Just like at the gala, I have to chant to myselfthis is not realas Orie packs up his stuff and makes me swear I’ll bring Russell over to his place for dinner one night, when neither of us is busy.
When Orie is gone, I turn to Sienna, “Okay, what wasthat?”
She glances at me, “What was what?”
“Total—” I point between Sienna and the spot Orie stood just a moment before, “—sparks between you two.”
She splutters, “No. Just a guy who wanted to loiter.”
I stare at her for a moment, grinning, feeling emboldened by how much we’ve shared, and she finally cracks, smiling a bit and admitting, “Okay, fine, yeah—he’s hot. I guess. Do all the doctors at BHC look like that?”
“I don’t think he really works there,” I say, still a bit dazed. “I think he’s just doing, like, a temporary thing?—”
A beat passes, then Sienna says, “And he doesn’t know? Russell is hiding it from his friends?”
I shrug one shoulder. Maybe Russell wanted us to keep it quiet. Maybe I shouldn’t have even shared it with Sienna or Ettie. “More people makes it easier to slip, I guess.”
“Hmm,” she says, falling quiet as we serve yet more people. It’s getting late, and the Christmas market is winding down, and it’s been dark for a long time. The smells of cinnamon and hot chocolate, roasted nuts, float through the frigid air to our booth, making me hungry.
The next time Sienna speaks, I’m so engrossed in packing things up that it startles me.
“So, are you going to do it?”
At first, I think she’s talking about Russell. “What?”
“…go on the show,” she clarifies. “Today, Tomorrow. Are you going to let Gus go on TV?”
It’s been a long night. The email comes back to me, and I think about Gus’s little smile. Right now, he’s probably asleep in Ettie’s living room, tucked up against Dawson after popcorn and a movie. When I pick him up, he’ll be warm and loose-limbed, clinging to me in his sleep.
“Maybe,” I say, shrugging, “if Gus wants to, I don’t see why not.”
Chapter 19
Russell
Iwake up to a text from Jules.
Jules:Good morning :)
The texting is new and started when she sent me a screen shot of an email inviting Gus ontoToday, Tomorrow. With the screen shot, she’d sent another text.
Jules:You’re the pediatrician—will I seriously mess my kid up by letting him go on TV?
Russell:As a pediatrician, I can confidently say that no child star has ever faced negative repercussions.
Jules:Ha, okay, message received.
Russell:Lol, no but I’m sure it’s fine. As long as he wants to do it.
Jules:He *really* wants to do it. He’s obsessed with being on TV.
Russell:Well, I don’t see how you can deny him his fifteen minutes of fame.
Russell:Besides, maybe they’ll get him whatever he asked for.
Jules:Yeah, maybe.
Now, I scroll back down from our earlier conversation—and everything that’s come after—sit up, run my hand over my head, and text her back.
