Page 6 of The Charm of You

As of this morning, these qualities were no longer of use to her. According to Melissa, these traits are why clients don’t take me seriously and are wary of working with me.

I’ve never received a single complaint from anyone, so none of this adds up.

This has been the strangest, most upside-down day I’ve experienced in years.

Almost half an hour after my less-than-stellar exit from the restaurant, I shuffle into my apartment, where Beverly is slumped on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between her legs. She pauses the TV on a particularly gory scene from a movie I don’t recognize, but it’s no surprise. She and I might have similar tastes in ice cream, shoes, and life goals, but we’re total opposites when it comes to movies.

“Hi…” She cautiously sits upright and transfers the half-eaten bowl of popcorn to the coffee table.

“I took dessert to go.” I hold up the champagne and restaurant plate of decadent chocolate cake, then hike my foot up. “And I broke my heel trying to escape.”

Beverly rises from the couch and smooths down her high-waisted fleece shorts as she meets me by the door. “Babe, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m fine. The cake is unharmed. I didn’t eat any of it. I waited to share it with my best friend. Aren’t you so proud of my self-restraint?” My face is a bit numb, and it’s not from smiling so hard tonight, which I should’ve done.

I always imagined being out of my mind with joy and love when a guy proposed to me, but right now, I’m simply out of my mind.

She rubs my arm comfortingly and asks, “Did Edward take the news that badly? I mean, it’s just a job. You were fired and it sucks and I’ll miss you, but you’ll find a new one. This city is crawling with opportunities. In fact, I’ve already made a list of contacts I can reach out to first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you, Bev, but I didn’t have a chance to tell him what happened with Melissa today because he proposed.”

“What?” She interrupts the soothing circular pattern she was drawing on my arm. Then she takes the items from my hands, which have only grown heavier the longer I cling to them for support. “You didn’t say yes, did you?” She studies my left hand for evidence in answer to her question.

I chuck my shoes off, and my sigh of relief transforms into a moan of sorts. My feet are free, and I can’t deny that I am too. Is that why I couldn’t say yes? Did I feel trapped?

“What was Edward thinking?” Beverly asks, and the way her voice trails off indicates it’s a rhetorical question.

“He was going on and on about what perfect timing this is. How he and I are ready to live some grand, perfect life. That I’m perfect.”

She takes a swig of champagne straight from the bottle, then holds it out for me to enjoy a turn.

I suck back the bubbly while she disappears into our kitchen. She’s still within earshot, so I continue. “He talked about walking into my high school reunion together, engaged and happy, like we’d be royalty. And I hated the sound of it, not because he was wrong, but because he was right.” I tilt the bottle back again, and the fizzy drink burns down my throat.

My friend returns and hands me a spoon, and we quietly tear into the cake.

With the rich and decadent flavors sweetening the bitter taste on my tongue from a botched proposal and the end of a career I loved, I continue. “If I had said yes, people in Sapphire Creek would’ve praised me like they did when they crowned me homecoming queen ten years ago. They wanted brilliant and shiny things for me after graduation, and I’ve delivered on just about everything. A fancy, high-paying job in not just any big city, but New freaking York. I did the unthinkable for that town and not just survived here, but I was a success in every way.”

She stills with her spoon in her mouth.

I swipe another healthy bite of cake and nearly choke on it as tears sting the backs of my eyes. “But they were just fleeting moments that went poof, like it was all nothing but a dream,” I manage around my mouthful. “Now they want me to come back and be their precious homecoming queen.”

“What do you mean?”

“Every year, my old high school organizes a homecoming parade, and they invite a past queen to ride on a float through town. At the end of the route, they escort her to the top of the courthouse steps with the current year’s court, where she gives an inspiring speech about life after graduation.”

“That’s the shit of Hallmark movies.” She grimaces.

Beverly prefers the likes of whatever horror is on TV instead of the mushy stuff of romances, but she’s not wrong about the vibe of a Sapphire Creek Homecoming. The traditions of my hometown are straight out of a sweet and charming movie.

“What am I supposed to say during my speech? That life sucks after graduation? That even after you think you’ve accomplished everything and followed all your dreams, you shouldn’t get too comfortable because life will throw a wrecking ball into it?” With a huff, I bury myself into the corner of the couch, my arms wrapped around my stomach.

“You need more cake and champagne. It’ll make you feel better.”

“How? I was fired today. I think I broke up with my boyfriend of the last year and a half. And I ruined an expensive pair of shoes.”

“The treats will take the sting off it all so you can see more clearly how all these things will lead to better things.”

“I think you’ve had enough bubbly for the both of us, because you’re just talking crazy. There’s no upside here. I have to go to the reunion and pretend my life is all unicorns and rainbows.”

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