Chapter 12
The Crew met for dinner in the Village the following Saturday night. The Spaniard was buzzing. The weather was warm, and people were spilling out of the large windows onto West Fourth Street.
Harper got there first and grabbed the table. Mary and Dot arrived at the same time and joined her.
“Jimmy! Gonna need a pitcher of sangria.” Mary called to the bartender whose arm was sleeved in tattoos.
“You should go out with him. Just one night.” Harper raised her eyebrows at Mary.
“Maybe I will!” she said.
“Maybe I will,” Dot said. They laughed and then realized she wasn’t joking.
“Wait. Are you still with Ryan?” Harper asked.
“Is he going to propose?” Mary was dying to talk about Dot’s stakeout at Tiffany’s.
“He’s proposing?” Harper felt out of the loop.
“He’s definitely not going to propose.” She waited a beat. “Because I broke up with him.”
Harper’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh no!”
“Ah, I’m sorry, Dot.” Mary wasn’t entirely surprised. “He was great—for a while. Are you okay?”
“I am. I mean, I will be eventually. This morning, I had a cry and then went for a long run. I spent the afternoon just reading a novel, got my hair blown out at Drybar using a gift certificate from my parents, and came to see you. And there’s no one I’d rather be with tonight than you two.”
“Wow. I can’t believe it. I was thinking you were going to get married one day. I even imagined our bridesmaid dresses.” Harper raised her mason jar of sangria and toasted Dot. “Well, I think it was brave of you to break up with him. I mean, who knows when you’ll meet another guy.”
“Gee, thanks.” Dot felt deflated but agreed. It wasn’t like there were a lot—or any—prospects lined up.
“Harper! Have some faith!” Mary playfully admonished her. “I’m sure the app has your next special someone all lined up.”
“Oh no. I’m done with the apps for a while. I deleted my accounts,” Dot said. “I need to get through my identity crisis before I try again.” She laughed but there was a hint of truth in what she’d said. “But enough about me—Harper, you’ve had quite the week.”
“Tell me about it.” Harper rolled her eyes and looked to the ceiling. “It’s been wild.”
“Yeah, Harp, how did you handle those entitled Van Buren parents?” Mary asked.
“Well, here’s how I handled it: I quit.”
“What?” Dot and Mary couldn’t believe it.
“You quit? Wow, there you go, Harper. Good for you,” Dot said. She was surprised by her friend’s decisive action. She was usually rather hesitant to make big decisions.
“It wasn’t just that. Believe it or not, the headmaster tried to sleep with me.”
“He did not.” Dot’s hands flew to her chest.
“He propositioned me. Right there at the Oyster Bar.” She took a sip of her drink. “And he was really open about how he’d then just take the train home to his family in Westchester.”
“Holy smokes,” Mary said. “You know what he did is super illegal in New York, right? It’s not quite bribery, but it’s clearly sexual harassment. You could sue. It’s outrageous. And this guy works with children!”
“I talked to Ernest about it. He’s been letting me crash at his place since the leak at my apartment.
We decided that the truth is that I didn’t really want to work there anyway.
And beyond that, I don’t even know what I want to do at all, jobwise.
It’s like I’m stuck between bad luck and indecision.
It’s not a good look.” Harper could be open with her friends about how she was really feeling.
“It’s embarrassing. I’m twenty-five years old and crashing on my older brother’s couch. I should have my act together by now.”
“Hey, you’re not the only one doing some rethinking,” Dot said. “I’ve been having second thoughts about my PR firm. It’s a grind. I’m not inspired at all, and they’re about to downsize which means more pressure, less help, and no raise.”
“Ha, you too? I was feeling the same way this week—but more about my love life, or lack thereof, than my job. The partners at my firm are great, but sometimes the job is tedious,” Mary said. “And I’d like to do something more meaningful with my law degree. Even if that’s volunteering somewhere.”
“I know what you mean,” Harper said. “It really can add up when you look at what these wealthier parents can and will do to buy their children’s way out of having to do any hard work.
” She sipped her drink. “And the truth is, I really do want to write. That’s my passion.
I just don’t know if I can pay the rent with my passion. ”
And with that, Dot found her opening. She rapped her knuckles on the table.
“So, given that we are all close to capsizing the ‘what the hell am I doing with my life’ canoe, I want to run something by you.” Mary and Harper leaned in a bit. “Before I begin, promise me you’ll hear me out and not interrupt me until I finish?”
“Promise,” Harper said. Mary nodded.
“Okay. I called Kitty Bell about Wisconsin. I’m thinking of taking her up on her offer to volunteer for the election. Like a political gap year,” Dot said. She waited a couple of beats before adding the kicker. “And I want you two to come with me.”
Mary had anticipated where this was going. “Ha, that’s funny.”
“I’m not kidding.”
“No. No freaking way,” Mary said.
“Wait—you promised to let me finish.”
“Fine. Go on,” Mary conceded.
“Mary, your mother keeps setting you up with guys you’d never date but that she wants you to marry. That’s not going to change.”
“Can’t stop won’t stop,” Mary acknowledged.
“And Harper, you need time and space to write your novel or even do the online course to get your teaching certificate. So, listen . . .”
Harper’s brow creased and Mary crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Kitty already has a place for us to live. It’s a great old house in this super cute town called Cedar Falls. It’s just thirty minutes north of Milwaukee, so it’s near the airport . . . and restaurants.”
“Cedar Falls? Are you serious—that’s a real place, not a Hallmark movie town?” Mary was skeptical.
“It’s in this battleground county that went Republican by just 368 votes last time around. It’s ripe for a change. It could make all the difference in the election since it’s expected to be so close. But beyond that—it’s an adventure!”
“I can’t afford to . . .” Harper always worried about money, but Dot jumped in quickly.
“It wouldn’t cost us anything! I’ve done the math.” She pulled out her phone to show them a budget she’d made. “With the money that For the Win will give me to manage the year, and free housing, plus a car, we would be able to handle everything without a struggle.”
Harper stared into her sangria. “I can’t take money from you, Dot.”
“You wouldn’t be taking money from me. The house and car come with the gig. And it has four bedrooms. You’d even have your own bathroom, Harp!” That perk got Harper’s attention. “Come on. We can do this. It would be a break from the city. Together. Crew two-point-oh.”
Mary furrowed her brow and laid her hands on the table. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I think it’d be good for us. We can do something meaningful, as you just said, Mary, and we can all have one more year together before we finally meet the men of our dreams and settle down back here at home in the city.”
With that, Dot sat back, letting her girlfriends consider the idea. Harper opened the door to it first.
“Well, what’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like my life is on the right track at the moment,” Harper said. “Maybe I need to shake things up.”
“What’s the equivalent of good Italian in Wisconsin? Is it like a bratwurst?” Mary said.
“I’m sure we will find you something to eat,” Dot said, taking a playful jab at Mary’s appetite. “Let me ask—do you think your firm would let you work remotely for a year?”
“Maybe. The senior partner of the firm is a big Dem and often does election protection and integrity work pro bono. She might be cool with it.”
Suddenly, Dot sensed a stirring. It felt like . . . hope.
Their pitcher of sangria was empty.
“Another round, Jimmy!” Mary winked as he swung by their table.
“Anything for you, Bonita,” he said. “How about I add calamari and the kale and artichoke dip? On the house.”
“Perfection,” Mary said, rewarding his generosity with one of her big smiles.
Dot kept pushing and said, “Girls. You know me. I’m not reckless or spontaneous. I’ve thought this through. I wouldn’t let you down, you know that.” She waited several moments as Mary and Harper sat quietly, quizzical looks on their faces. “So, what do you think?”
“I’m thinking.” Mary looked to the ceiling as if the answer were there. Could she picture herself in. . . . Wisconsin?
Harper tried to break the silence, but no words came out. She closed her lips again and considered Dot’s proposal.
Dot held her breath, giving them a moment to digest.
“Let’s say we did this.” Mary leaned back in the booth, tapped her nails on the table. “If I could keep my job, and if my family wouldn’t want to hold me hostage in our basement—could we make a deal that we’re back next year in time for . . . let’s say . . . the tree lighting at Rock Center?”
“I absolutely can agree to that. Kitty said they only needed people up until the election. We can even book our flights so that we come back on . . .” Dot paused while she looked up the date of Election Day.
“November 8, 2028. The day after the election. Then we’ll know that this is an adventure with a firm end date. ”
Harper let Dot and Mary chew on the details but was thinking about her own circumstances. “I hesitate because I truly have no money, and I can’t ask my parents to help fund another year of finding my way . . . not that this is a waste of time, Dot, but that’s how they’ll see it for me.”
“Even if you told them that by the end of it, you’ll have written your novel?” Dot asked.
“I guess it’s possible they’d believe that.
I just don’t know if I could even manage to do it,” Harper said.
“But I know I am never going back to that school, not after what happened. And my living situation is a nightmare. I suppose I could find some desperate trust fund baby to take over part of my lease at the apartment.”
“And even if you couldn’t, your landlord can’t successfully chase you down for rent on an apartment with a giant hole in the ceiling,” Mary said.
“Plus, it might be the best way for me to hit the reset button after the disaster with Kai. I could really dedicate some time to writing.” She was saying all her inside thoughts out loud.
“I’ll be honest. I don’t hate the idea. Nothing I’m doing right now is turning out the way I thought it would.
Maybe a clean break is just what I need.
And then I can come back in a better place. ”
“That’s how I see this.” Dot felt hopeful they’d say yes.
“We all need a little push to get us over these humps. I look at Kitty and think she’s really nailed it.
Her life looks amazing, like she’s got it all figured out.
Perhaps a little time away, doing something totally different for a while, in a new place, and for something that matters, could get us to where we want to be. ”
Mary felt torn. “Yeah, but I want to be in the city long-term.”
“Me too,” Dot assured her. “I’m never living anywhere else. It’s just for the year. Less than a year. I promise.”
“Give me a minute.” Mary excused herself to the ladies’ room. Dot watched her go and willed her to have an epiphany before she returned to the table.
Harper kept wondering aloud about how she’d manage. “I want to say why not?” She smiled broadly, her eyes shining with new confidence. “But I’m lactose intolerant. Don’t they eat a lot of dairy there?”
“I think that there are plenty of lactose intolerant people who live in Wisconsin and do just fine,” Dot said, hoping that was true.
After a few minutes, Mary came back. She sat down and clasped her long fingers with their perfect red nails together, then said, “All right, you win, Dot.”
“Really?”
“My mother is going to freak.” Mary held up her glass for another toast. “So, with that in mind . . . let’s go freeze our butts off in Wisconsin!”
“Yes? You’ll go?” Dot’s eyes teared as she looked from Mary to Harper.
“I think we’ll go.” Harper raised her glass.
Dot, realizing her wild idea was about to become reality, picked her glass up and met theirs in the middle of the table.
“Well! To Cedar Falls and new beginnings!” she said. They clinked glasses.
Dot picked up her phone and pushed herself out of the booth.
“I’m going to call Kitty.”