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The friendly bell chimed over the door of Ella’s shop as they entered—a sound that Alison had very much come to associate with happiness and friendship. Ella appeared through the curtain that separated the showroom from the back storage and workspace. She was wearing paint-spattered overalls and was wiping paint-smeared hands on them as she approached them.
“Alison! Hey! How are you? It’s good to see you.”
“Hey, Ella. This is Caroline, my agent from New York. She just flew in.”
Ella clapped her hands together in front of her chest. “Oh, that’s so wonderful! You and Alison must be such close friends for you to come out and visit. I’m so excited to meet you! I’d give you a huge hug if I wasn’t covered in paint.”
“Well, small miracles, then, dear.”
Ella looked unsure again and Alison nudged Caroline and shot her a warning look. The entire encounter was reminding her of why she’d needed to leave New York in the first place—the judgment. She hadn’t been fleeing her career, or the pressure, or any of the other things that people have speculated. She’d been fleeing all of the judgment she encountered from her colleagues after the reality show came out.
To a lot of people in her social and professional circle—not all, certainly, but many—sweetness was seen as weakness. Kindness was seen as a fault, and showing patience toward someone who wasn’t quite catching on as quickly as everyone else was seen as the ultimate fatal flaw.
This encounter between Caroline and Ella was a perfect encapsulation of the “New York versus Valentine Bay” dichotomy that was pulling at her subconscious twenty-four hours a day. There was Caroline—elegant, contained, brilliant, and caustic. And then there was Ella—flighty, artistic, loving, and open. The two of them were, of course, going to be oil and water.
Alison decided that the best thing to do in this situation would be to simply hustle Caroline out of there as quickly as she could. “Ella, it was so great to see you. I think Caroline is really tired after her long trip. We’re going to get out of your hair and let you finish painting that sign.”
“Oh, wait! How long are you going to be in town for, Caroline? You really should meet everybody—all of Alison’s new friends! Alison, why don’t you throw a dinner party in Caroline’s honor? I’m sure everybody would love to come.”
“Oh, I don’t know… Caroline is only going to be here a few days—”
“I think that sounds like a marvelous idea,” Caroline interjected. “I would absolutely love to meet the extraordinary people who have enchanted our Alison so completely.”
Ella clapped her hands in front of her. Alison shrank a little inside. Ella was too sweet to realize that the only reason Caroline would “love” to meet those people was to figure out how to break their hold on Alison so she could get her back to New York as quickly as possible, return things to the status quo, and continue to make money on Alison’s career.
It was going to be a fun night.
