Page 36 of Book Club Confidential

“I’m not—”

“Exactly,” Kate said.

The night breeze and Kate’s tone drew chills over Tessa’s sweat-slicked skin as she crossed the cobblestone bridge above the river.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Tessa said. “I meant to be encouraging.”

“It feels condescending,” Kate said flatly. “I’m expected to press ahead in ways that will hurt my career and reduce my income, but you aren’t?”

Tessa balked. She’d never suggest Kate intentionally damage the career she’d spent so many years creating. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?” Kate asked. “Because it sounds as if you’re staying at a workplace where your work goes unvalued, but I’m supposed to take a stand and throw away decades of effort. And it has been decades, Tessa,” she stated. “I started building my online presence in middle school. I was still in elementary school when I got a MySpace account. Then Vine and Musical.ly. I was a front-runner on TikTok and making money on Instagram before most people even knew that was possible. This is a lifelong path for me, not something I started after earning a degree.”

Tessa’s jaw locked. “I can’t help that marketing is a career requiring an education.”

Kate gasped. “I knew it. You think your job is better than mine. You think being an influencer isn’t a real career.”

Hallie made a startled yip. “Whoa. Hold on.” She formed a time-out signal with her hands. “Everyone’s job matters. We all work hard and deserve to thrive in everything we do.”

“Then I think we should stop this main character stuff before we ruin what we have,” Kate said. “Forcing all these changes is making everything worse, not better. I know that my career is uncommon, and that I probably wouldn’t be where I am now if my family didn’t have the money and connections to help me get started on this path. And I am fully aware of how blessed and lucky I am to be so wholly emotionally supported by them. But I’m an adult, and I will not ask them to support me financially because I chose to actively wreck everything I’ve built.”

“I’m sorry,” Tessa said. Her heart ached, and her gut wrenched. “I know how hard you work, and I would never diminish that. I also understand that what we’re doing is scary. But we weren’t happy before either.”

“I’d rather be frustrated with my job and able to pay the bills than make changes that will lead to my eviction,” Kate said.

Sounds of music at an outdoor café grew louder as Tessa approached. An older couple danced freely while onlookers smiled.

The juxtaposition of joy and crisis sent waves of unease through her limbs, and she trembled.

“I think we all need a few days to regroup,” Hallie said. “I haven’t told Bryce any of the things I need to tell him, because I don’t want to upset him, and I don’t want him to upset me. So I’ve just been stewing and fixating. He knows something’s wrong, and every time I deny it, I drive a bigger wedge between us. It’s awful.”

“I hate it,” Kate whispered. “I can’t please everyone without doing something I’m tired of doing.”

“We all make those sacrifices,” Hallie said. “Even when we think we don’t.”

“I made a career out of it,” Kate said. “Look where that got me. The minute I stop pretending to be perfect, no one wants me.” Her tears began anew, and the pain went straight to Tessa’s chest. “I was stupid to think my followers would be as supportive as my friends and family.”

“You weren’t stupid,” Hallie said. “You were hopeful. There isn’t anything wrong with that.”

“And you have us,” Tessa added. “I really didn’t mean to sound condescending, and I would never ask you to do anything I wasn’t willing to do, or anything that made you feel bad.”

“I know.” Kate sighed. “I’m sorry too. This is just so ridiculously hard.”

“Well,” Tessa said. “Not to brag, but your friends are pretty great, and we’ll be right here with you no matter what happens. Plus, this isn’t over until we say so.”

Kate’s lips twitched. Her gaze flickered to the camera. “Feels like it’s over.”

Tessa checked her watch and bounced into a jog for the last few blocks. “If you were the heroine of this story, what would you do?”

Kate sighed. “If this was a book and not my collapsing life,” she hedged, “I guess I’d resolve to be the change I want to see on the page.”

Hallie grinned. “Agreed.”

Tessa’s gaze shifted. “What about you, Hallie?”

“I’d be a magic-wielding succubus,” she said. “I’d be insanely hot and stay mind-bendingly sexually satisfied, and I’d manifest everything I wanted.”

Tessa slowed to check for cars at the next intersection. “I would read both of your stories.”