Chapter Twenty-One
Tessa woke the next morning to the aromas of brewing coffee and frying bacon. Her head felt like a coconut split with a hammer. The blackout curtains on her bedroom windows were still drawn, but the door to the hallway stood open, and light spilled inside.
Kate curled beside her in the fetal position.
“Kate?” Tessa whispered.
“Yeah.” She turned her face toward the ceiling, revealing one tearstained cheek in the dim light.
“You okay?” Tessa asked.
Kate shook her head and a small whimper escaped. “My bare ass is all over social media.”
The memory returned with a slap colder than the raging wind of the night before. “I’m sure it’s not—”
Kate’s phone appeared, screen lit. “Look.”
Tessa squinted against the brightness but complied.
She rolled onto her back and examined the page Kate had been exploring.
The entire feed seemed to be comprised of photos taken on the sidewalk in the storm.
Every headline focused on the rain-soaked spectacle instead of the grand Influencers Ball on the rooftop.
Tessa supposed it made sense. The real story wasn’t about a bunch of highly influential people being fancy and trendsetting upstairs, but rather those same people being goofy, commonplace, and silly outside.
Dancing in the rain instead of at a coveted invitation-only event. Soaked to the bone while wearing couture, no less.
The unfortunate image featured beneath every headline seemed to be one featuring MC Kate’s exposed backside.
Drenched, hair and makeup wrecked, all support for her voluptuous figure discarded.
She was barely recognizable. She looked so different than her online image, she could probably simply deny the photo was of her.
Tessa nearly said as much. Then she saw the highly enhanced, extremely cropped version of that photo, taken from not one angle, but two.
“You can see every dimple,” Kate said. “It’s humiliating. My grandmama is going to see everything I’ve got, and she doesn’t believe in Brazilian waxing. She’s going to ask me why I want to look like a little girl.”
A small snort puffed from Tessa’s nose. She hadn’t meant to laugh, but she’d met Kate’s grandma, and she was always concerned with something completely left of center. “Probably.”
Kate moved onto her side, facing Tessa. Her head rested on her hands, expression aghast. “You can’t laugh at this,” she said. “You would change your name and move to Thailand if your goose-pimpled goods were posted in high definition all over the internet.”
“First of all, we really need to stop talking about your—”
“Hot muffins!” Hallie called, appearing in the doorway with a tray.
Tessa choked on swallowed laughter, and Kate hit her in the face with a pillow.
“Don’t fight,” Hallie said, flipping on the bedroom light. “There’s plenty of muffins to go around.”
Tessa cackled, and Kate pulled the pillow over her face to scream.
“I can’t believe you guys slept until nearly ten,” Hallie said.
“I planned to wake you with breakfast if you didn’t get up on your own.
I made bacon too. My mama swears by grease and carbs as a hangover cure.
There’s coffee in the kitchen, but y’all are probably severely dehydrated, so I’m going to suggest a lot of water first.”
Kate shoved herself into a seated position and leaned against the headboard. “Thank you for taking care of me last night.”
“Were you sick?” Tessa asked. She hadn’t heard a thing or moved a muscle until waking a few minutes prior.
Kate nodded and reached for a muffin from Hallie’s tray.
“Sorry,” Tessa said. “I didn’t realize.”
“That’s because you fell asleep before I finished the bottle of wine you opened when we got here,” Kate said.
Tessa searched her memory. She’d poured wine for herself and Kate while they watched the internet for signs that her wardrobe malfunction was caught on camera. She’d barely had a sip before her eyes and limbs felt too heavy to carry on. “I was so tired.”
Hallie bit into a slice of bacon and nodded. “I know an open bar hates to see you two coming.”
Kate groaned. “The drinks were probably free and flowing for exactly this reason. What better way to create content and gain followers than to get a bunch of drunk influencers in one place at the same time. The whole thing was a setup. And I fell right into the trap.”
“Hey,” Tessa said. “You weren’t the only one dancing in the rain. We were part of a crowd.”
“You weren’t the only one exposed by that wind either,” Hallie said. She pulled her phone from the pocket of her hoodie and tapped the screen a few times. “I follow this woman’s foodie channel. I didn’t even see her there, but everyone has had a good look at her now.”
Kate took the phone from Hallie’s hand, then grimaced. “Geez.” She shoved the device back at Hallie. “She looks like an underwear model. I look like a size fifty compared to her.” She set her muffin on the nightstand and curled onto her side once more.
Hallie turned the screen to Tessa. A twentysomething in a wet satin sheath dress and bare feet dominated the image. Thanks to the rain, her gown might as well have been made of cling wrap. “Eva from Ethically Grown,” Hallie said. “I love her stuff.”
Tessa set a palm on Kate’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what size you wear, or what size anyone wears.
It’s as irrelevant as hair, height, or eye color.
The bottom line is that no one should be sharing these images.
They don’t have your permission for this.
Since when can people post nudity so freely?
Shirtless men can’t reveal their nipples on romance book covers, but it’s okay for these social media platforms to share your whole ass? ”
Hallie lifted another slice of bacon. “You definitely ended yesterday a whole different person than you were at breakfast,” she said, smiling at the Alice in Wonderland reference. “That was very on brand of you.”
Kate covered her face with her hands. “I can’t post anything from last night now, or I’ll look like I’m trying to distract everyone from my ass.” She dug her fingers into her ratty hair and pulled in two directions.
Tessa tugged gently at her wrists until she set herself free.
“I wanted to use pictures from the ball to remind everyone I’m still relevant,” Kate said.
“Attending the event was supposed to help me gain followers, not lose more. My daddy’s mama is going to have six consecutive strokes over this.
There won’t be any consoling her. I’ve basically killed my grandmama! ”
Tessa set Kate’s phone between them on the bed and collected her phone from the nightstand.
Dread fell over her when all the notifications came into view. She imagined all the calls and emails she had to make and send today. She’d start with Grant and her dad.
“Eat something,” Hallie said. “You’re shaking. You need hydration and sustenance. Plus, I’m an amazing fucking cook, so enjoy it. Some people pay big money for this kind of culinary service.”
Tessa took a muffin and a slice of bacon and smiled. “You are appreciated.”
Hallie took a step toward the bedroom door. “I’ll be right back with water and coffee.”
Tessa frowned at the list of her missed calls. “Devin called four times.” Was he drinking again? Tessa checked the times on the calls. One last night and three in close proximity this morning. The most recent was less than half an hour ago.
“Did you really quit your job?” Kate asked. “Or is there a way that you can go back, if you changed your mind? If you explain yourself, do you think you might get reinstated?”
“No.” She scrolled through the other missed calls. She recognized the numbers of a few clients. The main line from Hello, Marketing. Millie, Nina, and Josephine. Basically, everyone had called.
“Bummer,” Kate said. “Not to complain, but this whole new-lease-on-life main character journey sucks. I think we were better off living the lives we bitched about. At least then you had an income, and I still had my dignity.”
Tessa’s phone rang, and the name on-screen sent her pulse into a sprint. “It’s Grant.”
“The cute client?” Kate asked. “Answer it.”
“I’m not ready. I have to tell him I quit my job, but I have no idea what to say. Hey!”
Kate pulled her hand back with a snap and a laugh. She’d reached in front of her and accepted the call!
“Tessa?” Grant’s voice rose from the speaker.
She considered hanging up or at least taking the call off speaker, but she just sat there, frozen.
Hallie arrived with another tray. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Sorry,” Grant said. “I must’ve dialed the wrong number.”
Kate elbowed Tessa’s ribs.
“Wait!” she said, then cringed. “It’s me. This is Tessa. Sorry.”
Hallie placed a bottle of water and a cup of coffee on each nightstand, watching the odd phone situation unfold.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Fine,” she said. “I’m just waking up. Rough night.”
“Is everything okay now?”
“Depends,” she said. “Are you calling about something you saw online this morning?”
Kate outstretched an arm and swatted in Tessa’s direction.
She slid off the bed to avoid the hit.
“Hmm,” he said. “I’m actually calling to see if you want to join me this afternoon to tour another office space. The owner of the one I want hasn’t responded to my agent’s inquiry, so I need to see some backup locations in case things don’t turn out the way I hope.”
“Um.” Tessa paced before her window, phone cradled in one palm while she chewed the thumbnail of her opposite hand.
Kate and Hallie nodded wildly. Kate mouthed the word go.
Tessa dropped her hand away from her mouth and bit her lip instead. She needed to tell him she didn’t work for Hello, Marketing anymore. Therefore, she didn’t work for him either.
Hallie’s eyes bulged in the silence.
Kate smacked the bedsheets in frustration.
“It’s okay if you’re busy,” he said. “I understand. What did you mean about seeing something online earlier?”
Tessa froze. “Never mind,” she said quickly. “It was nothing.”