabes. You’re acting ridiculous. It’s one night. Go, play some poker, have a few drinks and relax. What’s the worst that could happen?
Sighing, I hit the call button next to Danny’s name and wait as the phone rings three times before my best friend answers.
“Mabel, there is an oiled-up stripper in the next room frothing at the mouth to give me a lap dance. This better be really good.”
“I had a crush on him, Danny.”
“On my oiled-up stripper? Honey, he’s gay.”
“No.” I let out an exasperated breath. “I had a crush on Ryder. Like, for years.”
“Mabel. What part of ‘I have an oiled-up man in the other room’ are you not understanding?”
I bite my tongue, holding back a scream.
“Danny! You’re not listening. I just said I had a crush on Ryder. A real crush. Like, the kind of crush that…crushes you.”
“Okay? The sky is blue, water is wet.”
Pulling the phone away from my ear, I stare at the screen for a moment.
“You knew?”
“Honey, the entire country knew. Every photo of the two of you taken before the age of fourteen, you’re staring at him with hearts in your eyes.”
“Great, love knowing that all my innermost secrets are privy to public opinion. I might as well self-publish my old diaries,” I mutter. The perks of growing up in the spotlight never cease to amaze me.
“What does this have to do with hanging out with Ryder tonight?”
Leaning back against the sink, I bring my thumb to my lips and chew on the nail. It’s a disgusting habit, and I know Danny would slap the finger from my mouth if he were here, but what can I say? It’s soothing.
“I just…I don’t know. I never got over it.
I liked him so much, and all he ever did was pick on me.
No matter how hard I tried to get him to see me as something more than a little kid he was stuck with, it never worked.
And now we’re all grown up and I know I should be over it, but I’m not.
Over the years, I’ve gotten good at this whole frenemy thing I’ve built between us.
And you telling me you think he’s the one with the crush now?
It’s confusing. I feel like I’m fourteen years old all over again. ”
There’s a long pause, and then a sigh comes through the other side of the phone.
“Mabel, honey. I love you more than anything. You know that. You’re my girl, my good-time guy, my sweet cheese.
So please, hear me when I tell you this: You’re acting ridiculous.
It’s like you’ve tied your own hands behind your back so you can’t remove the blinders you put on yourself and see what’s right in front of you.
Babe, I know those pangs of first love pain run deep, but you’re not fourteen anymore.
You’re a grown woman, and it’s time to put on your big girl panties and go hang out with Ryder.
Or, you could continue to act like a brat and go back to your hotel room to sulk alone.
Either way, just make a damn decision, get out of the bathroom and stop calling me, okay? ”
It would seem that my friend’s tough love knows no bounds today.
If anyone else spoke to me this way, it would probably piss me off to no end.
But Danny is Danny, and I know he’s right.
There’s no point in arguing that I’m only acting immature because Ryder makes me feel immature.
There’s no point in continuing to blame my annoyance with the man on some decade-old hurt.
So instead, I turn to face the mirror and look myself in the eye.
“You’re right,” I say. “I’m going to go out with Ryder, and it’s going to be fine. I mean, it’s poker at The Bellagio. What really is the worst that could happen?”