Chapter 10 #2
“All of that?” Naomi replied. “Every word that came out of your mouth?”
Riley had managed to make their plan sound complex, but Will could see the heart of what they were getting at. And they were right. It was perfect in its simplicity.
“Riley’s describing what we sometimes call a strategic leak,” Will told her. “It’s when someone intentionally shares confidential information within earshot of a journalist in the hopes that it gets reported on.”
“Yes, that!” Riley’s voice rose slightly above a whisper. “Once the information leaks, they’ll realize how they really feel for each other, and the rest will play out on its own. I know it.”
“Okay, let’s assume this ‘strategic leak’ is somehow doable. There’s a lot of ways this could go sideways, and if this doesn’t work, Riley, it could do a lot of damage,” Naomi said.
“You’ve already made your reservations clear. But you know I’m right. We need to help them unleash their true feelings.”
“On the off chance that’s somehow correct, how could we even do that?”
“Oh, I’ve got ideas. Plans. But we need to strike while the iron is hot. I think we could do something in the studio. Can you manage that, Will?”
Will considered it. Since it was where Freya spent most of her time, it made the most sense to try it there. “It might be possible.”
“Of course, it’s possible.”
They all froze, startled at the sound of footsteps coming towards them.
Abby was rounding the bend, inspecting them curiously.
Had she heard what they were saying? Could this have gone wrong before they even had a chance to start?
He tried not to let the panic show on his face as his mind skittered.
He forced a casual smile, hoping it didn’t look as strained as it felt.
“Where did you disappear to?” Naomi asked, a slight tremble in her voice. “I came out of the bathroom, and you were gone.”
“I wanted a glimpse of the red carpet, and I ran into—” She didn’t finish her sentence. At first, Will was worried she meant Freya, but he hadn’t heard any yelling or seen any objects flying. “What are you cooking up for Becca, Riley?”
Will tried not to let his relief show as it swept through him, loosening the tension in his shoulders.
Whatever Abby had overheard, she’d assumed it was about Becca—and not herself.
The fragile thread of their plan was still intact.
At least for now. “Why am I the subject of your inquisition?” Riley asked with an impressive amount of feigned innocence, given the close call.
“Call it women’s intuition. Also, I heard you. You’ve got ideas, do you?”
Naomi tugged on his arm. “You know, we really should get back in there. Thanks again for saving the day.”
He nodded and began to walk away, not missing Riley silently mouthing, “Let’s talk soon” at him.
It, therefore, came as no surprise when this text from Riley appeared a week later:
RILEY: You. Me. Drink. Talk. Tonight.
WILL: Meet. Good. Drink. Good.
Whether or not Riley’s plan worked, he would consider it a success because it had given him the opportunity to become part of the group on a deeper level than merely being Naomi's boyfriend. Now he was on the inside, working together to help one of their own. And the more time he spent with them, the more he realized how much he’d missed having friends and a life outside of work.
He had been so consumed with his career he hadn’t even noticed how lonely he’d become.
But now he felt like a parched plant finally getting water, his dry roots drinking in the connection and camaraderie he'd been lacking.
Will was grateful to snag a little one-on-one time with Riley anytime, but especially tonight.
Besides the fact that Riley was quickly becoming one of his favorite people on the planet, he had been hoping to chat with them in private at some point to see if he could get a little advice about Naomi.
His first instinct had been to talk to Abby, but something told him he should start with Riley.
Perhaps they could give him a lay of the land and, among other things, tell him if going to Abby was the right call.
RILEY: I was going for more of a spy, Morse code thing than the caveman thing.
WILL: I will self-destruct this message after I receive my assignment
RILEY: Better. Meet me at the Jefferson Tap at 9?
WILL: I’ll be wearing a single red rose.
RILEY: Great, now I’m going to have to change.
“Obviously, we’re here to finish our conversation from the other night,” Riley said the moment they were both seated at a table in the back of the pub where rows of gleaming beer taps and vintage sports jerseys added to the casual, laid-back vibe.
“I thought that might be the case. But no Naomi or Becca?”
“Well, Becca is a mess. And while there is most definitely a time and a place for that whole thing, this is not it.” Riley began to peruse the menu.
“How’s she doing? Besides, you know, being a mess.”
Riley shrugged. “Abby thinks maybe this is forcing them to own up to how they feel about each other. Which is a hilarious observation, considering who it’s coming from.” Riley put the menu down. “As for Naomi, we need to focus. Not spend half the night quelling her anxieties.”
“I think she’s getting there. We talked about it this weekend, and I laid out why this is a low-risk, high-reward situation for me. That seemed to reassure her.”
“Oho, I like it, Quinn. I like it.” Riley looked up at a server who had made their way to their table. “McClelland, neat.”
“Daisy Cutter IPA,” Will said. He turned back to Riley. “McClelland, neat?”
“What can I say.” Riley leaned back in their chair. “I like my whiskey like I like my men.”
“Yeah, straight, apparently.”
Riley clearly tried to give him an offended look, but the crinkle of amusement in the corner of their eyes was unmistakable. “I would have accepted rich or smooth.” They crossed their legs. “Now, let’s get down to it. How are we going to make this happen?”
Will nodded. “I’ve been giving it some thought since we talked last time, and I think I know exactly what to do.
Freya has a TV in her office that only shows the video feed from the studio.
All we need to do is go in the studio, presumably under the guise of me giving you all a tour, and accidentally,” he put air quotes around the word accidentally, “turn on the feed and then have a brief conversation about how we’ve learned that Abby is in love with Freya.
We’d need to make sure Freya is in her office and, ideally, not a lot of other people are around who might see it and come in to turn off the feed. ”
“Let me guess, that’s a tall order.”
“I thought it would be, but then I realized we’re in luck.
It’s short notice, but Thanksgiving is this weekend and the whole floor is already clearing out for the holiday.
By Friday, it will be a dead zone. But that’s Freya’s favorite time to work.
She says she can get more done when everyone is gone.
I’m thinking we go Friday night.” When Riley didn’t respond right away, Will scrunched his face. “Too soon to pull it off?”
“Are you kidding? It’s brilliant. Brilliant!” Riley placed their hands on the table and leaned forward. “When we first met, I couldn’t have imagined you had such depth to you. But I have to say, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
“That’s high praise,” Will said as the server brought their drinks.
Riley raised their glass. “The highest. Well done.” They clinked their glass to Will’s. “Now, thankfully, while I was waiting for you, I started writing out an initial script for our little performance.” They put their hand on a napkin resting beside their drink and slid it across to Will.
Will looked down at the napkin and saw lines of text scribbled across it.
“I obviously can’t put this anywhere Abby could find it, so we’re going to have to memorize it and then relay it to the women. It’s not my best work, but I think it’ll do.”
Will read a few of the lines.
R: I wouldn’t want to be Freya Jonsson for all the money in the world.
W: What? Why not?
R: Why else? She has the most beautiful, most amazing woman madly in love with her and she’s too blind to see it!
He skimmed down a little further.
R: That woman is smitten beyond belief. And I’m not the only one who noticed this—ask her best friend and her sister.
Will looked up. “You think you can get Becca and Naomi to both follow a script? Naomi gets stage fright and Becca is…”
“Becca, I know. But they’re crucial to making this believable.
Don’t worry about that, though. I can wrangle those two.
You only job is to make sure we get this in front of Freya.
” Riley swirled the drink in their glass and then sipped.
“I definitely didn’t expect you to come so prepared; I thought we were going to be brainstorming for hours. ”
“What can I say, I like to keep you on your toes.” Will cleared his throat. “But since we have some time …”
Riley didn’t miss the hesitation in his voice, and their eyebrows arched with piqued interest. Under Riley’s gaze, Will took a healthy swallow of his drink, partly to calm his nerves and partly to give himself a few more seconds to finalize what to say.
He wasn’t as much worried about the answer, although there was a little bit of concern around that too, as he was about framing his question right.
He didn’t want Riley, or Naomi if it ever got back to her, to think he was having doubts about his relationship.
He didn’t have any doubts. Everything was crystal clear for him. Except this one smudge.
“I was hoping I could get some advice from you,” he said. Advice seemed like the right way to approach this. Advice cast him in the light of seeking solutions rather than venting about problems, and he knew from personal experience that Riley would never turn down the opportunity to give advice.