Or maybe that was the champagne talking.
Only when we stepped into the limo to head to the show did I have a sobering thought: If I’d never discovered that Mitch wanted to divorce me, then I wouldn’t have had this moment. I might’ve never made anything of my YouTube channel. I would’ve never known I could make such opportunities happen or that I had a personality people found interesting. I would’ve never seenHamilton, probably never visited New York. And I sure as heck wouldn’t have learned I could wear Louboutins.
Chapter 27
As it turned out, my Louboutins weren’tquiteas comfortable as I’d hoped. That’s how they’d ended up under the table in the living room area of our suite while I edited our video into the early hours of the morning.
Dulled by my earlier champagne, I wasn’t doing my best editing work, either. I knew that. I also knew I owed it to Busy Mom Cosmetics to make a super-fun video that showed all three of us having a wonderful time. More importantly, I wanted to capture every smile and every silly moment because I loved these women and wanted something beautiful to remember the night by for myself.
As I watched the video of Abi and Rachel—and, yes, me—laughing, I came to an important realization: it was so easy to live life on autopilot and not see the people who truly loved you and supported you.
At three in the morning I crept back to the bed I was sharing with Rachel. Abi had arranged all the pillows around her like a fort, so there was no sleeping with her.
I’d barely been asleep for three hours when I woke up to an angry, muffled voice.
“But I declined! And I didn’t say any dirty words. I don’t know who’s complaining, but this is ridiculous ... Yes, I do love my job, but ... No, ma’am ... Yes, I can ... I was under the impression thatI could use my personal days as I saw fit ... No, ma’am, I would not like to retire early ... No, I would not like to resign ...”
Resign?
I shot out of bed and flew into the seating area, where I saw Rachel pacing. Once Rachel saw me, she waved me away.
“Gillian, you need to talk to my NEA representative. Also, I’ll be hanging up right now. I will be there on Monday.”
As calm and forceful as Rachel’s words were, she shook as she disconnected that call and started another one.
I only caught snatches of this conversation. They included an apology for bothering someone on a Saturday morning, a recap of the karaoke video, our makeover adventures, and the call she’d just received. Occasionally, she would say “mm-hmm” or “absolutely.”
It didn’t sound like a fun conversation.
Once the call was over, she flopped onto the nearest sofa, leaned forward, and furiously scratched the back of her head.
Uh-oh.
“Uh, Rachel?”
I’d shared a bed with Rachel. I balled my hands into fists to keep from scratching my own head. This was not the time to bring up lice.
I mean, it couldn’t be the lice, could it?
Please don’t let it be the lice.
“Vivian, your videos. I swear.”
“What about my videos? Which ones?”
“Some parent saw the karaoke one and the one you posted last night and made an ethics complaint to my principal, who apparently couldn’t even wait until Monday morning to chew me out.”
I swallowed hard. “Rachel, I’m sorry. I thought—”
“Come on, Vivian, you mean it didn’t occur to you to perhaps not feature me drinking straight from the champagne bottle and then adding a slide that said, ‘Find someone who loves you the way Rachel loves champagne’?”
I swallowed hard. It had seemed funny at the time while I was trying to resurrect the karaoke video without using sound. In retrospect, perhaps using that particular shot and adding Rachel’s actual name hadn’t been such a good idea. “Never in a million years would I think that someone could complain about what you did on your own time.”
“Well, now you know. There’s a vague morality clause in my contract. It references anything that might make my students think less of me or other words to that effect.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Ridiculous but true. The good news is that my NEA representative has told me that the whole thing is not legal in the least. She thinks this principal is trying to get me fired due to pressure over my salary.”
