Page 20 of State of Grace

Chapter 8

By the time Alexis and Harper rushed into the Pizza Parlor, the Mackenzies were already there and on their first round of food from the buffet. Alexis maneuvered through the tables to the one in the corner that they’d often tried to snag due to its large, round size. It allowed everyone to talk without someone being out of earshot from the person on the other side of the table. She noticed two seats between Isla and her youngest daughter, Everleigh, and she and Harper sat. They said their quick hellos to the kids, and Alexis held Blake’s blue eyes longer than she meant to.

“Hey, sorry we’re late.” Alexis slipped her bag over the chair’s back as she helped Harper scoot her seat up toward the table. Someone had ordered them waters already, and Harper reached out for her cup. Grabbing it from falling without fully paying attention, Alexis realized that her mom senses were better than she’d realized. She held the cup until Harper had it grasped with both her hands. “I would give an excuse, but I have none. We lost track of time.”

“We were playing LEGOs.” Harper nodded as she took a drink from the cup and put it back on the table. Alexis took a straw off the table and put it into the cup for Harper.

“Sorry, I didn’t order her a kiddie cup,” Isla apologized as she tore off a piece of a breadstick and ate it. “I’m also sorry we didn’t wait on you, but, in our defense, you are fifteen minutes late.”

“You two go on and get some food.” Vera waved Alexis and Harper off and the two went over to the bar. She balanced two plates in her hand as Harper pointed to what she wanted. Once Harper’s plate was covered with food, she handed it to her before topping her own plate off with extra cheese bread and headed back to their seats.

As soon as Alexis sat, her eyes landed on the plate sitting in front of Blake. It was covered in fresh spinach with colorful vegetables with one single, tiny slice of pepperoni pizza positioned on the edge of the plate. Compared to her plate full of pizza, pasta, and cheese bread, Alexis wished she’d gone easier on the first round at the buffet. She hated feeling self-conscious, but it wasn’t every day that she sat across from Blake Calloway at dinner.

Alexis was surprised at how quiet the table was as they all ate. Usually, conversations would have sprung up all over the table, but the new dinner guest made everyone slightly nervous. Beside her, Harper kept looking at Blake, and Alexis wondered if it would be too awkward to introduce Harper to Blake suddenly. Three seats over, Vera was twirling her pasta around her fork like Lucy Ricardo at the Brown Derby. The pasta spiral kept growing and growing as Vera looked around the table before finally stopping her twirling.

“So,” Vera was always the one who hated to see conversations lag, “Blake, have you met Alexis’s daughter, Harper, yet?”

“No, I haven’t.” Blake smiled at Harper, who set down her pizza slice and nervously hid behind Alexis’s arm. Alexis playfully tickled her as Blake laughed. “Hey, it’s ok. Don’t be shy.”

“Harper, say hi to Miss Blake.”

“Hi.” Peaking around Alexis’s arm, Harper offered Blake a quick smile before hiding once more. Alexis rolled her eyes as she scooted her chair back and grabbed Harper and set her on her lap, Alexis pointed across the table to Blake.

“You know who that is, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Harper nervously leaned into Alexis.

“I love your name, Harper.” Blake’s attention turned to Alexis. “Is she…”

“Named after the character on your show?” Alexis laughed as she sat Harper back down on her chair. She immediately went back to eating her pizza while occasionally looking back over at Blake. “Yes, she is.”

“I love that.”

“Thank you.” Alexis blushed over the compliment. She knew that Blake might be placating her, but something in her eyes told her that Blake meant what she’d said. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. After all, she’d never been complimented by a celebrity before.

“So, do you just work at the bar?”

And all the good feelings went out the door with the addition of one word in her question.

The hair on the back of Alexis’s neck stood up as she gritted her teeth. Both Isla and Vera caught the question, too. Both paused their chewing to look at Alexis. She had never been ashamed of her job. Alexis was a hard worker and a valuable asset to the bar, and she knew that. The job gave her flexibility to spend time with Harper, and it was enough money to keep the bills paid. She didn’t need anyone to talk down to her about it, even if it might have been unintentional.

“Yes,” she forced the word out of her mouth, “I just work at the bar.”

“Actually,” Vera interjected, “Alexis is also the new social media and marketing manager.” She looked to Isla to chime in. “Isn’t that right, Isla?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Alexis also writes fanfic for your show.”

Alexis was ready to either stab Vera with a butter knife or fall into a hole in the earth. Whichever came first. She appreciated that Vera was trying to keep the conversation going so Alexis wouldn’t hyper-fixate on Blake’s question, but at that moment, she wanted to be frustrated. “She’s amazing; has a huge following online. Sophia and I – you remember Sophia, right? We met her yesterday – well, we have tried to get her to publish it or at least write a different story to publish.”

“Nonna says Mommy’s the best writer ever.” Harper beamed with more pride than Alexis had ever expected to see on her daughter’s face. Alexis patted her back as Harper giggled.

“Thank you for the input, Harp.”

“Welcome.”

“Which one do you write?” Blake took a bite of her salad as she looked across the table at Alexis. There was a hint of regret in her eyes, and Alexis wondered if maybe she’d realized what she said.

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