Page 77 of Joey

Once back inside my car I catch her staring at the ring in the sunlight. “You love it, don’t you?”

She smiles, huffing out a laugh. “I’ve never seen anything so pretty in all my life.”

“You know, if we ever break up you could start a whole new life if you sold that ring.”

“Fuck you,” she says. “I’m never selling this.” Then she lowers her head a little and looks up at me. “And I’m already starting a new life. I hope I never have to start over again. It’s… hard.”

I get it. I met this girl yesterday. Aside from the fact that she was kidnapped at sixteen, stayed with the man who took her willingly, and is a champion liar, I know nothing about what’s floating around inside her head.

But I see something on the outside. Something I didn’t pick up on yesterday morning when she was confidently spinning tales about Singapore and Frisbee, but is very apparent now in hindsight.

She’s very vulnerable.

“Well,” I say, snapping out of my introspection when she begins to frown at me. “Are you ready to buy a house?”

She sighs. “This is such a weird day. And I thought yesterday was one for the books. But today… just. Holy shit. I think I must be dreaming.” Then she looks at me quickly. “Not for the reason you think, either.”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”

“You’re thinking I was some down-on-her-luck girl yesterday morning and now I’m wearing a hundred thousand dollars on my finger and I’m about to buy a seven-million-dollar house with Joey Boston. The Joey Boston.”

I take her hand. Kiss the ring. And say, “I never thought you were down on your luck. Ever.”

And that’s not even a lie.

“Well… I felt that way. Before yesterday. I felt like I was down on my luck.” Then she turns a little so she can face me. “But you know what?”

“What?”

“It wasn’t you who changed that.”

“No?” I say, surprised.

“No. I woke up that way. I had a plan. I was going to make my own future as a Bright Berry Beach Cosmetics independent salesperson. And then all this happened.”

“You really were going to work there?”

“Yeah. I really was. And I was excited about it. How the hell did you end up in that building for those interviews, anyway?”

“Oh, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“My little brother, Jesse. He’s dating one of the founders. Emma Dumas.”

“No!”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Emma Dumas.” Brooke practically sighs her name. “She’s a partner. So she must know Mila Sanchez really well, right?”

“Yeah. I know Mila too. She’s kinda mean though. I keep my distance. But if you really want a job there, I can get you a job. I can introduce you to Mila too. Though I’m telling you. She’s mean.”

“No.” She laughs. “I do want a job. And I will get one, once we get Maisy back. But I don’t need any help. I’m gonna do it on my own. I’m kinda looking forward to climbing my way up their Bright Berry Beach corporate ladder. And I do want to meet Mila. But I don’t want an introduction. I want her to… notice me.”

She beams a smile when she says this. Absolutely beams.

“I really know how to pick them, don’t I?”