Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ella
“I love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It is my favorite book. This was not written under duress.”
—Henry’s Staff Pick
I walked straight into Leo’s office with no preamble and slammed two binders down on his desk. Henry looked up from whatever he was doing on the computer, his gaze flickering between the binders and me.
“Here,” I said, brightly. “That’s your research.”
“Good morning. I’m doing fine, thank you for asking,” Henry said, pulling the two binders close to him. “Research? For what?”
“The events,” I said. “I was paying attention to your emails, but like I said, your hatred for New York was deeply unsettling.”
“You already gave me a binder on events.”
“No, I gave you a binder on ideas to help raise some money for The Last Page, which included an events section. This one is solely on events. The other one is to show you that there is stuff to do in New York and you are ridiculous if you think otherwise.”
I’d been a stellar student all throughout my education because I loved school. There was something so satisfying about a syllabus and organizing your life into a predetermined schedule. I kept a binder for every class I had, working ahead, so that by midterms I was essentially done with the class.
Now that I had graduated, I jumped at the opportunity to make one whenever the time presented itself. I’m in the process of making Joey a binder on why this situationship with Stewart just wasn’t going to work, even though Julie said I shouldn’t.
Henry’s binder was titled “A Real Idiot’s Guide to New York City.” The front cover had a collage with pictures I pulled from Pinterest and a personalized map of New York. It was easy to have hometown pride when you lived in New York City.
“When on Earth did you make this?” he asked as he flipped through the pages.
He shot me a look before holding a page that I had photoshopped with him in his football gear from sometime in high school at Central Park.
He knew about my cyberstalking, so there was no going back at this point. “Ha. Ha.”
“I made it last night, obviously,” I said, slumping into the chair in front of him. “Anywho, we can go through that later, look at the events one.”
“Jesus Christ, Ella,” Henry muttered as he flipped through the binder. “Did you even sleep?”
Leo used to be in charge of the events and in training me to take over, he’d thrown out some pieces of advice here and there.
Leo was the one to correspond with the authors and would make sure to oversee the event day of.
When he finished an ARC he really loved, he’d immediately reach out to the pub team to get the author on the calendar.
Because of that, in a way, the events became a Leo Martin’s book club pick. Leo would never endorse or recommend a book he didn’t love, and the authors who visited the store were his favorites. We didn’t really know how to pivot from that.
But I had three Celsius drinks last night that led to a fruitful brainstorming session that filled out the pages of a binder rather quickly.
“Three events a month still seems pretty low,” Henry said as he skimmed the pages. “Can’t we do more?”
“I think we need to just get our feet wet. Make sure we’re being selective like Leo was and ensure these events run smoothly without him.”
“You’re talking to Julie today, right? You think she’ll do it?”
I smiled. “Absolutely.”
“Absolutely not.”
“C’mon,” I begged. “You’ll be perfect!”
I followed Julie around the fashion section as she carried a stack of books in her arms. Julie was the only person who could do this job. She’d been desperate to get into event planning, and this would be perfect.
“I’ll get stuck here,” she argued, flipping her ponytail as she walked through the stacks. “My résumé will only have experience in book events, not weddings or parties. No one will hire me if I do this.”
“You can still do an apprenticeship,” I insisted. “Somewhere else that does parties and events, and who knows, this could help you land one of those.” She quickly shelved the books in their right place, but before she could walk away, I grabbed her arm. “C’mon Julie, at least think about it.”
“Not everyone got lucky and knew what they wanted to do when they were young,” Julie said. “I didn’t realize this passion until it was so much later in life, and I have to do it right.”
“This isn’t doing it wrong,” I said. Although Julie was my best friend, she was hardheaded. “You’re not going to get pigeonholed into this. Our events can expand into parties, maybe even weddings, who knows! At least consider it.”
Julie shook her head. “I don’t think so. Sorry, Ella.”
Frustrated, I went back into Leo’s office to grab my binder where I kept a list of contenders for the job in the off chance Julie said no (my binders were very thorough). But when I barged in, Henry was in the middle of speaking.
“Oh,” I whispered from the doorway. “I didn’t realize you were on a call, I can come—”
“Who’s that?” the person from Henry’s phone shouted.
“Sorry, I’ll just be a sec, Ella,” Henry said before shushing whoever was on the phone.
“What? No way. I want to meet your cool New York friends. Come here,” the person demanded.
Henry shot me a tired look. “You might as well come over here or he’ll bother me for forever about it.”
I rounded the desk to stand next to Henry, who was FaceTiming someone. In order to fit into the frame, I had no choice but to stand close to Henry, our cheeks nearly pressed together.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Ella. I work with Henry.”
The man’s face brightened. He had a dark five o’clock shadow and an orange baseball cap on that matched the one Henry wore that very first time we met. “Oh, I’ve heard of you.”
My eyebrows rose as I glanced over at Henry. He had a faint blush on the apples of his cheeks, widening his eyes as if telling the man to shut up.
“You have?” I asked, unable to keep the giddiness out of my voice.
“I’ve always said Henry needed a good smack in the face to wake up sometimes, but I suppose the neck will do.”
I tossed my head back, laughing. “And that was before he tried to take over the bookstore.”
“Henry has never tried to take over anything in his life. Even when we play Dungeons and Dragons, he’s too nice for that.”
My eyes widened. “He plays Dungeons and Dragons?”
“We do,” Charlie said, his chest puffing. “It’s a game of strategy, you know.”
“Alright, alright,” Henry said. “Charlie, isn’t it time for you to head out?”
“Ella,” Charlie said, ignoring Henry. “Henry is hiding away in his apartment because he claims there’s nothing to do. I’m begging you, don’t let him turn into an incel.”
“I’m already on it,” I assured him.
“Okay, time to go,” Henry said. “Before you two become best friends.”
“Before?” I asked. “Charles, I feel like we’re already there.”
“Big time, El,” Charlie said with a grin. “Don’t get jealous, Henry. I do have to run, y’all. Nice chatting with you, bestie.”
“You too, man.”
“I was talking to Ella. Bye now!”
Charlie clicked off as I laughed. “Henry, wait, I love him.”
Henry’s lips quirked up. “Everyone does. He’s a great guy.”
“Did you not tell him about the binder?” I demanded, picking it up from the desk and waving it around, even though it was heavy. “This is your guide! This will help you stop hating New York.”
“That’s not really the issue,” Henry said, averting his gaze. “It’s a lonely city when you’re exploring it all by yourself.”
“Oh,” I said softly. I hadn’t been considering Henry’s experience outside of the store, honestly. I’d been so laser focused on The Last Page. Living in New York was overwhelming, but to move here? Especially after Tennessee? Of course he didn’t have anyone else.
The image of Henry sitting all alone in Leo’s old apartment made my heart drop. I loved rotting at home, but that was by choice.
“Well, what’re you doing next weekend?” I asked.
Henry immediately shook his head. “Ella, you don’t have to—”
“Oh c’mon, we can be friends now that you’ve stopped being irrational and let me help you. Live a little,” I pushed.
Henry met my gaze, his blue eyes piercing mine. “I don’t want your pity, Ella.”
My head jerked back. “Good. Because you don’t have it. We’re going to be in close quarters until August, Henry. I know we had a rough start, but we don’t have to act like total strangers around each other.”
“Something tells me you’ve never been shy around someone a day in your life.”
I ignored him and said, “I don’t want you to return to Tennessee without a proper New York experience. What’s the worst that could happen?”
He studied me carefully before finally nodding. “Fine. But only after the first event is behind us. Did Julie say yes?”
I winced. “Not exactly. But that’s okay! There are plenty of booksellers here who would be a great fit.”
“Okay, like who?”
I snatched the events binder off his desk, flipped to the alternative options page, and laid it in front of him. “Joey.”
Henry huffed out a short laugh. “Over my dead body.”
“He’ll be really good!” I protested. “He’s the most in tune with pop culture and what gets people excited. I think he’ll be able to charm his way into getting some great authors and come up with cool ideas outside of author signings.”
I knew Joey could be frustrating. It took two minutes alone with him to figure that one out.
But I did think he could do a great job.
He’d explained Brat Summer to Daniel at least three times and was always talking about some exciting bar or club he went to.
I had deliberated over the list of booksellers like I was a judge on The Voice, but Joey’s broad interests in every genre alongside his chronically online persona made him the best fit.
Henry read through the pages reluctantly and said, “Do you really think he’ll be good at this?”
“Why would I set up The Last Page to fail?”
“Fair enough,” Henry said, leaning back. “Okay, let’s talk to him and get an event on the calendar as soon as possible.”