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How would I have recognizedhim??
I gave you his name. I said he was hot—you know where I work. Googling would have done thetrick.
Lilac scoffed, although Gavin couldn’t hear it.Maybe I’m not thatnosy.
Sincewhen?
She dodged the question.So last week—before you said he was hot—and you were going on and on about him being a hardass, you didn’t say anything about his fuckability then. Whynow?
Gavin waited a moment to answer.I don’t know. I doubt he’s even gay—or with my luck, he is but he’s not single. I’m justadmiring.
Lilac knew there was more to the story, but Gavin wasn’t offering up any details.So you’re totally over disasterdate.
Oh my god, SO over disaster date.Gavin paused.I should get going, but I’ll have my phone on me. CALL ME if Earl doesanything.
Lilac hesitated a minute and settled on sending ayuckface, trying to make the situation lighter than it really felt.But thank you. Loveyou!
Love you, too, wrote Gavin.Go pluck some feathers and find your happy,Li.
Giggling like a madwoman, Lilac cradled her phone in both hands. She looked up, caught one of the landscaper’s eyes, and grinned so widely, she actually scared him into taking a few steps backward to put more space betweenthem.
* * *
By the timeThursday had rolled around, Lilac was in a much better mood. She still felt sick whenever she was in that office, which was why she might have literally jumped out of her desk when Earl told her he’d approved her Ballroom/Tent Tildy crossover project and that she was set to meet with Gyu-ri again aboutit.
She scrolled through her messages while in the shuttle that ran between the resort and the Ballroom. There was the usual silliness from Gavin along with aWill you report him today?question this morning she’d only writtenStopto. Then there was the much smaller message string with Nolan. He’d sent a photo of himself with a bunch of people from the break room alongside an in-costume Queen Animaliao and Prince Beastly.Costume crew says hi, he’d written this morning.Notice no Tildy, Silly, or Leah to be found here. You’ll never find them and their “friends” in the same picture.Curious…
“Last stop,” said the shuttle driver. “Unless you’re just going for a ride and you want a lift back to Tent Tildy.” The man—kid really, probably like eighteen—winked at her and she rolled her eyes, stepping out to enter the Ballroom, her phone still clutched in her hand and a folder under her arm. Bypassing the footmen and women who offered to assist her down, she strutted through the procession with so much business on her mind, she almost forgot to take in all the magic. She almost forgot therewasmagic, like an enchanting royal dance that never, ever ended while the park was open was the most normal thing in theworld.
The concealed employee door made her hesitate. She still didn’t have her own badge and she hadn’t even thought to ask Earl for his this time. Like she wanted anything that had hung around that slimy neck in her handsagain.
She texted Gyu-ri, explaining her predicament, glad she’d exchanged numbers with her the week before. Within a few moments, the slightly-older woman was at the door, bursting through the mural of the palace garden to let herinside.
As they wove through the employee hallways, Gyu-ri talking all the while, they almost bumped into a Prince Beastly and his Tildy Scout caretaker, with whom he was locking lips and entwininglimbs.
“Hey,” said Gyu-ri. “You’re on duty.” She seemed nonplussed, though, as they wove their way around the lovers as well as a waiting Queen Animaliao and her Tildy Scoutcaretaker.
“Sorry,” said the woman who’d been making out with Prince Beastly as she smoothed her clothingdown.
“Apologies,” said Prince Beastly, suddenly back in character. He put one hand across his chest and bowed to Gyu-ri before Queen Animaliao slipped in and took hisarm.
Lilac recognized all of them from the photo. She opened her mouth to say something, but Gyu-ri was almost around the corner now and besides, the two Tildy Scout caretakers grabbed for the doors and the blast of music from the Ballroom ceased suddenly, a voice echoing over the loudspeaker. “Girls and boys, ladies and gentlemen, and people from all corners of the land—please welcome your rulers, Queen Animaliao and her consort, PrinceBeastly!”
Lilac ducked behind them to catch up to Gyu-ri, who waited for her, grinning. “They do that several times a day,” she said. “You get used to it. Eventually, it kind of loses its pomp andcircumstance.”
Lilac didn’t realize it until that moment, but she’d been staring at the royal couple, practically drooling, just like she had as akid.
She smiled sheepishly at that and stepped into Gyu-ri’soffice.
Opening up the folder, she laid out the spreadsheets and plan she’d written up, slipping her phone on the chair beside her. They talked about the plans and settled on a date—early fall. Right around the time Lilac would have been settling into her life as a teacher if she’d stuck to that path. She was hit with a sudden feeling of wistfulness, imagining the life she was supposed to have had—a life she’d figured on having just two weeks before. She’d have actually had most of the summer off. She could have traveled a bit—maybe even come to Tildy World for a few days as a “camper,” as a guest. Her parents had talked about heading off to Europe for a week or two and had wanted to know if she’d like to come along and she definitely would have gone. Then she’d have moved to her Minnesota apartment in August. She wondered if that other educator she’d met online had ever found another roommate. Things had moved so crazily since then, it was almost like she’d beendreaming.
“Lilac?” asked Gyu-ri. “Are you allright?”
Lilac realized a tear had fallen down her cheek and she brushed it away. “Yes, sorry. Sorry aboutthat.”
She made a note in her phone about the event, brushing aside the notifications from Gavin. She hadn’t spoken to Brielle since Sunday. “So what kind of weekly goals should we be setting untilthen?”
“Did Earl do something—something toyou?”
