Faux Hawk ran his eyes up and down Lissa, lingering on her wrinkled jacket.“Yes, well, you have moxie, girl.We’ll give you that.See you in three weeks.”
Piercings gave her a brief head tilt, and the two reps left her office, taking Lissa’s last traces of hope with them.She’d thought for sure they would give her more time.Weren’t investors supposed to offer at least a year?So much for honor among artists.These guys weren’t any better than Mercer Marketing—only caring about the almighty dollar.
Lissa dragged her chair back around to her side and slumped into it, dropping her head to the desk with a thud.For months, she’d been trying to come up with plan after plan.Bringing on more artists was the best she’d come up with even though their space was already tighter than the others were happy about.How was she supposed to formulate an even better idea in three weeks?
She smacked her head on the desk a few times, hoping she might dislodge some brilliant scheme.
The only thing that came to mind, though, was Ria.Was she really going back to that plan?Manipulating the woman she had feelings for to save her own ass?She’d planned to tell Ria the truth, but that was when she was willing to gamble on the outcome.Back when she thought she might be able to squeeze more time out of Art, Inc.on the likely chance Ria told her to pound sand.
But now?She couldn’t risk it.Her career wasn’t the only one on the line, but all the other artists at Smooth Expressions as well.Marge would never let any of them stay on, simply out of spite.
Lissa had no choice.One way or another, she needed to get ahold of Ria and get those secrets.
Even if it meant giving up the woman of her dreams.
Chapter Thirteen
Ria
Riaslurpedthelastof her drink and popped the little boba pearls between her teeth one by one.Tossing her empty cup into a nearby trash bin, she returned to her friends.
A strange yet pleasant feeling washed over her when she thought of these women—these witches—as friends, but there was no other word for it.When she’d gotten the text from Lissa, they were the first ones she reached out to.If she ever got an SOS call from any of them, she knew she would help in whatever way she could—no questions asked.And wasn’t that the simplest definition of friendship?Caring enough about someone to be there for them if they needed help?She’d had acquaintances back in Portland, people she worked with mostly who would invite her to happy hour, but she never felt a genuine connection with any of them, not like she did with these women.
“I’m glad you guys suggested this,” Ria said, sidling up next to Bootsy.“I almost never come down to the main drag.Especially not in the summer.”
“Yeah, it’s usually clogged with tourists,” Jess replied, tossing back the last of her own salted caramel milk tea.“You have to time it just right.Four in the afternoon on a Monday is your best bet.The weekend tourists have all left to go back to Portland, and the extended tourists are heading back to their hotels after a long day at the beach.Us locals have a very narrow window of time to enjoy the strip.”
“It’s worth it for Lynn’s boba, though,” Kelly chimed in, taking a sip from the strawberry drink she was nursing far slower than anyone else.
Hailey nodded beside her.“Yeah it is.And it’s always interesting to pop into the artsy stores to look around.”
“That was fun,” Ria agreed.“The glass shop was pretty cool.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t get anything,” Bootsy said, tossing her drink in the trash and looping an arm through Ria’s.“You were analyzing some of those pieces for a while.”
“I was hoping to get a new sculpture to replace the one my ex stole, but none of them spoke to me.”Ria shrugged.“Maybe I’ll check back another time, but I didn’t get the best vibes from that place.”
The group strolled along in silence a bit longer, everyone focused on perusing the shop windows they passed.As they approached the end of the commercial area, Jess held out an arm to stop them.
“You guys wanna head over to the park?”she asked, gesturing down the side street.
Ria glanced down the road they were on, craning her neck to look past the string of commercial offices.“I haven’t been down this far in years.There’s nothing else to see?”
Bootsy tugged Ria off the main drag and down the side street.“Nothing but some business offices.We passed all the good stuff.Besides, we all know you want to talk about something.Might as well find a quiet place to chat.”
Ria took in the faces of the other women.Nobody seemed surprised by Bootsy’s statement.
“You all know I wanted to talk?”she asked, the familiar blush of heat dancing along her cheeks.So much for her subtle plan to bring it up casually.
“Of course,” Jess said, flipping around to walk backward so she could see everyone.“You’ve never once invited us to hang out.We all saw it for what it was.You’re struggling with something.”
Ria opened her mouth to protest, then snapped it shut and gave them all a chagrined look.She hadn’t realized how transparent she was.
“Okay, so maybe I did want to talk to you guys,” she admitted.“But that doesn’t mean I’m not having fun.”
“It’s cool.We’ll take it,” Bootsy said.“You’re one of us now, babe.You can fight it, but we’ll reel you in sooner or later.”
“One of us.One of us,” Hailey chanted and within seconds everyone had joined in.
