AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Six
“The woman of the hour!” Yasmine crowed. I plastered on what I hoped was my best smile and waved shyly. She enveloped me in a friendly bear hug and rocked me side to side. Pulling away, she surveyed me and whistled.
“Hot mama,” she said. She grinned and dropped her hands from my shoulders. “I had no idea the badass photog Alicia Jones and this Alicia Jones were one and the same. But I’m so glad that you are!” She adopted a faux-serious face and put her fists on her hips. “Now I can beg—I mean, convince—you to tour with me and the band.”
“Oh, I don’t know—” I started.
“Nonsense,” she cut in. “What’s stopping you?”
Though Andrew was silent beside me, I could feel the urgency vibrating off of him. Tell her, I could hear him say. Tell her that the only thing stopping you is yourself.
I ran my palms over my dress. “Well, I want to get settled into married life before I start a completely new career.”
“Manita, it looks like you’ve been taking photos your whole life,” Yasmine disagreed. “It’s not new.” Andrew made a noise of consent beside me, and I fought the urge to glare at him. “And what do you do other than taking photos?”
“I’m a lawyer’s assistant.” I shifted from one foot to another, trying not to pick the skin around my fingernails. Terrible bacteria, I reminded myself. Gnarly, terrible bacteria. “I work in my mom’s old law office.”
“Sounds like the very opposite of what you should be doing with your life,” Yasmine said on a yawn. “Listen, the job is yours if you want it. None of this BS about interviewing first. I said what I said,” she put in over my protests. “I know a fantastic photog when I see one, and your photos are phenomenal. We want nothing less for our band, so you’re it. But let’s make a deal.” She leaned in closer and I followed suit. “Let’s do a test run, see if it’s a good fit. You’ll tour with us for this month, and if you don’t like it, no hard feelings. Hell, bring your fiancé. Make it an adventure.” She straightened and clapped her hands together. “Do we have a deal?”
I considered her for a moment then looked at Andrew. He raised his eyebrows and shoulders. Why not?
I turned back to Yasmine with a grin. “Okay,” I said. “Let me talk it over with Michael and get back to you. Can I let you know by Monday?”
“Sí, claro,” she said. Her smile reached the ends of her face as she slapped my shoulder with gusto. “I gotta head out but I can’t wait to hear your yes on Monday.” Her grin turned sly. “Catch you then. Nice to meet you, Andrew.”
“The pleasure’s mine,” he said. And with a two-fingered salute, Yasmine disappeared into the crowd.
Andrew turned to me. “Isn’t that dope? You’re gonna do it, right?”
I sighed and grimaced. “I have to talk it over with Michael, first,” I said. “He may not go for it.”
“Go for what?” I heard behind me. Andrew and I turned to see Mother and Michael frowning behind us. Their facial expressions were so similar that it would be funny if it weren’t so terrifying. My watch beeped, and I looked down at it. Take a breath.
“I actually have some really great news!” I said cheerfully. Michael’s frown deepened as he looked from me to Andrew.
“What is it?” Mother asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
My smile faltered a little as I considered how to approach the topic. “Well, you know how I’ve been obsessed with the Leroys since high school?” Michael nodded but my mother just stared. “Well, their lead singer just offered me a photography job on the spot!”
Mother’s eyes widened, and Michael frowned. “Really?” Michael asked. By the tilt of his eyebrows, I knew that this was not good news to him. I belatedly remembered that we were going to discuss the gig this weekend. Mentally, I facepalmed. When I caught his eye, he seemed to be asking, Are you serious right now?
“Yes,” I answered to both his unspoken and spoken questions. “It’s amazing. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And they said you can go with them, too, Michael!”
“Wait a minute, how will Michael oversee the store?” Mother questioned. Her forefinger tapped a beat on her forearm. “He can’t run it from the road.”
Michael nodded. “She’s right, babe.” He frowned. “But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Finally, he shrugged. “You might as well go,” he said.
I looked at him askance. Not even a full twenty-four hours ago, he was against the idea, but he seemed to be at least somewhat okay with it now. I wonder what Catalina said to him. This had her name written all over it.
“Go without you?” I frowned. “But it would be right before our wedding.”
“It’s okay.” He beamed. “Consider it my wedding present to you.” I could feel Andrew’s eye roll as strongly as if I had looked at him directly. I held back a grimace myself as I said, “Great! And it’s not like I’ll be alone.”
“I know that, babe. You’re going with the band.”
“Yes, that. But Andrew’s going as their staff writer.”
A pause. “Andy’s going with you?”
