“I mean, it was fine at first. I was nervous, but my team’s okay. They stopped treating me like I was about to burst into tears every time someone said ‘deck.’ I was doing fine.”
“And now?”
“Catherine Vale is consulting at my firm,” Bea muttered.
Claire sat up straighter. “No. Way.”
“She walks in like she owns the place. Every time I think I’ve done something decent, she appears with that voice?—”
“—like poison wrapped in honey?”
“Yes!”
Claire chortled. “I missed this drama.”
“She does this thing where she smiles and tilts her head like she’s handing you a compliment, but what she’s actually saying is, ‘You don’t belong here, and I hate you.’”
“And the worst part is, everyoneknowswhat she’s implying. But no one says anything.”
“Exactly,” Bea groaned. “And I can’t call her out, because if I do, she’ll say I’m being sensitive, or overreacting. LikeI’mthe one who misunderstood.”
“Sweet mercy, she’s so good at it I want to slap her.”
Bea gave a tired laugh. “She said my charts were ‘intuitive.’”
“No.”
“It’s refreshing to see someone rely onintuitionover accuracy.”
“Thatwitch.”
“She’s not saying I’m unqualified. She’s calling me a charity case. Like I only belong if someone powerful lets me in.”
“No way, Beya Slaya.” Claire leaned in. “It’s just that you were supposed to be in Canada this summer. She thought she had the whole runway to rebrand herself as Mrs. Gage King.”
Bea sighed. “I’ve got a bit less than two weeks left, and I feel like I’m back at square one. Like all anyone sees again is Gage’s girlfriend.”
Claire took a sip of something from a mug that saidWorld’s Okayest Barista.
“What does Gage say?”
“Nothing. He doesn’t know.”
Claire’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. “Seriously?Still? Why not?”
“She’s a family friend. Their parents are close. I don’t want to come off like I’m insecure or jealous or…whining about another girl.”
“You’re not whining,” Claire said flatly. “You’re telling him so he can handle it.”
“He can’t handle everything for me, Claire Bear.” She closed her eyes. “If I have to ask him to fight this for me, then maybe I reallydon’tbelong here.”
Claire’s mouth compressed, like she was trying not to swear. “I get it. But it kills me that I’m not there to casually spill something on her blouse for you. She sounds like the human version of a dried-out whiteboard marker. Useless, but still leaving marks everywhere.”
Bea managed a weak laugh, but the knot in her chest hadn’t loosened. “She has this…unique ability to make me feel like I’m visiting.”
“Please. If you’re the visitor, what does that make her? The Airbnb host who forgot it’s not her honeymoon.”
Bea snorted.
