Chapter 28 #2
Dance? I mouthed the word at her, and she smiled radiantly. Maybe it was corny to ask her to dance with me to the song I’d written her. But I was a corny person.
And corny worked, because she took my hand, and I tried not to panic as I remembered, a second too late, that I didn’t know how to dance. But Helena took the lead, guiding me in slow, simple steps, her hand on my waist, as other people rose to dance too, but for all I knew, none of them existed.
Just Helena, holding me close to her in front of the whole world like this, slow-dancing with me to the song I’d written about how I never wanted to do her wrong again.
Holy shit.
When the song finished, the room broke out into applause, and Helena pulled me in close, her lips close to my ear as she whispered, just barely audible over the applause.
“Thank you.”
I didn’t get to respond, because Stephen Shale’s mom shouted over the applause that that was her son, because of course she did.
Helena pulled back, and I had that soft, tender tone in her voice bouncing around in my head all the rest of the evening, as the rest of the musical performances went off without a hitch, everything wrapped up well, and Krysten met me at the end, after the doors had closed and the cleanup crew worked around us.
She looked tired, satisfied, and yet at the same time, a bit annoyed.
“You are somehow even more stubborn than I thought you were,” she said. I puffed out my chest.
“Thank you,” I said. Helena slipped a hand to my back.
“It’s charming, isn’t it?”
“Ah.” I lost my cool when she complimented me.
Krysten smiled wryly. “Well,” she said, “you seem to have done as delivered. All the audacity you promised and then a little extra for the cherry on top. Just tell me that the next time, you will clear these things with me, so that I do not have to meet God sooner than I am ready.”
“So…” I cleared my throat. “That means we’re on to work together?”
“No. That will be once you sign the paperwork. I will have it to you on Monday. But for now, be sensible and take a weekend off.”
“Oh.” I scratched my head. I hadn’t had a day off in months. The concept seemed a bit strange now. “Yeah, I guess I can, uh, do that.”
Helena squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll make sure we celebrate.”
“You too,” Krysten said. “You have been an exceptional partner. But I assume you only want to work with us on a contract basis at most. You have the world on your shoulders as it is.”
Helena nodded. “I’m ready to expand laterally. But the little one here won’t disappoint you, I’m sure.”
“Little only in stature,” I said. Krysten put her hands up.
“Enough of this! You will go and take a weekend with your girlfriend, and I will go and take a weekend with my sofa and a bottle of wine. But take care you don’t get lazy, Julie. This expansion will take a lot to land.”
“Don’t worry. I’m itching to get started.”
And then the whirlwind of activity that had been the day—the month—this whole time since I first called that stupid Kingmaker man—came to a standstill at last once I got out of the shower at Helena’s apartment and crashed on the couch.
Helena sat down with me with a Moscow mule for her and a rum and Coke for me, a smile on her lips as she handed it my way.
“I owe you one of these,” she said.
“Not going to go Hoover Wet Vac on me and pound it like a shot?” I said, and she laughed, pressing a kiss against the corner of my mouth.
“I can’t believe it took you this long to take that cheap shot. A master of restraint.”
“I’m good at what I do.”
“Trust me that I’ve noticed.” She clinked her drink to mine. “Here’s to New York. I’m guessing you’re staying this time.”
“Here’s to New York,” I laughed, a little delirious as I drank. “I guess I gotta tell my mom.”
She smiled wider. “Is she going to need some coaching through the concept that you have a girlfriend again?”
“That I have—” I choked on my drink, sputtering it back in my glass.
“I, um,” I started, my face hot. I coughed to clear my throat, but it wouldn’t clear, so I tried taking another sip to wash it down, and I choked on that one, too.
The light in Helena’s eyes danced as she watched me with half concern and half like this was funny to her, which it probably was, but I felt like I was dying.
“Sorry.” I choked into the crook of my arm.
“If you want that,” she said, her voice not quite as casual as I think she was aiming for.
“No—I mean yes—I mean no, yes, of course, I—” I coughed again. I finally got my throat cleared. My face was hot, and I turned on her. “Are you, uh. Asking to be my girlfriend?”
“No,” she deadpanned, “I figured you were hooking up with Stephen Shale’s momma.”
“No… thank you. I mean, no to that. I, um.”
“I just figure we might as well make it official, after all this time,” she laughed, brushing my hair back from my face, her fingers curling around the shell of my ear as she tucked it back. “Unless I’ve been misunderstanding the situation.”
“I-I mean, if your understanding of the situation was that I wanted to be your girlfriend from the moment I first heard you laugh, then, uh, nope, bang on the money.”
She smiled sweeter than anything in the world, her eyes crinkling. “So that’s a yes?”
“You? Want to be my girlfriend? I… is there no one else in the world?”
She laughed, brushing her fingers along my jawline. “Not when you’re in the room, Julie.”
“Holy shit.” I swallowed hard. “I mean, yes I want to be your girlfriend. You’re the best person I’ve ever known. I’m kind of obsessed with you. I don’t know if you noticed that.”
She touched her forehead to mine, her eyes shining. “Well, that goes both ways. I don’t know if you noticed that, either.”
“No,” I squeaked. “Honestly, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”
She laughed, kissing me. “You can take your time. I mean, we’ve got a whole weekend now for just you and me.”
“Oh my god, I forgot about that. I don’t know what to do with a weekend.”
“I told you I have plans for you,” she laughed, kissing my cheek, peppering me with soft, small kisses, almost like she liked me almost as much as I liked her, which was a whole fucking lot. “But for tonight, we’re celebrating you.”
“I feel really celebrated already,” I laughed, my voice a little shaky, as I slipped my fingers through her hair, over her cheek, just… touching her, softly. My girlfriend. Helena. I could just introduce her to people like that? This is my girlfriend Helena? What?
“Unfortunately,” she said, her voice bright, “that means you should probably meet my family soon. They’re a bit uptight. But they’ll like you.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to be judged a bad girlfriend and made to disappear.”
“I’m not going to let them disappear you, Julie, relax. Just be you. I want them to meet my girlfriend as she is.”
I rested my head against her, laughing softly, losing myself in her arms. “Right,” I said. “Just be me. Okay. I can do that.”
Julie Branch. Yeah. I could do that. Girlfriend of Helena Warrick.
Holy fucking shit.