Page 63 of Wish You Were Her
A light was suddenly switched on and they both blinked in astonishment, turning instinctively to the apartment entrance. George stood at the bottom of the stairs, glancing between the two of them.
“Jonah,” he finally said. “Is everything all right? It’s late.”
There was no retribution or even admonishment in the man’s tone. Just bewilderment.
“I was just letting Allegra know that she’ll be working with me on the main stage tomorrow,” he said, turning to eye Allegra with a silent promise. She glared back at him but did not say anything.
“Oh,” George said. “Good. But—”
“See you tomorrow, Allegra.” Jonah’s tone spoke of a refusal to return to their previous dynamic. “We have a lot to discuss in the morning.”
And reluctantly, but with a newly found spring of determination, he left.
Subject: I’m Sorry
Dear Jonah,
A longer email, now. I’m sorry. My clients kept me away from Lake Pristine. I know it’s not an excuse. I’m sorry you were made to feel like you were alone. I’m ashamed you were stood up. I wish I could explain properly.
Who answered the phone at the shop? Who was she to you? You’ve hardly mentioned her in any of your responses. I know we’ve unofficially agreed to never share too much personal information via these exchanges but I’m curious.
Your friend
RE: Allegra
Dear Friend,
Allegra. She was the one who answered the phone. She’s eighteen, like me. She’s an actress and George’s daughter. She’s an enigma. And she gave me some hard truths while I was waiting for you.
I wish you had been there. It might have spared me from a lot of humiliation and some other feelings I don’t fully understand yet.
Jonah
Chapter Eighteen
As Jonah stood in the green room, checking authors in, he couldn’t help but overhear other volunteers as they expressed doubts about Pamela H. J. Wilcox’s arrival.
“She won’t come,” one volunteer murmured to the other, as they arranged physical copies of the program.
“She hasn’t done an interview since the show came out,” said another, filling the mini-fridges with sandwiches and drinks. “She’s sick of people asking about the lastCourt of Bystandersbook. She’s definitely not coming. Courtney couldn’t even get her on the phone.”
Jonah was starting to feel a little nervous himself. Allegra had promised to arrange the author’s appearance when Quentin Morrison had dropped out—but Allegra had yet to appear. He was apprehensive about Pamela’s presence, even without his gossiping colleagues.
A children’s author suddenly marched into the tent, having just finished his story-time reading in the smallest venue.
“How was it?” asked Kerrie, appearing on Jonah’s left. She spoke to the author warmly but he ignored her, going straight to the mini-fridge. He withdrew two bottles of white wine, shoving them unceremoniously into his satchel. Then he was off.
“I didn’t know children’s authors could be so thirsty,” Jonah mused.
“They write for kids, that doesn’t mean they drink like them,” Kerrie said, as they both watched the author march to his car. Jonah met her gaze and they both shared a laugh.
