Page 35 of A Very Snowed In New Year
I don’t think that’s how it went, but…“Wow.”
“I know. And also—no one can hear you right now, right?”
“No. I mean, right. I don’t have you on speakerphone.”
“Okay, so I talked to Holden today and I need to catch you up.”
“Talkedto him? You mean on the phone? Today?”
“Yes. Not through the app. On the phone. With my phone number. It was urgent. Anyway, I got a reminder that I had booked a cabin at Big Bear Lake for New Year’s. I reserved it for me and Jonathan a couple of months ago, but he’s going to Mexico like an idiot. So I invited Holden.”
“You invited him where?”
“To the cabin. For New Year’s.”
“With you? Just you and him? Or, like, for a party?”
“Just us. It’s super cute and remote, and it’s so nice out there.”
My heart is sinking. Sinking. Like when Meg Ryan was about to go introduce herself to Tom Hanks inSleepless in Seattleand the woman she thought was the ho who laughs like a hyena ran over to hug him. “But…I thought you didn’t even like Holden.”
I can hear her laughing at me through her nostrils. “It’s just sex, Piper. I mean, he’s hot. What am I gonna do,nothave sex with him just because I’m still hung up on my ex? I have needs. I cannot even wait for Jonathan to see the pics I’m going topost. He will lose his mind. Here’s the thing—Holden didn’t say yes exactly. I got a soft maybe. I mean, I’ll probably go up there anyway, just to decompress before Sundance.”
“But haven’t you been decompressing in Sedona?”
“Yeah, but I’ve been going to spas here. Big Bear decompression is a totally different kind of decompressing. I need to do a lot of different types of self-care before Sundance. I mean, I’d probably just go on New Year’s Day if it’s just me. But I’d rather go with him. I need you to get him to give me a firm yes to the cabin… Hello?”
“I’m here.”
“Are you still visiting your family?”
“Well, it is still Christmas, yes. I’m flying home on the thirtieth.”
“Okay. Cutting it close. I need a yes from Holden by then, so do what you can in Backroom. Are we on the same page?”
“Got it.”Wait. Am I on her page? Is she saying she wants me to get even flirtier with him?
“I’m saying pull out the big text guns. Text only. If he doesn’t agree to go to Big Bear with me, I doubt he’ll take me to theRiderspremiere, so…I don’t know if any of this will work out. I still have a few scripts to read while I’m here, so…” I can picture her shrugging like a mean girl. “My massage therapist’s here—I have to go. Byeeee.”
I hang up before saying, “Byyyyeeeeeeuuuugggghhhhhh.”
I can’t believe Holden even gave her a soft maybe. Or am I glad? Because maybe themaybepart is because of the texts with me. Thesoftpart is because of the times he’s talked to her. Or maybe he’s just a guy who likes pretty actresses and he’s weighing his options.
I plop down onto the guest bed. It’s covered with coats, and I lucked out because I’m lying on top of Declan’s wool trench coat. I can tell it’s his because it smells like a cool breeze on anItalian coast if you roll down the window of a really expensive minivan with two kids in it and lean your head out as you drive past a cigar store. I stare up at the ceiling lamp. There’s plastic mistletoe hanging from the finial. That’s a weird place for it. But I guess it’s a sign that I should try texting Holden again. I wonder what he smells like. A hike through a forest on a rainy day, finding shelter in an amber cave, and flipping through the pages of a well-preserved first edition ofThe Great Gatsby.
I guess I’ll send him one of those charming random musings like from the beginning ofYou’ve Got Mail. But PG-13. To start.
I open up the Backroom app on my phone, sit up, and just start typing, like a journal-writing exercise.
ShayAnything.83: Do you ever wonder what Zephyr and Ember would be doing right now? Like for Christmas? They’d probably be together, just the two of them. Watching Miracle on 34th Wing. Or How to Train Your Dragon Lover.
HoldUp.76: Ha. Fifty Shades of Prey.
ShayAnything.83: The Dragon Wears Nada.
ShayAnything.83: I’m wearing nada right now, actually. Waiting for a massage therapist to come to my room. To massage my body. Deep tissue. Really deep. If you know what I mean.
OMG, I have no idea what I mean.
