Page 10 of Not Another Beach Read
"Jenna is a rock star. I'm excited to see how far she can go with her talent. She deserves all the success she's seen."
"As do you," I added.
"We'll get to that in a minute," Paige said. "Tell me what you've had going on over the last week or so."
"Well, to be honest, not much other than planning your book launch party."
"Yay! I can't wait! But that's not exactly what I meant." She lowered her voice. "Have you had any more clients?"
I look down at the table wondering how much I should share with my friend. I didn't love delving into private information about my relationship but I needed someone else's opinion. "Well, last week I finished up with some idiot at Frenchy's with his little twenty-year-old side piece."
"We'll take care of him," Paige laughed, then sat back in thebooth. "I have to admit, this is a career move I did not see coming from you, Elyse. But it seems like you're really enjoying it."
"I am. I definitely didn't expect this to take off the way it has, and I've been having so much fun playing Nancy Drew, but it seems as if my enthusiasm isn't necessarily a common thread in my household."
"Oh no. Drew isn't happy."
"He's not. He's worried about me. I understand where he's coming from, but at the same time, I'm really having fun with this."
"What's his concern?"
"I'll get caught by one of the philandering husbands or nefarious neighbors and get hurt."
Paige's concern was evident on her face. "We're all worried about that, Elyse, but we have to assume that as an adult, you're making safe decisions and you aren't putting yourself at unnecessary risk."
"I am being safe. I really am. Nobody knows what I look like. I'm not a friend in real life to any of these women. And my name is never Elyse out there. They're sharing information, but never publicly. I have a private Facebook page that all requests get funneled through."
"Well that's good," said Paige. "What do you think you're going to do?"
"I am not feeling compelled to stop at this point," I said. "I am enjoying it. I'm being safe, and as far as I'm concerned, I am performing a service to the women of this community."
"I don't understand why people feel the need to cheat. If you're unhappy in your relationship, you should be talking it out with your partner, not hopping in bed with the next one."
"You and I see eye-to-eye there," I say, "but that's the way of the world. People want to have their cake and eat it too."
"Please be safe. That's all I ask. What are you going to do about Drew?"
"I'm not really sure," I replied and sat back in the booth. My hands fiddled with the edges of my napkin. "We don't usually have any contentious topics between us. We typically see eye to eye and everything else we can usually talk through. But we've reached an impasse on this topic. And while I understand his concern, I'm not ready to truthfully say I'm going to stop anytime soon."
"Well, you always have my support, Elyse. I just want you to be careful."
With that, Cat popped out of the kitchen and slid into the booth next to Paige. "What's up buttercups?" she asked as she slid her yellow bandana off her close-cropped hair and swiped it across her face. She sat back in the booth and put her feet up next to me. "It's been a busy one today."
I look around. "I can see that. I'm so happy for you."
"Half these people are coming in asking about those croissants Jenna made again last week."
"Yeah, no kidding," said Paige. "I think I could probably sell out the next year's worth of retreats just based on the feedback I got about them."
"I'm adding a ham and Swiss croissant to the lunch menu."
Paige's eyes lit up. "Let's talk about adding those to the retreat lunch menu."
Five minutes later, Cat returned to the kitchen, leaving Paige and me in our little bubble of truth-telling.
"I love my job, Paige. You know I do." I looked up from my drink to meet her attentive gaze. "And I... I'm holding out for the day when the store can hopefully be mine."
The words felt both terrifying and exhilarating to say out loud. I'd only ever confessed this dream to Drew, and even then, only after too many glasses of wine on our anniversary last year.
