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“Thanks, I appreciate that.” No, I don’t. Not even a bit.
“I’ll let you get back to your company. I’m going to email the team now with the big news.”
“Awesome.”
“See you tomorrow, Allegra, and thanks again!”
Gwen
Is the family gone?
Me
Finally, yes.
Gwen
I read Keenan’s email. Do you want to talk about it?
I dial her number, relief washing over me that I can talk to my bestie. She picks up on the first ring. “Can you believe this?”
“No, this is the worst thing ever.”
“I was worried you’d be upset.” In the background, I hear the hum of her hot tub motor. Lucky bitch. Sitting in her boyfriend’s hot tub under the stars while I’m hunched over my laptop in my cramped childhood bedroom.
“I’m more than upset. I’m furious. Not only am I stuck babysitting, but did you see Keenan’s latest email? The thing about moving you out of our office to make room for Hudson? I can’t not work next to my bestie for six whole weeks. That’s ridiculous.”
“Agreed. I’m none-too-pleased,” Gwen says. “I’m going to have to share with Edward. He mutters to himself non-stop. It’s going to drive me insane.”
Letting out a groan, I say, “This is the worst. I’ve spent the last eighteen months killing myself to get this done and just when I’m so close, I’m about to have a man-sized roadblock put in my way.”
“A super-hot, famous, man-sized roadblock,” she points out.
“Yeah, a super-hot, famous, dates-super-models-not-nerds distraction who’s going to ruin my life and let Lando the Liar win again,” I say, squinting at my screen while I wait for Frank to finish analyzing the recordings. “I can’t let that happen, Gwen. I just can’t. I’m in an all-out battle of good versus evil, and good has to win this time. If not, I am seriously going to lose my faith in humanity and the Universe.”
“Good to know you’re not putting too much pressure on yourself.”
“Haha, seriously. He should be following Chad around. I mean, I get that he has no tact and he’s a terrible teacher and should basically never be around other humans, but, other than that, he’s not so bad.”
“Yeah, when you put it that way, it’s a complete mystery why Keenan chose you.”
I let out a huge sigh, all my fear and frustration bubbling up inside of me. “Oh, fuck, Gwen. This sucks so hard. I’m going to waste precious hours that I don’t have trying to tutor a man on a topic he couldn’t care less about. He’s going to pretend to listen, then go back to Hollywood, and I’ll have been screwed out of my chance to prove once and for all that I’m way fucking smarter than he-who-washes-his-penis-in-the-sink.”
“Maybe you can do both. Tutor him and finish your project. A lot of the time, you’re just waiting for Frank to analyze the next batch of recordings,” she says, her words almost getting lost in the sound of the hot tub bubbles. “And besides, what if Hudson turns out to be a big help?”
“Hudson Finch? The guy who once showed up to a table reading so high he couldn’t actually read?”
“I don’t even believe that story,” she says. “Besides, you never know. Maybe he’s a lot smarter than people give him credit for. Or maybe, he’ll bring a fresh perspective that’ll help crack this whole thing open.”
“Or maybe he’ll distract me for six weeks straight and cause my only real dream to wither on the vine and die.” I close my tired eyes, then say, “Sorry, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but at the moment, I’m a total mess. I’m disappointed and frustrated and exhausted. Earlier today my mother actually told me I looked like I smelled bad.’”
“What? How is that even a thing?”
“Right? Although, at the time I really did reek.”
“Oh sweetie, I hate how hard you’ve been pushing yourself to get this done.”
“It’ll all be worth it if I can just get it to work, but that’s not looking too likely right now.”
