Chapter Forty-Six
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Heads up? Quinn wanted someone’s head on a spike, she was that furious. So suddenly, out of the blue, Kya secured a job interview? How likely was that? And if this was true, why hadn’t she called with the news? Would she lie just to get away from her?
How could Kya be so careless with her feelings, with her heart? How could she fumble the bag so spectacularly? There was nothing Quinn could do to salvage this. Nothing more to do but wipe her hands of the entire situation. She’d loved and lost, that was just how it went sometimes. She wasn’t the type to sit at home and wallow for a man or a woman or anyone. Yet, for a full hour that was exactly what she did. She circled the flat, trying to come up with a reply. Something cool, but clever, something witty. Safe travels! Nice hanging out with you! Or, Bye, babe! Catch you next time! Yes! That was it! It struck the right tone, detached but—
Quinn’s phone rang in her hands. She nearly went blind with happiness until she realized it wasn’t Kya calling. It was Amanda. She was off to the airport.
‘Thought I’d swing by with Ivy to say goodbye.’
‘You’re leaving already?’
‘I wish I could stay for your beach concert, but I have to go home. The fun is over, I’m afraid.’
Why did everyone keep saying that? The fun is over. The party is over. As if Quinn was only good for a good time, a welcome break from their hectic lives. Now they were all eager to get back to their routines, their commutes, their daily grind or whatever. As if her presence in their lives disrupted the natural order of things. It was insulting. Did anyone take a second to consider how it made her feel to be used like that? Were her relationships doomed to fail due to the nature of her work? Would she always be left behind?
‘Q, are you still there?’
‘I’m here,’ she said. ‘But, hey, why don’t I ride with you to the airport?’
‘You’re not too busy?’
‘Not for you!’
Amanda had come all this way for her, she could accompany her to the airport.
‘We’ll be right over.’
Quinn jumped into a pair of jeans and a plain T-shirt Kya had left behind. It still smelled of her skin. She was waiting in the lobby, chatting with Benny, when Amanda and Ivy pulled up. She squeezed into the back seat of Ivy’s sports car and shared the tight space with odd pieces of Amanda’s luggage, a vanity case from a posh British design house and last season’s weekender bag from a trendy French designer. The perks of working for Harrods were on full display. ‘I want that employee discount,’ she reminded her.
‘You’ll get it,’ Amanda said.
Ivy eased into the flow of traffic. ‘Where’s Kya?’
‘We’re done.’
Ivy hit the brakes and sent them all lurching forward. Amanda gripped the dashboard and cried, ‘Don’t kill us before I catch my flight!’
Don’t kill us … That was such a Kya thing to say; it broke Quinn’s heart.
Ivy sought her eyes in the rearview mirror. ‘Are you done or on a break?’
‘We’re done. I was wasting my time with that girl.’
Amanda smoothed back her hair. ‘Are you sure about that?’
‘You two are a model couple,’ Ivy said. ‘You’re open and communicative, and so supportive of each other. I’ve been taking notes.’
‘Shred those notes,’ Quinn said. ‘They’ll get you nowhere. I can’t communicate worth a damn and Kya runs off whenever she gets scared.’
‘We need details,’ Amanda said. ‘Where is she now? Where has she run off to?’
‘To her brother’s house for now, and she’s booked her flight home. She says she has a job interview. I’m not sure I believe it.’
‘Has she done this sort of thing before?’ Amanda asked. ‘Run off and hide, I mean. You make it sound like a pattern.’
‘Once before, yes. It was a huge red flag, and I totally ignored it.’
‘Sounds like a Victor move to me,’ Ivy said, dryly.
‘Kya is nothing like Victor,’ Amanda said. ‘And, since I’m headed to the airport and won’t have to deal with any of the drama, I might as well say this: Victor isn’t the villain in your story, Ivy. You are. You should have dumped him and moved on long ago. You kept hanging on even though it was clear as day the relationship was dead.’
Ivy gripped the steering wheel so hard, her knuckles turned white. ‘I know it. I’m doing the work and can admit I kept the drama going.’
‘We’re proud of you, sweetie,’ Amanda said. ‘You’ve come so far.’
‘It’s a good thing you’re heading home,’ Ivy murmured. ‘I wouldn’t be good company tonight.’
Quinn and Amanda exchanged a glance and decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.
‘Like I said,’ Quinn continued. ‘Kya booked her flight to California. She’s running away.’
‘That’s not fair,’ Amanda said. ‘That’s where she lives. What can she do? It’s not like she can stay in Miami forever.’
‘Why not? People live here, you know,’ Ivy said. ‘My family has lived here for generations.’
‘All right, but it suits you, and your lifestyle.’
Quinn couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Just come out and say it. You think I’m a party girl, a silly little DJ, and Kya is too smart, too serious and important for me.’
Amanda opened wide eyes. ‘My God, she’s gone mad.’
‘Listen, I get where you’re coming from,’ Ivy said. ‘It’s not easy working in the entertainment industry. People have their preconceived notions. They think you’re erratic or unstable. If they’re anything like my grandparents, they think you’re too lazy to get a “real job”. Why do you think I quit, and tried to transition to PR? But it changed nothing. So, screw it.’
‘Nobody is handing out Nobel Prizes to fashion buyers, either,’ Amanda said. ‘I’ve been called everything from shallow to materialistic, and everything in between. Do you know what Brian said when I told him? He said I was thinking too small. I said, if you want to talk about small, let’s talk about your small—’
‘I hate to interrupt, because this is riveting, but your phone is buzzing non-stop,’ Ivy said.
‘Oh!’ Amanda grabbed her phone off the centre deck charging station. As she reviewed her messages, the mood in the little car turned grim. Dark clouds gathered above. Fat drops of rain splattered onto the windshield. Ivy switched on the wipers.
‘Bloody hell!’ Amanda cried.
‘What is it?’ Quinn asked.
Amanda glared at her phone as if it had betrayed her. ‘My flight is cancelled! It better not be the weather. It’s just a little rain. This is a bright sunny day in London!’
It was a bright sunny day, here as well. The rain clouds would scatter eventually.
‘Shit. It’s not the weather. It’s plain old incompetence. My flight is overbooked.’
‘This happened to Kya the other week,’ Quinn said. ‘Her flight home was cancelled, and she decided to stay on.’
Amanda swivelled around to face her. ‘Babe, God knows I love you and I really like Quinn, but let’s make this crisis about me, okay? I have to get home. I need to report to HR, start training for the new job, and all that fun stuff.’
‘That’s fair,’ Quinn said. ‘Only one crisis at a time.’
Amanda started to tap on her phone screen in a frantic attempt to gather any information on the cancelled flight. Ivy reached out and lowered her phone. ‘Never mind that. They’re just going to put you on standby. I know a guy, a travel concierge. He’ll help.’
‘Who knows a travel concierge?’ Quinn asked, bewildered.
‘I do!’ Ivy replied, smug.
‘That’s why you’re my ride or die,’ Amanda said.
Quinn took offence at that. ‘What does that make me?’
‘My one and only Q,’ Amanda said with a cheeky smile.
‘You’re lucky I love you,’ Quinn said. ‘You’re trying my last nerve today.’
Ivy got her concierge on the phone. He was a charming man named Oscar. She explained Amanda’s predicament, and he promised to call back within the hour with an update. ‘If I can get her on business class, would that work?’
‘Sounds steep,’ Ivy said.
‘There’s no cost,’ he said. ‘Consider this a professional courtesy. I hear you’re on Trevor’s shortlist.’
Ivy gasped. ‘No, you didn’t!’
‘Yes, ma’am. Promise to remember me when you’re handed the keys to the kingdom.’
‘Oh, I will.’
She ended the call and all three of them gasped, screamed, drummed the dashboard, punched the air. The grim mood had lifted, and the dark clouds parted.
‘It’s happening!’ Amanda cried. ‘I can feel it.’
Ivy brushed away a tear. ‘I feel it, too!’
‘I love that Oscar. He’s flirty,’ Amanda said. ‘Maybe you should look into it, Ivy.’
‘Not now,’ Ivy said. ‘I’m focused on my career.’
‘Spoken like a true rom-com heroine,’ Quinn said.
‘There’s no point going to the airport, is there?’ Amanda asked. ‘Should we get a bite to eat? All this excitement has made me hungry.’
Quinn was up for it. She hadn’t eaten all day. And a half-hour later, when Oscar called back with Amanda’s flight confirmation number, they were at a fast-food drive-thru window, their takeaway order ready. Amanda had secured a window seat in business class on a direct flight to London, departing from MIA in a few hours. That gave them a little time to kill before heading back to the airport.
To celebrate, they ordered extra crisps, and ate their lunch in the parked car.
‘This is actually a good thing,’ Amanda said. ‘I was going to leave America without eating a proper greasy burger. That’s ridiculous.’
‘Now that we’ve got you sorted,’ Quinn said. ‘Could we focus on me, again? My crisis, my cancelled relationship? Is there a concierge for that?’
‘We’re here for you,’ Ivy said. ‘You don’t need outside help.’
‘Why not talk us through what happened?’ Amanda suggested. ‘Start from the beginning.’
‘Sunday night took a toll on her,’ Quinn said. ‘When you think about it, we were all in high spirits, celebrating our wins, and it left her feeling like trash. I could see it happening in real time, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. She’s insecure about getting fired, even after the way they treated her. Seeing us so happy brought all that up again. Now she’s in a hurry to get back to the real world.’
Amanda pried open her hamburger and peeled off the lettuce. ‘That’s where some of us belong, sweetie.’
‘And it doesn’t mean you’re over,’ Ivy said. ‘She’s going back to Cali, not the International Space Station.’
‘It’s the way she minimized my work,’ Quinn said. ‘It’s hurtful.’
‘We were with her at Solstice,’ Amanda said. ‘I’m willing to bet good money on this: you could travel the world and never find a girl more devoted, more committed to your success, or prouder of your accomplishments than Kya Reid.’
‘Period,’ Ivy said. ‘That girl is the president of your fan club. It used to be me, but I’ve passed the baton.’
‘Q, you should’ve seen her face when you took the stage! My God! The girl was beaming!’
‘Beaming!’ Ivy echoed.
‘Well, she wasn’t beaming last night,’ Quinn said. ‘She was growling.’
‘Like a mad dog?’ Amanda asked.
‘No … More like a wounded puppy.’
Ivy gulped her Diet Coke. ‘That girl has feelings for you. She may growl like a puppy, but she’s loyal.’
‘Plus, we really like her, so could you please kiss and make up so we can all hang out together the next time I’m in town?’ Amanda said.
Ivy checked the time. ‘Speaking of travel. It’s time to go.’
‘Aw! But we were having so much fun!’
‘Don’t pout. Business class means you’ll have access to the lounge.’
‘Will there will be wings? Imagine leaving the States without eating buffalo wings. Tragic!’
Buffalo wings or no, their little interlude was over. They had to head back to the airport in order to ensure Amanda made her flight. Ivy wiped her greasy fingers on a napkin and started the car engine. They drove to the airport and, even though it was totally unnecessary, paid handsomely to park at the short-term car park. Ivy and Quinn each grabbed one of Amanda’s suitcases and steered them to the airline gate.
‘This is very sweet of you,’ Amanda said, as she checked in. ‘However, you two are going to have to cut the cord at some point.’
‘But what will we do without you?’ Quinn asked.
‘You’re grown up. It’s time you made your way in the world, my little ducklings.’
She pulled them into a group hug so messy it drew looks from other travellers and the attention of a security guard who advised them to ‘Keep it moving.’
Amanda left them with some parting words. ‘I have every confidence you’ll get that job, Ivy.’
‘Fingers crossed,’ Ivy said.
‘As for you, Quinn, stop being so stubborn and go get that girl.’
Amanda was right about Ivy, yet she was wrong about this. ‘I’m not the stubborn one! It’s Kya! She’s inflexible. She won’t budge.’
‘Then I guess you’ll have to,’ Amanda said. ‘I don’t see any other way out of this.’
‘Tell her what you told us,’ Ivy said. ‘You’re scared of losing her.’
‘I never said that!’
‘That’s the takeaway, though, isn’t it?’ Amanda said.
‘She’s not like us,’ Ivy said. ‘Getting fired wouldn’t get us down. We’d laugh it off, go day-drinking, and forget about the whole thing. Only, losing that job ripped her in half. She’s going through a really tough time.’
I’m not like you. That’s exactly what Kya had been trying to tell her, that she was different and had needs Quinn would never understand.
‘And thank God she’s not like us,’ Amanda added. ‘It’s a good thing. Think how insufferable you two would be, two stars lighting up the sky.’
Quinn thought of her and Kya at home, eating takeaway on the floor, drinking tea and coffee on the balcony. When not off to gigs or girls’ nights out, they were well-balanced, the cosiest couple you’d ever come across.
‘You might have to trade in some pride, do a little grovelling, a grand romantic gesture, that sort of thing,’ Amanda said. ‘Are you up for it?’
‘I won’t grovel, but I’ll return her text. Does that count as a romantic gesture?’
‘Barely!’ Ivy scoffed.
Good thing there wasn’t time to dive into it. The security guard who’d advised them to keep it moving, now ordered them to clear out of the way. ‘Ladies, either go through the checkpoint or get gone,’ he said. ‘You’re blocking the flow.’
‘All right, girls,’ Amanda said. ‘I should get going. Hugs and kisses, and please don’t cry. I’ll be back. I promise.’
They hugged. They kissed. They promised to keep in touch. To share photos and updates and generally keep each other in the loop. Then, arm in arm, Ivy and Quinn walked back to the car park, eyes wet with tears.