Page 7 of Save the Date

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“Tony Moretti is not who I had in mind when you pitched me this scheme,” Debbie complained as Emma searched her childhood closet for a good outfit. It was surprisingly hard to find a something that said,I’m appropriately heartbroken but also eagerly looking to marry. Maybe she could borrow something from Jackie.

“You always liked Tony,” Emma argued as she sifted through the meager offerings she’d brought from her apartment. The apartment she still had to pay rent on despite being too heartbroken and poor to live there alone. Maybe her dad could help her find a subletter; he loved a task.

“I liked Tony as a person. But I never liked him for you.”

“I never liked Tony as a personorfor you.” Jackie had magicallyappeared in the doorway eating one of those big bars of ridiculously expensive dark chocolate from Whole Foods. Jackie lived on a diet of fruit, vegetables, grilled fish and massive amounts of chocolate. It seemed to work well for her.

“What are you doing here? Is that mine?” Debbie gestured to the nearly devoured sweet treat.

“No, I brought it from home. I came by to help Emma find an outfit for her date. Even though I think Tony is weird and needs a real job.”

“He has a real job,” Emma exclaimed in defense of a man who once forgot to pick her up from the airport because his new neighbor—who was also a model—needed help moving in. “He’s a freelance video editor.”

“Freelance means he doesn’t have a job!”

“No, it doesn—” Emma took a deep breath. She had already spent too much of her relatively young life trying to explain to her sister that there were huge contingents of the population who didn’t have traditional nine-to-five jobs but still worked and supported themselves.

Even though they had grown up in the same house, it often felt like Emma and Jackie had had completely different lives. Jackie had managed to go from living in the bubble of a Jewish private school to living in the bubble of Beverly Hills as a stay-at-home mom. Emma had also attended Milken Community School growing up but had then ventured out and built a life filled with people who weren’t exclusively Jewish or generationally wealthy. It gave Emma a different perspective that Jackie often found baffling.

“I’m thinking of wearing this.” Emma held up a black jumpsuit in an attempt to change the topic. Both her mom and sister crinkled their noses although Debbie had the decency to try to hide it.

“I think we can do better,” Jackie declared as she started to rifle through Emma’s limited wardrobe. As someone withsensory sensitivity issues, Emma was reduced to only buying clothes that didn’t pinch, rub or itch—which meant almost everything remotely fashionable was off limits, much to her older sister’s horror. “How did this whole thing happen anyway? You just asked him out after not talking for two years?”

“I texted him and asked if he wanted to catch up.” Emma attempted to avoid their incoming scrutiny by examining a pair of jeggings that were slowly but surely falling apart—much like her own mental state.

“Wait. A catch-up is not a date. Does he even know you and Ryan broke up?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t mention it. But I haven’t reached out to him since I first told him about Ryan, so he probably put two and two together. Plus, I’ve been posting cryptically sad quotes on my stories.”

Jackie and Debbie exchanged a look that could only mean they had been having secret conversations behind Emma’s back. Emma’s suspicion was confirmed when Debbie patted the bed for Emma to sit. Jackie sat down on the floor. Some sort of intervention was brewing whether Emma was ready for it or not.

“Sweetheart, have you thought at all about when you’re going to go public with the breakup? I know your fans would want to support you through all of this. It might even help you move on and start fresh.”

Emma felt a tug on her heartstrings that her mom thought of her 410,000 followers on YouTube as fans. To Emma they felt like vultures who were going to pick her apart once they found out she’d been unceremoniously left. She wouldn’t even blame them for devouring her. She’d been cocky and foolish thinking that after years of failed relationships she, of all people, had finally figured it out. What kind of couples therapist couldn’t even stay in a couple? (Actually quite a few from what she’d observed at professional conferences, but the internet had little tolerance for nuance.)

“I thought that maybe I would just stop posting until the plan is further along. That way it can sort of be a one-two punch.”

“Like when celebrities have a surprise baby? One day you’ll just announce you’re married to a different guy?” Jackie asked.

“Exactly! Yes. Exactly like that.”

“It’s not the worst idea,” Jackie consented. “But I think I have one better.” She paused for dramatic effect. “You should tell them about the plan and then make them a part of it.”

“Absolutely not!” Debbie nearly shouted. “We are not letting random people on the internet choose Emma’s husband for her. That is where I draw the line.”

“Mom, relax. We’re not going to let YouTube pick the guy. Emma will just make some videos about the process. People go bananas for this kind of thing,” Jackie said, as though she had a master’s in social media marketing and not just hours and hours of Instagram consumption under her belt.

“I don’t know. I already feel like an idiot for including so much of my personal life online. If I had never shown Ryan in a video, I wouldn’t even have to address the broken engagement at all. I could just keep making informative videos about attachment styles until I die alone.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jackie conceded, “But then you wouldn’t have a book deal. People like your stuff because it’s authentic. You’ve gone viral because you feel like a real person. And what’s more real than being left at the altar?”

“I wasn’t left at the altar,” Emma pointed out. That was one kindness Ryan had extended her. Although it probably had less to do with her feelings and more to do with him wanting to start his new life away from her as quickly as possible.

“Fine but we want to play into the drama here. Your fiancé left you so you’re going to stick it to him by marrying someone else on the same day you two were supposed to get married? That’s incredible content and you know it.”

“I’m not doing this to ‘stick it to Ryan’ though. I’m doing this for myself.”

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