“Julie, you dog!” he said.
“Hey. Can it, Tubman. We’re talking about Helena.”
“Shoulda realized you was a player, Julie!”
“Man, you should have stayed in the bath this morning. Two slices of cheese pizza. With the secret sauce.”
Estelle had a curious smile as we sat down, her perfect manicure a contrast against the cheap-ass plastic cup and paper plate as she picked up the slice. “You even have pizza parlor connections.”
“Ha. They’re Kingmaker’s crew. This is what he calls hisforward base.Spot just behind you is where I first met him.”
“Should I be worried about the secret sauce?”
“Nah, it’s on all the pizza, but they keep it subtle normally. The crew knows to get it loaded up.” I took a bite of the pizza, slumping back in my seat as I did. “So… I’m really sorry about the whole thing.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “You meant every bit of what you felt about Hellie, though, didn’t you?”
“That I have a huge fucking crush on her? I mean, yeah.”
“More than a crush, from what I heard.”
I cleared my throat hard, looking away. “How much, uh… how much did you hear?”
She winked. “I got Hellie pretty drunk last night.”
“Uh… uh-huh.” I felt like I’d melt under the table. Estelle picked up her drink, sipping delicately at the straw, before she smiled.
“It was a really different venue last time I did this, but I need to ask your help with her.”
“With Helena?” I leaned forward. “Is she okay?”
“Not at all. She’s so miserable that Linyue ordered her off everything, and thing is, I think she’s probably right that Helena can’t do any good work right now.”
“What? But—what about the mixer? What happened?”
“Hellie skipped it.”
“Oh, Jesus. This is why I wanted to talk to her after it instead!”
She leaned in like we were sharing a secret. “You know she cares about you, right?”
I winced. “I’m confused about it, but I guess that was why she was so pissed off about me, uh…”
“Why didn’t you tell her earlier?”
“I was just—I swear, every step of the way, I didn’t understand why she was choosing to stick around with me. I thought I was just getting to see her one time and that was all I’d get. I’m confused how it went as far as it did.” I looked down at my pizza, poking at it. “And I guess also, I, uh… I didn’t want her to know what a loser I was.”
“Well, dick move,” she said brightly. “So now you’re obligated to fix it.”
“Huh—fix it how?”
“By staying right where you are, and doing what you need to until she sees you really are exactly who she thought you were. I’m not letting you run away so easily.” She took a bite of the pizza, covering her mouth. “Oh, wow,” she said through a mouthful. “That is a tasty slice.”
“Ha. Yeah. That’s the secret sauce. Tubman’s magic.”
“I guess I owe you a favor for this pizza. So in exchange, I’ll help you out.” She put her hand across the table, reaching for mine. “What do you say? Give it another shot. Hellie’s hoping you will.”
Give New York a second last chance? After everything that happened? After getting screwed over, living a life of lies that collapsed around my ears, getting kicked out on the street, and even losing touch with my only real friend, Harold?
