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Brianne moved closer to her on the bed. “I know you’ve been down lately, but you have to trust me on this one. You need a change to get you out of this funk.”
“I don’t think a date is going to do that for me,” Katrina muttered. “I don’t care about dating. I don’t want to have to think about what I’m wearing or how I’m acting. I just want to get my career back on track.”
Brianne sighed. “I’m not telling you to stop applying. But people can sense when you’re not feeling great. I’m telling you. They know when their applicant isn’t happy. No one wants to hire a depressed employee.”
“But I wouldn’t be depressed if I had the job.” Katrina glanced toward Simon in the doorway, pleading for him to back her up.
“So, it’s a chicken and egg situation. The only thing that’s going to help you is improving your mood. So get out there, distract yourself, and make those companies realize that you have other things going for you so they end up head-hunting you instead of you stalking them.”
Katrina huffed as she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. As much as she hated to admit it, her friend had made a good point. If what she was doing wasn’t working, then there had to be a problem on her end.
Could it be so simple as her mood?
“Besides, Jackson isn’t going to be around much longer. He’s the perfect person to go on a date with because he’ll be going home in two weeks.” Brianne beamed, clearly happy with herself for finding someone Katrina wouldn’t have to dump. “Once you get the first one out of the way, you can date more and then you’ll be back to your happy self.”
Simon chuckled from where he stood, drawing their attention. Brianne gave him a strange look, to which he chuckled again.
“Come on, Katrina has never been the peppy one. That’s always been you, Brianne. And I’m the optimistic one. Out of the three of us, she’s the planner and the serious one.”
Brianne rolled her eyes and gave Katrina a flat look. “Don’t listen to him. You’rehappy. Just a different kind of happy.”
Simon was right and Katrina knew it. The funny thing was that she didn’t realize he was such a people-watcher. While they’d been friends for what felt like an eternity, she would have never pegged him as being the kind of person to label anyone in their group.
She nodded to Brianne if only to put a stop tothatconversation. Then she rubbed her nose into her knees before resting her chin there. “Okay, so I go on a date with Jackson. Then what? I’m not stupid enough to believe that one date is going to put me in a better mood. We had Daniel’s wedding, and I was miserable even then. I just can’t seem to get over this slump.”
Brianne waved a hand through the air with a light laugh. “That’s because you weren’t taking my advice. Believe me, when I’m done with you, everything is going to be bright and shiny again.” She got to her feet and flashed them a smile.
“Where are you going?” Katrina demanded. Her friend already looked like she was on a mission. While she probably shouldn’t have asked a question she didn’t want the answer to, Katrina still waited for confirmation.
“I’m going to call Sam and tell him that you’re on board with going on a date with his cousin. Then I’m going to find someone I can go with so we can double.” Before she left the room, Brianne patted Simon on the shoulder. “I don’t suppose you’d want to go with me?”
Her tone was teasing, but it didn’t stop him from grimacing.
“Pass,” he muttered.
Brianne snickered. “I didn’t think so. Do you want to go with us anyway? I can find?—”
“I’m going to stop you right there. I’m taking on extra shifts at the Overlook Grand Resort so chances are slim that I’ll even be available.”
She pouted. “Well, you’re no fun.” She tossed one more grin toward Katrina. “I’ll text you later when I have the details.”
Katrina nodded again. She and Simon watched Brianne breeze out of the room and then Simon turned his attention to her. He finally moved into her room and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Sometimes I wonder how we all got to be friends.”
She moved closer to him, swinging her legs over the edge. “Because you and I were besties and Brianne wanted to join in.”
“We were only besties because of your parents. If they hadn’t helped out when my grandparents started declining, I don’t know what would have happened to me. To us, actually. Your mom was so generous to us.”
Katrina’s heart constricted. This was one of the reasons that she couldn’t believe Simon was so happy all the time. He’d lost his mother when he was about five years old. His grandfather got dementia when he was in ninth grade and that was really hard on him and his grandmother. He’d had one of the hardest childhoods she could think of and yet he was still standing and one of the finest men she knew.
“I don’t know, I think we would have been friends regardless.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
“Maybe.”
They sat in silence like they had a tendency to do. Mostly because she was too worried about how everything in her life was going and he was just a quiet contemplator. Brianne was the one who couldn’t stand silence, which was probably another reason she had loved being a part of their group—she didn’t have to compete with anyone else when it came to filling the void.
“Do you really think I should go on a date with Jackson?”
