Page 6 of The Weekend Crashers
“You should give this serious consideration,” Maggie had said.
Piper knew that she should. Models can make a lot of money. Since finances were always an issue—maybe not an issue, but certainly a concern—she couldn’t dismiss the opportunity without at least a conversation. It would be disrespectful to her mother, who had raised her as a single parent in New York City on a retail sales salary. Her mother comes from a very wealthy family, but since they shamed her so much over her single motherhood, Maggie always refused to accept financial help from them.
And so Piper took a leave of absence from school to pursue it. The plan was to save up for her tuition and expenses and then finish her degree debt-free. It was a solid idea. It was just taking a little longer than expected to bank serious cash.
She looks closely at Gretchen. If everything is “fine,” then why is she sitting there in the office?
“I sense a ‘but,’?” Piper says nervously.
Gretchen sighs. “Unfortunately, yes. Now, this has nothing to do with last night, but since your contract is almost up for renewal, I feel it’s time to have an honest conversation.” She clasps her hands in front of her and leans back in her chair. “I simply don’t have a vision for how to get your career to the next level.”
Piper takes a sharp intake of breath. “You’re dropping me as a client?” Her first thought, her primary concern, isMy mother is going to be so disappointed.
And then she realizes that’s a strange reaction.
Chapter Five
Maggie is locking up the shop. Outside, she finds that it’s raining—a light, irritating drizzle. But there will be no rain check: She’s going through with the date.
She’s regretting this fact with every fiber of her being when she spots, of all people, Ethan just a few feet away. She’s never run into Piper’s boyfriend in this neighborhood, and it takes her a few seconds to process that this isn’t a coincidence.
“Maggie, hi. Do you have a minute?” he asks, instantly putting her on high alert.
“Is Piper okay?”
“Yeah... yeah. She’s napping. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”
The drizzle really is no more than a mist at this point. She checks the time on her phone and decides she’s going to walk to the restaurant instead of taking the subway.
“I’m meeting someone for dinner. Can you talk while we walk?”
It’s just after five but the street is blanketed in the fall’s early darkness. They turn right on Lexington. Some storefronts already have seasonal twinkling lights, and with the last glimpse of daylight on the horizon, the moment makes her feel wistful and oddly alone.
“I assume you’re here because of Piper’s fall last night,” Maggie says. “And I appreciate that you’re that concerned. She needs both of our support so she can dust herself off and get back to work.”
“I’m actually not here about last night,” he says, and stops walking. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for a few weeks now.”
Yes. The texts. A voicemail. Maggie is embarrassed she never got back to him. If pressed, even now, she can’t explain why, exactly, she’s been avoiding him.
“I apologize,” she says. “Things have been busy.”
He nods in understanding. “I thought about talking to you last night when we were waiting for the discharge paperwork, but figured it wasn’t the right time.”
Maggie feels the hair rise on the back of her neck, her motherly intuition tingling like a sixth sense.
“The right time for what?”
Ethan smiles sheepishly. “I want to ask Piper to marry me.”
Maggie’s stomach drops. Piper is twenty-three years old. Ethan is a decent guy, and if this were five years later she’d be thrilled for the two of them. But what’s the rush?
“Look, Ethan. Please don’t take this personally. But I think Piper should be focused on her career and just being a carefree young woman right now. There’s plenty of time for marriage down the line.”
Ethan looks incredulous. “With all due respect, Maggie, we’ve been together for three years and taking the next step feels right.”
“But she’s trying to get her career off the ground.”
“And I’m proud of her.”
