On a glorious Monday afternoon, Corina marched through the bull pen with an empty printer-paper box in hand, the ping of the elevator behind her, and she remembered.
She no longer had a secret.
She’d caught an early flight out of Atlanta, was home and unpacked before lunch. Now she was at the paper, her resignation prepped and ready.
“Oh my gosh.” Melissa pounced on Corina the moment she set down the printer box. “How did you keepthata secret? A prince? And for crying out loud, what are you doing here in Melbourne?”
“I’m here because I live here, Mel.” The lamp was hers, bought the afternoon she accepted the job from Gigi. It went into the box. The pencil canister as well as the hand sanitizer everyone used and the array of squeeze toys were also hers. Corina inspected the stapler. Hers or thePost’s? Hers. Too new and nice to be thePost’s. But she stored it in the middle drawer. A lovely parting gift for Gigi. “I kept it a secret because it was a secret. Besides, I didn’t think we were still married.” With a sigh she peered at her friend. “It’s not the kind of thing you blurt out. ‘Hey everyone, I was married to a prince.’ ”
“Sure, for most of us, but you’reyou, Corina Del Rey. The kind of girl who does marry a prince.”
“Well, we’re not married anymore. I signed annulment papers.”
“You what?” By the look on her face, one would think Melissa was being divorced. “Why? No, no, no, I want a princess for a friend. And I want my friend to be happy. Do you still love him?”
“That’s not the question, Mel. The statement is he doesn’t want to be married to me.”
“Why not?”
“Mel, I can’t go into it.” Corina smiled. “Please, just leave it alone.”
“Corina, he’s an idiot. Can I just say that?”
Corina laughed low. “I know you mean to make me feel better, but the truth is he’s not an idiot. He’s a very good and kind and decent man.” Her voice wavered. “One of the best.”
Melisssa tapped the side of the printer box. “Are you leaving?”
“You don’t think I’d stay after what Gigi did, do you?”
“Rats, there goes all the cool people.”
“No,” Corina looked toward Gigi’s office. “You’re still here.”
Through the glass panel, she could see the tip of her blond hair as she worked at her desk. “Do you know how she found out?”
“It’s Gigi. She has minions all over the world.”
“Yeah, well, it seems she has a minion inside the palace. The article said, ‘a palace source.’ ”
“She could’ve made that up.” Melissa took out the pencil canister and examined the pens. “Can I have the purple pens? I love purple pens.”
“Knock yourself out. But she couldn’t have made up the fact we were secretly married. She’s not that good.”
As much as Gigi stepped over the line by running the article, the woman did Corina a favor. She exposed the marriage and outed the secret.
Mama had seemed somewhat changed Sunday evening when she returned home late from wherever she’d gone. Gentler. Kinder.
This morning she came down to say good-bye as Corina and Daddy headed down to Atlanta. She’d brushed a wisp of Corina’s hair aside, her eyes misty. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“What are you going to do next?” Melissa tapped the printer-paper box.
“I don’t know. Haven’t decided.” And she was okay with that . . . for now.
Melissa returned to her desk while Corina packed the last of her things. She’d not been at thePostlong enough to acquire much. When she finished, she started through the bull pen toward Gigi’s office, her flip-flops smacking.
“May I have a word?” Corina said, peeking inside the door, finding Gigi and Mark in a head-to-head convo.
Gigi jumped, startled. “Goodness, I didn’t hear you come in.”
