Harrison stands and picks Clara up under her armpits and settles her on his hip. “Sad, really. You had so much potential. And you were this close to having it all,” he says, holding his forefinger and thumb an inch away from each other. “If you only knew how to play this, you could end up boosting your careerandgetting the girl.”
I sigh and fold my arms across my chest. “Thanks, but I don’t need advice from people who know nothing about television.”
“That’s too bad, because I was going to say you should lean into it,” Harrison says, adjusting Clara’s hat. “Go public and tell the world how amazing she is, and that you’re not ashamed that you needed her to rescue you.”
Emma shakes her head. “That would never work. He’d have to set aside his giant man ego to do that.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Rosy adds. “It’s hopeless.”
“Okay. Got it, thanks,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I’m a big conceited coward who knows nothing about anything and needs the three of you geniuses to gang up on me and tell me how to live.”
“Screw it!” Clara yells suddenly, then claps her hands.
“Exactly, Clara,” I say, smiling at her. “Exactly.”
Harrison steps out of the pool. “Nap time for baby.”
“Have a good nap, Clara,” I say.
“Oh, I meant you,” he answers, before he walks away.
“I’ll come along,” Emma says, getting up. “I need to talk to Libby.”
The three of them disappear around the side of the building, leaving me alone with Rosy.
She stands and pats me on the cheek a lot harder than necessary. “Everybody makes mistakes, Will. It’s what you do to bounce back from them that shows who you really are.”
33
Hiding Your Inner Warrior Princess
Arabella
“Did you call him yet?”Tessa asks, as we lay by the indoor pool watching Xavier, the buff manny, play with the twins in the water. Normally this whole scene would make my heart beat a little faster, but today, nothing. I’m dead inside, as I have been since I stepped on that plane a month ago. I haven’t tried to reach out to Will, which is a good thing, since he hasn’t contacted me either, and I really don’t need the humiliation of being told twice that he doesn’t see a future between us.
Rolling my eyes, I say, “For the last time, I’m not going to call him. We have nothing in common.”
“You mean nothing other than wild bonobo sex and being totally in love with each other?”
“I never should have told you anything.”
“Why not?”
“Because you won’t let it go,” I say, picking up my glass of lemonade and having a sip. “He’sthe one who said it wasn’t going to work. And since then, he’s done nothing to reach out to me. If anything were to happen, it would be his move.”
“Oh, my God. What is this? 1820?” Tessa asks, taking a bite of a celery stick. She’s been on a diet for over a year now, and it’s starting to get to her. “Maybe if you wait until the next leap year, you can propose to him then? It’s only another four years.”
My mobile buzzes and I see Mrs. Chapman’s name come up on the screen. “Hello?”
“You have exactly forty-two minutes until your hair appointment.”
“Yes, thank you, I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes,I do,” I snap, then hang up and stand. “I have to go.”
“Up-do for the shindig?”
