“How was your date?” Veronica asked eagerly, when Clarice had taken a few bites.
The noodles went slimy in Clarice’s throat and she swallowed with effort and made a point of slowly wiping her mouth with a bright smile of chagrin. “It was great,” she said. “Really, great. Thank you for lending me your coat, it’s on the rack. I felt like aqueen. Not adragqueen, though. Just aregularqueen.” As if a queen was regular. She was such a dork.
Veronica waved off her thanks. “Oh, it was nothing. I couldn’t let you go on a hot date in that sleeping bag! Did you go back tohis place?”
“Oh, no, of course not.” Clarice knew she was blushing. “It was just dinner. That’s all.” Dinner and a kiss that still made her toes tingle.
Veronica must have guessed there was more to it than that, and she looked exactly as an eager friend might, leaning forward and smiling knowingly. “Did he kiss you?”
Whatever suspicions or reservations Clarice might haveabout Veronica’s true motivations, she could not help squeaking, “Yes!” and hiding her face in happy glee.
For one beautiful moment, it really was like Veronica was her girlfriend, and Clarice could gush about the date and how cute and kind Bruno was and forget all of her doubts. “It was like a moment in a movie,” she confessed.
“Like magic?” Veronica’s voice was perfectly bland and innocent, but Clarice’s happiness fizzled. Was itpossiblethat her instant crush was a spell? It suddenly seemed more likely than the idea that Bruno was as into her as she was into him. Veronica’s argument with Tiny Paws was not entirely secret. Was it possible that Bruno was stringing her along to get information about Veronica out of her?
She tried to keep her face from falling and wasn’t sure if she succeeded. “Like a Hallmark movie,” she said, as if she hadn’t heard Veronica. “Like lightning bolts.” She was mad that she’d been right about Veronica trying to tease information out of her, and hated the horrible doubt that the connection she felt with Bruno might be atrick. His kid was certainly magical and Bruno probablywasa wizard. But having her own suspicions about his supernatural powers wasn’t the same as confirming Veronica’s theories.
Clarice had always been an easy mark. She’d lost money more than once to sob stories that turned out to be scams, and wasted years of her life on “friends” who only used her. She’d gotten sucked into an MLM for leggings and perfume, once. She thought it had all made her wiser, but maybe it hadn’t. Maybe she was always going to be gullible, stupid, and weak.
Or maybe, she could play Veronica’s game right back at her.
“Like…magic…” she said, as if Veronica’s meaning had just occurred to her. She let worry flow into her face and glanced at the door before turning back with big eyes anda low voice. “You don’t think he’s…one ofthose people? What should Ido?”
Veronica was looking convincingly worried, like it had just occurred to her, too. “I didn’t want to say anything,” she said kindly. “But his kid does go tothat place.”
“Hedoes?” Clarice hoped she wasn’t laying it on too thick. “We were going to go out again,” she said plaintively.
“Oh, you still should!” Veronica said quickly. “Maybe he’s perfectly normal and fine. And I mean, he’s certainlyfine.”
Clarice didn’t have to feign a blush. “Yeah,” she said awkwardly.
“I’d justhatefor something to happen to you,” Veronica said. “But we should find out more. We’ll be like Nancy Drew and Bess!”
Clarice didn’t have to wonder which one she was. Of course Veronica would be the fiery redheaded sleuth and Clarice would be the chubby, naive sidekick. She would have preferred being the gang from Scooby Doo. Veronica could certainly pull off a Daphne and Clarice had been Velma one year for Halloween. Way too many people had told her she was perfect for it. She even still had the wig. “That sounds exciting,” she said cautiously.
Veronica reached into her designer purse. “You don’t have to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable,” she assured Clarice. “But it would make me feel better if I had a way to track you. Let me add your phone to my Finders App so I can always find you.”
Clarice hesitated. Veronica had asked her to do this once before and then walked back the request due to privacy concerns. It wasn’t that Clarice ever went anywhere exciting (did Nickel City even have speakeasies or strip clubs?), but it just seemed a little creepy.
“Of course, I’d only use it if I thought you were in trouble,” Veronica said, her blue eyes almost hilariously innocent. “But what do you really know about him? What if he’sdangerous? I want to be able to help you.”
Clarice couldn’t think fast enough on her feet to come up with a reason not to agree to the idea, and she tried not to let her reluctance show as she gave Veronica’s phone the appropriate permissions from her own.
“Oh!” Veronica was putting her phone back in her purse and she pulled out a pair of pens. “I ordered these for you a few weeks ago. Aren’t they beautiful?”
They were high-end pens, the kind that Veronica used for signing sales contracts, with flawless ink flow and gold accents. Probably not real gold. But there on the side was Clarice’s name. Clarice Tanner, realtor, in a fancy font.
“I’m not…actually a realtor yet,” Clarice felt obligated to say, taking them in her hand. They felt heavy, like they were high quality, and the click they made when she had to test the motion was deliciously satisfying.
“Oh, you will be soon, honey,” Veronica said. “You’re the best salesman I’ve ever had, you must be so close to having all the hours in that you need. I’ll sign your supervisor hourswheneveryou want.” Did she say it just a little suggestively? Was this abribe?
Clarice had to try writing with one of the pens, and it was just as silky as she could possibly hope. She didn’t have to fake a grateful smile. “They’re wonderful. Thank you so much.”
Veronica waved her off. “Oh posh, sugar. I should be thanking you! It’s just too bad you couldn’t sign a house over to Bruno with it. You should give him one of those, so that he remembers to come back to you when he goes house hunting!”
“I will,” Clarice promised, but she had to force hersmile to stay on her face. She already regretted letting Veronica tether her phone, and she would have to be an idiot not to recognize that the gift was loaded with some kind of expectation. “Do I owe you anything?” They looked expensive.
“Of course not!” Veronica said with one of her tinkling laughs. “Can’t I just do nice things for my favorite employee?”
