Page 78 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?
Rachel nodded around her PowerBar. “Oh, by design. If we aren’t miserable, do we even work in fashion?” She placed her hands on the counter. “So …”
“Hmm?” Ella asked around her yogurt. She was trying to branch out from Hoopties, expand her horizons. She was already dubious, however. Hoopties were the superior breakfast food.
“I’m guessing you saw Max last night after the event?”
“I did.” A pause. Ella wasn’t sure how to maneuver this conversation. New territory and all. She decided to fall on her sword and admit her uncertainty. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know the rules just yet.” She turned to Rachel, palms to the ceiling in question. “Do I tell you about this stuff or bury it?”
“New to me, too,” she said and tossed in some uncomfortable laughter. Finally, she gave her hair a toss and refocused. “Let’s try telling me. We can always pivot.”
“Fair. So, we grabbed a drink at Dirty Little Secret and caught up.”
“And it was good, I take it?” She didn’t sound overly hyped for Ella or demand every little detail the way she would aboutany other woman, but she sounded generally supportive, which was huge—bonus points for the new, very adult Rachel.
Ella kept her smile in check because it had been better than good. Sleep was a glorious thing, but she’d had trouble achieving much because she’d been thinking about Max’s smile. The way she’d looked in that black dress and overcoat. The kiss that curled her toes and turned her the hell on for hours after they’d said their farewells. And when she’d woken up that morning and remembered that Rachel had given them her blessing, it felt like the world was welcoming her with open arms, bursting with possibility. But there was no need to show any of that off at this point. “Yeah, it was really good to spend time with her again.”
“I feel like this was a good start. Let’s leave it there. Love you. Impressed that you’re eating yogurt,” Rachel said, pointing at Ella with her small handbag.
“I’m about to trash it. Who am I with this in my hand?” She pushed it away.
“While you figure that out, I’m gonna get out of here and go network my ass off. You’d better design like your life depends on it. Don’t you have a deadline this week?”
“Three. No idea how I’m gonna pull them off. Maybe I do need the yogurt.” She picked it back up again.
Rachel blinked. “This is a battle I’m going to leave in your capable hands.” She patted Ella’s shoulder. “You got this. Maybe you can reward yourself with junk cereal right after.”
“Thanks. Knock ‘em dead with the celery.”
Rachel gave her hips a shake as if dancing to an imaginary beat. Ella could never look that good on an imaginary dance break, another reason she appreciated the talents of others.
Once alone, Ella checked in on Doug, who had been on the phone with the insurance company all morning, trying to wade through red tape, but was making progress. They would startwork on transforming the shop as soon as they received the sign-off from the agents handling the claim.
With four bites of yogurt still in the carton, Ella decided she could afford a simultaneous doom scroll while she ate, delaying the start of her work session. A cute talking dog. Her friend Cassandra’s birthday party. Oh—her parents had stumbled onto an impromptu parade in Brussels.
Then she froze.
Her heart spiked into overdrive.
There, in vivid color, was a series of wedding photos. Britney—the very woman she’d fallen for and been broken by—had gotten married. To Katelyn, the woman she’d been seeing for the past eight months, the one she’d met shortly before ending things with Ella forever. They looked ridiculously happy, gazing into each other’s eyes as they exchanged vows, laughing as they fed each other cake, wrapped in a slow dance that screamed,We're so incredibly in love.
The photos offered a near-cinematic glimpse into the day Ella had once imagined for herself. And even though she didn’t long for Britney anymore, she still found herself clutching the counter, breath caught, as a life she’d once pictured played out without her.
The day took on a different tone after that little discovery. Ella wasn’t exactly unhappy as she added color to her sketch of a big-shouldered soccer player with his foot on the ball, as a sassy redhead stood to his right with a flirty gaze. Instead, she just felt low. The photos were a blatant reminder of a time when she hadn’t felt like enough. It honestly wasn’t so long ago, either, and residual waves of self-doubt rolled over her incrementally throughout the morning into the afternoon.
As the sun set, she still felt low and angry with herself. Britney shouldn’t have the power to affect her mood or diminish her self-worth. And yet she did. That was on Ella. She closed hertablet and rubbed the back of her neck, sore from staring at the screen, just as an incoming call hit her phone. She checked the readout and saw it was Max, who was likely just getting off work. She slid onto the call, already feeling lighter. “Who is this?” she demanded.
“Your attorney.”
That did it. She went warm and smiled easily. “It’s dangerous to tell you this, but when you say things like that, I’m pretty much at your mercy.”
Max laughed quietly. “Well, now you’ve done it. I can woo you with formal closing arguments in my kitchen if you want.”
“Um, I want very badly.”
“Done. Are you ready for this week’s book club?”
Ella deflated. She had exactly one day to read the book she hadn’t had time to get to.
“I’m not gonna make it.”
