Page 27 of July Skies
“Thanks.”
The crew attempted to stay back and talk to them. Dahlia motioned for Rachel and the others to follow her to the far end of Main Street, near the city hall where the city government had erected an orange tent. From the outside, it looked more like an information booth and visitors’ desk. As they got closer, however, Dahlia realized that Karen sat in a folding chair behind a plastic table.
She immediately saw Dahlia coming.
“Hello, Karen.”
The mayor blew off the man that had been talking to her. With a shrug, the middle-aged fellow wandered off and rejoined his party. Karen put on her best stoic face before looking back up at Dahlia. If she noticed the all-female crew, she didn’t let on. “Dahlia. How… lovely to see you again. I see you have brought a camera with you. Planning to make good use of those permits you had?”
“I’ve dropped the project,” Dahlia plainly said. “Instead, I’ve recommended it to some colleagues of mine. I know this is sudden, but I’d like to introduce you.”
“Hi! Rachel Gibson, Pink Dew Films.” Rachel’s hand whipped across the table to shake the mayor’s. Karen looked askance at it before slowly taking it. “I’msoexcited to be here. My crew and I have a great interest in your place here. All of us are queer, by the way. Well, lesbian, really, except for Michela there with the camera. She’s pan.”
Tension left Karen’s face. “Is that so? Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Gibson. I’m sorry, but… allow me to get someone to cover me here, and we can talk out back.”
Dahlia kept her distance while Rachel and the others gave more formal introductions and explained the situation.I hope she’s taking my advice.Dahlia had told Rachel to play up her personal life.“Part of my fuckup,”she had said to Rachel,“was not acknowledging I needed to be closer to these people. Not as a friend or commentator, but by actually being one of them.”All Rachel was able to say in response was,“Could’ve told you that, Dahl. Why do you think we were so keen to join you in the first place?”
Karen was the same caliber of excited smiles that she had been when Dahlia first approached her.If only I had been more appreciative of her smile back then.Dahlia wasn’t in the business of figuring outthatside of herself. She could barely acknowledge a possible attraction to the mayor, and she had no idea if it was a mild crush or something real. Not that it mattered now. Karen wanted nothing to do with her. Dahlia had blown her chance. Why? Because she had a chip on her shoulder from childhood?
Rachel swung around and had a whispered meeting with her crew. Karen chose that moment to look in Dahlia’s direction. It was a mild invitation to come converse with her.
“So… how’s the guy who had the health problem doing? Aaron, was it?”
Dahlia snorted. That was certainly one way to break the ice. “He’s doing fine. Already back out filming a commercial for some car company.”
“Glad to hear it. Some of the folks around here were worried about him.”
“Really?” Dahlia allowed a laugh for once. “People knew about that, huh?”
“Word travels quickly in a town like this. In fact, if you hadn’t approached me, I probably would’ve heard about you being back within another five minutes. Some people can’t help themselves. They have to be the first to tell you.”
Dahlia inhaled a deep breath for courage before saying, “I sincerely want to apologize for my behavior and everything that happened. After a lot of reflection, I’ve decided to pass the project on to a small company that will do it right. They’ll know the right questions to ask and how best to integrate themselves into this community. They’re from one like it, after all.”
Karen popped one of her eyebrows up her forehead before crossing her arms with a smirk. “That’s some great politician speak there.”
“I also hope your daughter didn’t get into too much trouble. She was only trying to help.”
“Eh, she’s already having a boring summer. Isn’t much more I could do to ruin it for her. Besides, we had a long talk about going behind Mommy’s back to do things like go on TV.”
“I swear, I wasn’t gonna…”
Karen sighed, her regal, mayor-like façade slowly slipping away. “I should apologize as well. I injected myself way too much into your project. I really love this town, you know? I feel like it’s my duty to protect it and the people who make their homes here. If I see someone misrepresenting them, I want to…”
“I understand,” Dahlia interrupted. “I’ll be out of your hair after today. Only wanted to make sure Rachel’s crew got here and was properly introduced. It’s happening quite suddenly for them. No lead up like my crew had, but they’re super excited to be here.”
They stared at each other for a few more seconds. Then, Karen said, “I’m also sorry about all the things I said about you. That was beyond unreasonable. Especially that part about you being attracted to me…”
Dahlia cleared her throat and looked away.
“Hm?” Of course Karen caught on to that. “Sorry, did I strike a nerve?”
Was she being coy? Or was the mayor anaturalat making women like Dahlia more uncomfortable than it was ever worth?Come on, you’re only uncomfortable because this is all new to you. Also, you fear rejection. Your mother rejected you, so now you fear rejection from women, period.Somewhere, a guy named Freud furiously wrote notes.
“I may be… kinda… attracted to… certain women…cough.”
Karen did her best to contain a self-satisfied smile. It only made her more brazen to say, “Too bad you’re not going be around much anymore. We could’ve explored some options. Start a committee to investigate theseattractionsof yours.”
Dahlia’s inclination was to snarkily say,“Never mind, then!”Yet she had to reel those reactions in if she wanted to get anywhere with anyone, let alone someone like Karen Rath. “Pink Dew is open to me collaborating with them, which means Icouldbe around more often. You know. For committees and investigations.”
