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“I know. He sucks. And this time, he got fired.” Suddenly she starts to cry. “Fired! We have twins going into their senior years at Yale and Wesleyan—”
“You havetwins?AtYaleandWesleyan?” How did Dru-Ann not know this? Brooke is proving to be a deep well.
“Will and Whitney are amazing but I don’t talk about them because I’m pretty sure that’s one of the reasons Electra kicked me out of the friend group.”
“Electra is the woman who showed up at dinner?”
Brooke nods and cries harder. “Everything is such amess. I did show her the itinerary and Ididwrite down rock and roll football in my calendar and now Hollis hates me.”
“Hollis doesn’t hate you.”
“But that’s why she didn’t come to the Box. She didn’t want to be with me.”
“Well, her loss,” Dru-Ann says. She sets her paper plate down. “You were a lot of fun tonight.”
Brooke turns to Dru-Ann; she has a smudge of orange pizza grease on her nose. “I was?”
“Yes,” Dru-Ann says. She takes her napkin and wipes the smudge away. “Yes, you were a very fun date.”
Brooke touches her nose and before Dru-Ann knows what’s happening, Brooke leans in and kisses her. At first, Dru-Ann thinks this is just Brooke’s usual over-the-top enthusiasm, but then she feels Brooke’s tongue dart between her lips.Oh, for Pete’s sake!Dru-Ann thinks. She gently puts her hands on Brooke’s shoulders and eases her away. This isn’t the first time a woman has tried to kiss Dru-Ann; apparently people hearsports agentand see Dru-Ann in her signature blazer and assume she’s gay.
“Brooke,” she says.
Brooke gazes at Dru-Ann with wide, dopey eyes and a trembling lip. “You’re not attracted to me? You just said I was a fun date. And the way you were dancing with me made me think…”
Was Dru-Ann dancing suggestively with Brooke? Maybe a little, but it was in good fun, because she thought Brooke was straight. She certainly hadn’t meant her dancing to be a come-on. She danced with Brooke the way women who are having fun dance with each other!
Dru-Ann’s phone bleeps—the UberXL is a minute away.Praise the Lord,she thinks. She collects her trash and pulls Brooke to her feet. “Our ride is here.”
In the dark back seat of the Uber, Brooke falls asleep with her head on Dru-Ann’s shoulder. As they drive down the long and winding Polpis Road, Dru-Ann tries to imagine what Hollis will say when Dru-Ann says,Brooke kissed me in the parking lot of Sophie T’s. With tongue!She chuckles as she pictures the expression on Hollis’s face.
This weekend is just full of surprises.
40. Should I Stay or Should I Go?
When Gigi gets back to First Light, the dog, Henrietta, growls at her, and Gigi sighs. “I know you hate me and you have every right.” She gets a glass of ice water and heads down the hall to Hibiscus Heaven. She changes out of her jersey dress and into a T-shirt and running shorts, and then she packs her bags.
She can’t believe what happened at dinner. That woman, Electra.I’m certain we’ve met somewhere.
Gigi has to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
She climbs into bed but she can’t sleep. She lies there for over an hour before she hears voices in the kitchen. Hollis and… Tatum, it sounds like. They’re giggling. Gigi hears the suck of the refrigerator door, the crinkle of a bag of chips. Drunken late-night snacking and gossip that Gigi would ruin if she interrupted, though Hollis would be kind enough to pretend otherwise.
Eventually the voices grow fainter and Gigi nods off—but she’s awoken a little while later when she hears Brooke and Dru-Ann stumbling down the hall. It sounds like Dru-Ann is helping Brooke to bed.
“Here’s water and a couple of Advil. Trust me, you’re going to want them.”
“But you’re not mad at me. Not mad at me, right? I’m soooooo, so, so, so sorry.”
“No, I’m not mad. Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning, you won’t remember any of this.”
Gigi hears Brooke’s bedroom door click shut and Dru-Ann sigh. Gigi reaches for her phone. There’s a text from her neighbor Tim.How is it going??? Does she know? Are you going to tell her? Give me tea!
Gigi types,Fine, no, I’m not sure—then deletes it. How dull.
She types,Well, I’m still here!And she hits Send, thinking,But who knows what tomorrow will bring.
41. All Rise
