“It’s my honor.”
“So, what do I do? Every time I try to talk about him, it’s like my heart is cracking all over again.”
I’m not an authority on how to handle this. Penelope and Paris can attest to that. I have nothing to offer except my truth. “Maybe you don’t have to hide that from him anymore. If he’s telling you he can handle it, believe him.”
She promises to consider my words, and I promise to support whatever plan she comes up with before leaving.
“Dani, long time no see,” I greet her with a smile. When I ran into her earlier while she was with that Disney villain–looking motherfucker, it was bittersweet. I hated seeing her arm wrapped around his, but I liked the surprise of running into her. Sometimes, I think about the night she walked into my gallery. Of all the women in the world Arnold could’ve dated, he picked one that brought Dani waltzing back into my life. I spent the next three years praying for serendipity to intervene again, for a coincidental run-in away from the prying eyes and ears of our friends, because I knew she’d never meet up with me if I simply asked. I didn’t even know what I would do or what I would say if I saw her. Maybe we could’ve restarted our friendship or maybe I would’ve gotten on my knees and begged her to give us another chance. I didn’t know, but I didn’t care either. I just wanted the possibility. Today was the first day my wish was granted.
Her lip curls. “Shut up, Micah.”
I smile as Bailey’s roaring laugh sounds from the kitchen. Moments later, she walks into Tanya’s living room with her notebook and tablet. “Damn, what’d you do, Chopper?”
I shrug. “I have no idea why I’m being greeted with such hostility.”
Dani side-eyes me.
Bailey looks back and forth between us. She turns to Dani. “I will turn a blind eye if you choose to hit him.”
Before I can needle her anymore, the doorbell rings and Dani rushes off to answer it. She comes back with a tall woman who has acheery smile and looks like she might be Indian. “Micah, Bailey, this is my assistant, Nisha. Nisha, this is my cohost, Micah, and his sister, Bailey.”
Nisha greets me warmly, but there’s a shift when she connects with Bailey. The moment their hands touch, their eyes snap up to each other’s and hold. It goes on for so long I feel like I’m interrupting. I’ve known Bailey for her entire life, and I’ve never seen this look on her.
“Uh, sorry,” Nisha says as she slowly extricates her hands from Bailey’s. Her focus switches back to Dani and me, though her body language still appears off. “Let’s talk gala, shall we? For catering, how about the service you used for the Promesa launch?”
Dani’s eyes light up. “That food was amazing. That’s perfect. Can you set up a meeting for us so we can check their availability and go over menu options? We would want something completely different than what we had for Promesa, so I wanna make sure they can accommodate.”
“Yep, I’m typing up an email now.”
“And for music, are we thinking live entertainment? I might know some people,” Bailey adds.
“Who you got?” Dani asks.
“Depends on the vibe. Since we decided to host at Spring Hill, maybe something soft like Janessa Howard?”
“Ooh she’s fire,” Nisha applauds. Janessa Howard is a classic violinist who’s also known on TikTok for her violin covers of hip-hop tracks.
“And so fine!” Bailey fires back. The women share a laugh. “But there’s also Laydee, Nash, McKay Alexander.”
“Do you mind reaching out to all of them? Not sure which way we wanna go yet, but it’d be good to know who’s available, interested, and what their rates might be,” Dani says.
Bailey nods her agreement, making a note on her tablet.
This has been the last hour of my life. The planning meeting that was supposed to be for the four of us has really been the three of them firing off ideas and feeding off of each other’s energy while I just sit here. Mylast suggestion of having exotic animals was met with judgmental eyes, so I’ve since shut up.
Tanya said go big or go home, but the women told me to take my ass home.
Nisha and Bailey recap their takeaways from the meeting before we finally call it quits for the day. As we’re all packing up, Mr. Townsend walks through the front door in one of his signature suits.
“Mr. Townsend. Hi, uh, what are you doing here?” Dani asks.
He unbuttons his jacket as he greets everyone, his eyes never once betraying his thoughts. “You mentioned your planning meeting tonight and I wanted to stop by and give you this.” He pulls a small envelope from the inside pocket of his blazer and holds it between us. Our names are written in Tanya’s distinct handwriting across the front. One of Tanya’s hobbies when she was younger was calligraphy. She said she stopped doing it because she grew tired of people asking her to make them invitations and cards, but it always stuck with her. The exaggerated curves around theHin my name and theDin Dani’s are eye-catching. They almost connect as if they belong together.
“What is this?” Dani asks.
“It’s your first clue.”
Dani’s hand freezes midair, allowing the envelope to slip through her grasp. It lands with our names facing up, mocking us for our hesitation.
