Chapter Thirteen #2
Tessa looked to Kate, still wondering why she’d seemed so on edge when Tessa first arrived. “What about you?” she asked. “How did week one of being your story’s heroine end for you?” On a better note than it began, Tessa hoped.
Kate refilled her wine glass. “I lost another twenty-two hundred followers after posting a photo of myself on the porch swing without makeup and reading something I wanted to read, instead of something that’s trending.”
“What are you reading?” Hallie asked.
Kate pulled a brightly colored paperback from her bag.
“The Blue Sweater Theory. It’s the cutest story about a happy, hopeful girl whose grandma once told her that when men fall in love they buy a blue sweater.
She falls secretly in love with an incredible guy, and just when she’s sure he doesn’t feel the same, he buys a blue sweater. ”
Tessa winced at the number of lost followers. “I am so sorry about your followers.”
“Thanks. I’m sure my invitation to the Influencers Ball will soon be rescinded, but there isn’t much I can do about that now.”
Hallie dunked an ice cube in her drink and held it there with her straw. Her knees bobbed, vibrating the table. She turned her eyes on Tessa. “What are you reading?”
“Surge of Fire,” she said. “It’s about a woman fighting to free her people from tyranny and oppression in a society of absurd societal hierarchies and familial rules. So far she’s got a plan, but she’s getting her ass kicked.”
Kate frowned. “So did Katniss Everdeen, at first, and look at how that turned out for her people.”
Tessa thought immediately of poor Primrose but kept that to herself.
“I wish rom-coms would trend online,” Kate said.
“Influencers’ posts are so manipulated and skewed, there’s no way to know if their opinions are authentic or just meant for clicks.
” She buttered a slice of bread and poked it with the knife.
“What can I possibly post about that’s both authentically me and on trend?
Because I can’t keep losing thousands of people every day, or I’ll be the one applying to work here. ”
Hallie frowned, attempting to swallow whatever was in her mouth so she could talk.
“Post about the ball.” Her hazel eyes lit as she looked from Kate to Tessa and back.
“Everyone wants to hear about that, and you can do it in a way that shows your excitement and style. Tease your dress like you did for that big fundraiser last summer. Drag things out until the event, then use photos from the ball to fill in for a while afterward.”
Tessa sat taller. “She’s right. People loved that.”
Kate’s lips twisted into a reluctant smile. “They did, didn’t they?”
“Shit,” Hallie said. “I still need to buy something to wear to that.”
“Me too,” Tessa agreed. “When are we shopping?”
“Soon,” Kate said. “We should set aside an afternoon, because the only thing I enjoy as much as shopping for myself is shopping for the two of you, and I refuse to rush.”
Hallie turned her please help stare on Tessa.
“Stop,” Kate said, laughing. “You’re like two fabulously fit dollies, and I get to style you.” She clapped silently while working her brows.
Appetizers arrived, and the conversation returned to their latest reads. Followed by everything wrong or right with each book’s heroine.
“She just isn’t giving main character energy,” Hallie said about the lead in her story. “She’s too reactive. I stopped reading so many times last night to tell her to take control of her life, but she doesn’t, so I put her in the freezer to think about her choices.”
“Hate that,” Kate said.
Hallie often put books in her freezer as punishment for the heroine’s ridiculous behavior. Tessa couldn’t help wondering what Bryce thought of that when he went to get an ice cube for his highball glass.
“I expect more from fictional characters,” Tessa said, and she made a mental note to raise the bar for herself as well.
“What are you doing about your feelings for Eloise?” Kate asked Hallie, opening a second bottle of wine.
Tessa clucked her tongue and refilled her glass.
“Well?” Kate asked. “This is important, and it feels as if we’re brushing it under the rug.”
They turned their eyes on Hallie and waited.
Hallie tugged on one earlobe. “I’m not doing anything about my feelings for Eloise,” she said.
“But she has fully taken over my brain. I want to know if she thinks I’m funny.
And if she thinks I’m smart. Or if she noticed how great my ass looks in these pants.
Does she care? Did she like the sandwich I made her? ”
“Aw,” Kate said. “You made Eloise a sandwich?”
A blush tinted Hallie’s cheeks. “Yes. And I nearly sent her a photo of a rhubarb pie I baked to burn off some of my superfluous energy last night. Thankfully, I controlled myself.”
Kate pressed a palm to her chest, clearly delighted. “Why didn’t you send it? What a great way to share something you love and open a dialogue with her!”
“Hallie is currently engaged,” Tessa reminded. “I think she needs to deal with that before she starts sending other people pictures of her pie.”
Hallie tipped back her head and laughed.
Kate blinked rapidly, fighting tears of laughter. “Touché.”
“How are you doing with your newfound feelings for women?” Kate asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay,” Kate said. “But you’ve found a whole other part of yourself you didn’t know existed. That’s huge. I hope you’ll embrace it as something unique and beautiful just like every other part of you.”
“Ugh,” Hallie said. “It’s too much change, and I hate change.
I need time to work through all of this, and I don’t have any.
” Her jaw set, and she squared her shoulders.
“I have to stop this one-sided craziness. The wedding invites are out. I have to grow a backbone and talk to Bryce. He would make a perfectly fine husband, by the way, and I’d make a badass wife.
We could build a strong, productive life together, and I think we’d both find happiness in that. ”
“But you aren’t in love with him,” Tessa said. “And I’m worried you’re going to get married just to avoid an uncomfortable, potentially heated conversation.”
“Me too,” Kate said. “You’re a triple gold medalist in avoidance, but this needs to be faced. Your entire future depends on it.”
Hallie turned the butter knife toward herself and grimaced until Kate removed it from her hand. “Maybe I just have cold feet,” Hallie said. “That’s incredibly common. Or maybe I’m just confused.”
“No doubt about that,” Kate said.
“Regardless. My feelings about Eloise are a concern for another day. Maybe. But it’s not very nice of me to keep this new information about me from Bryce, so I will find a way to tell him and see what he says.”
“Good idea,” Tessa said.
“I’m sure he’s feeling the same way,” Kate said. “Not about Eloise, but as far as the anxiety caused by such a major life change so close at hand. It’s completely normal to panic about this level of change.”
Hallie nodded, eyes blinking.
Tessa slid Hallie’s glass of water a little closer. “You okay?”
“I don’t want to tell him,” Hallie whined, arms falling limply at her sides as she melted into her chair. “Why am I such a weenie?”
“I’m the weenie here.” Kate said. Disappointment shone in her eyes. “I shouldn’t care if people stop following me, but I do. I can’t help thinking it would be better to go back to making people happy than being my authentic self and potentially losing everything I’ve built.”
“Do not quit,” Hallie said. “I want the world to know you. The real you.”
Kate finished her glass and refilled it. “If you say so.” She looked appraisingly at Tessa. “Any more confrontations with your boss?”
“No, but I should’ve taken a clearer stand with him. I think I might’ve let him believe I’d come around to helping Peyton when I absolutely won’t. I practically ran from his office when he took a phone call and dismissed me.”
Hallie wrinkled her nose. “Maybe we should start calling our book club Three Weenies in a Bar.”
Kate’s mouth fell open in mock enthusiasm. She shot to her feet, then moved to stand between her friends’ chairs and held out her phone for a selfie. “Weenies up!” She raised the index finger on her left hand, and the others laughed as they did the same.
“Cheers,” they sang, and Kate took the photo.
She eased back, a fresh look of resolve in her eyes. “I don’t want to be a bar weenie, so I won’t give up our cause just yet. Even if I have to change my name and move to Peoria.”
“Me too,” Tessa said. “Mostly because I don’t want either of you to give up on the lives you deserve. I want you to both be so incredibly happy.” Her throat tightened as she spoke, and her arms opened in need of a hug.
“I just don’t want to move to Peoria,” Kate said.
The trio embraced, laughing through mutual tears.
“Three more weeks,” Tessa said. “We can do this.”
“Three more weeks,” Hallie and Kate agreed.