Page 52 of Shy Girl
“That's lovely,” Victoria finally said, but her smile cut in a frosty way. Dagny ignored it and reached for her water. “Is Jayson a customer of your store?”
“It's n-not m-my store.” Dagny had a casual sip. “I j-just work there.”
Victoria's smile became more polite. I almost reached over to grab Dagny's hand in a show of solidarity, but held back. Her stare had honed in on Victoria as well, as if the two of them sensed something in the other. Whatever was about to happen here, I had no idea.
“Of course,” Victoria purred. “I'm sure it's lovely having a job with so little personal responsibility. Do you live at home?”
Dagny's hand on her lap clenched. “No, I rent a studio.”
“Ah.”
Victoria gazed away, as if she couldn't find another topic for the two of them to discuss. I let out a mental sigh of relief. If that was—
“And what plans do you have for your future?” Victoria asked.
Dagny hesitated, and I couldn't help but feel curious myself. How had I not asked her the same question?
“I'm an o-o-open b-book,” she finally managed, her voice thicker than before. Victoria smiled, and the acerbic tension seemed to catch the attention of the older guy next to her. He frowned at her.
“How very lovely for you,” Victoria purred. “I imagine it's an interesting life when you can live so simply and without much progress into more important things.”
Dagny's nostrils flared. “Th-that dep-p-pends on your d-definition of p-p-progress.”
Victoria brightened. “Indeed. Shall we debate the point?”
“Ah . . .”
Confusion clouded Dagny's features. Victoria had set her off course a bit, and probably on purpose. Victoria waved a hand as if to dismiss the suggestion before Dagny could respond.
“No, of course not. That wouldn't be fair to you after all my extensive debate experience. Can you tell me more about how you and Jayson met? If these questions are too difficult or make you uncomfortable, do tell me to stop. I imagine it must be hard for you in social settings.”
My nostrils flared and I opened my mouth to say something, but Dagny put a hand on my leg. The weight and warmth startled me out of my thoughts.
“N-not at all,” she said brightly. “D-does my st-stutter bother you, Victoria?”
The direct jab back brought everyone at the table into the conversation. The two women next to me stopped pretending to be in discussion and instead looked at Dagny and Victoria. The older couple blinked back to life, mouths half open and slack.
Victoria's smile dropped into an expression of horror.
“Of course not! I'm impressed that you manage to get out at something like this and still get your point across. I do a lot of volunteer work with clinics that serve people who struggle with what you have. Very brave.”
Dagny's nostrils flared, but she didn't even credit that condescending comment with a response.
“You l-lived with th-the D-dunkins, I heard?” Dagny asked. “Wh-what a l-lovely p-privilege, to b-be the r-recipient of such h-hospitality.”
Victoria’s fingers tightened around the stem of her wine glass. The old man coughed into his water. Eyes riveted on Victoria, his wife gave him a hard pounding on the back that only made it worse.
“They were very kind,” Victoria said graciously.
“W-were you unab-ble to f-find a j-job after c-college?”
“A brief sabbatical, if you will, before I began my career.”
Dagny smiled, but it had a touch of use. “H-how n-nice to live s-s-so simply and w-w-without much progress into m-more important things.”
Victoria’s nostrils flared. The old lady let out a squeak. Grady’s cousins clear their throat, heads turned to the side and lips twitching. Only extensive training and years of law enforcement work kept me from hooting laughter. Dagny didn’t even flinch—her gaze had honed in on Victoria like a pointer. The two of them stared hard at each other until I loudly broke the tense air with a comment directed to the woman at my left.
“You're Grady's cousins, right?”
