Page 12 of I Want You

“And you want someone else to enjoy them, right?”

She nodded. “And what makes you think they don’t want to know about you as a seller? That you aren’t someone making it in a factory somewhere who doesn’t care?”

“Well, I don’t…know.”

“Exactly. Content is everything. As they say, everything is content.”

“What about packaging?” another woman called out. “What if instead of putting ourselves on tiktok or whatever platform you use, that we package our products in unique ways, maybe a personal note to say thank you?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, that is something you do that makes what you sell personable. That is something your customer will remember, it’s like a sweet little surprise from you to them. There’s nothing better than getting a sweet package on a bad day.”

Janet began to go into different forms of content and finding what you could do to make your business more approachable as I looked down at my phone. No notifications.

I hadn’t looked at it all morning and most of last night and still no one was missing me. It hurt me in a way I couldn’t understand how to deal with. I’d had so many friends when I was married to Scott, so many notifications every day and that stopped when the divorce was finalized. I may have gotten a lot of his money but he got all the friends in the divorce.

Now, I was alone.

All except Veruca.

But she was way too busy to message me and ask me how I was. I usually got a weekly check in but she’d probably think I was too busy to answer right now. I pocketed the phone and focused back on Janet, trying to absorb as much as I could.

??

“This is exactly what I signed up for,” Sophie said as we sat on the steps of the lagoon near the bar. The lagoon was quiet, only a few others were in here with us but they kept their distance. We’d gone to two talks this morning and fled the third for an early morning tea and then a dip. This island was leased by Mara and her family for the whole five days so the only people here were women and the only thing to do was relax and listen to people talk.

“I like your costume,” Sophie said as she looked over at me. I hated two piece suits and never wore them, even Veruca had stopped trying to put me in them so I was pleasantly surprised when Veruca had snuck a couple of one piece suits in my luggage.

I’d chosen a navy blue one, that reminded me of popeye, with navy polka dots on a white background over my chest and a blue bottom part, a cute little dress over the hips to hide my unsightly thick thighs.

“Thank you, my friend designs them.”

“Not Veruca?”

“You know her?”

“I know of her,” she said. “All of my suits are Veruca’s. I love her.”

“Well, when we get back to reality, I can introduce you two.”

“See, I knew I liked you,” Sophie said, as she put her sunglasses back on her face and she balanced her body on the surface of the water as delicately as she could. I stuck to the shade, knowing my skin wouldn’t handle too much sun before it turned red.

I noticed the bartender in the swim up bar was finally free so I waded over to him and ordered us some pina coladas. He got to work on the order, giving me a sweet wink before he turned his back.

When I got back to Sophie, she gratefully accepted the drink. “What are you going to do when you come face to face with she who must not be named?”

I was having a good time not thinking about Genevieve until now but it was a valid question. “I honestly don’t know. I didn’t think I would have to see her again.”

“Why are you letting her rule your emotions after five years? You divorced the bastard, got his money, made a cute little empire without him. If you’d stayed married, or not known about his penis having an issue staying loyal, you wouldn’t have your life.”

She had a point but I still wanted to be angry with her. “You didn’t see her that day, Soph. She was happy that she had ruined my marriage, she had this little smirk on her face that I can’t seem to get past.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen that smirk,” she said. “I actually think it’s her armor.”

“What?”

“Well, you know we all have that one thing that we do that helps us to hide behind something we aren’t okay with? It’s what we call armor. Some have a nervous giggle, or a stony glare, much like you do, and some smile when they shouldn’t. I think that’s what she does.”

“How do you know?”

---