Page 14 of Ten Rules for Faking It
Stacey batted her hand way. “I’m helping. It’s not like you can’t change it back. I’m just adding a couple of things. You have room. Also, the title needs to go. This isn’t just about thirty. It’s about you seeing how truly awesome you are and opening yourself up. Even, maybe especially when, you’re scared. Until you wrap your head around that, you pretend.”
She sipped her wine before responding. “Are you dropping clichés on me now? Fake it ’til I make it?”
Stacey shot her a sassy grin and nodded. “You got it, babe.”
Everly sat on the edge of the chair, waiting, worrying her bottom lip while Stacey scratched the pen across the page. Staring beyond her friend at the houses in the neighborhood, she thought about what it’d be like to have her own place… an actual home of her own. Did she want that? Yes. And though she wouldn’t say it out loud, not even to Stacey, she also wanted to share that home with a husband and family. All while having a job she loved and excelled at.Maybe you do know what you want.But so far, she’d taken the wrong path to get it, because as great as it was to have a friend like Stacey, she was sitting in the backyard of a rented home, feeling restless, and tonight, she’d go to bed alone.
Everly glanced at the gift bag and couldn’t help but laugh.
When Stacey passed her back her book, Everly stared down at her list. Stacey had added more than ideas; she’d included funny little notes with arrows pointing at a few of them and a smiley face beside the last one.
The Rules for Turning 30
Ten Rules for Faking It
Focus on the good.
No hoarding—animals or otherwise.
Stay home on birthdays. Do something you enjoy on your birthday.
Try one new thing each month outside of your comfort zone.
Do something bold to gain notice at work. Pitchand push the podcast idea at the next meeting. End goal: getting our pick of time slots.
Do something exciting. Even if it gives you hives. Be bold. Even if it gives you hives.
Figure out what makes you happy and grab on tight. No more holding back.
Date men who make you feel things. (And no, I actually don’t just mean those things. Stop hiding, Everly.)
Believe in yourself, in your value as a friend, lover, girlfriend, daughter, producer, and all-around great human.
Make the first move. (A real move. Lip-locking, hand-grazing, sultry-look giving. You choose.)
Her stomach only wobbled a little, but Everly convinced herself that was from eating too much cake and not because she was scared.If you’re scared and doing it, anyway, that counts as something from the list.She inhaled deeply, feeling her chest expand before she let the breath out slowly. Maybe it was time to make some changes. For herself.
[5]
Chris rarely worked from home. It made him stir-crazy. But today, he couldn’t face Everly, he couldn’t deal with being at the station, looking at her and Stacey, knowing he didn’t have an answer for how to save their jobs.
Why did he put up with his dad’s garbage? Was it really going to get him where he wanted to be?
“Knock off the pity party,” he muttered, bringing his coffee to the small table by the patio that overlooked a busy street.
His phone buzzed with the group text he and his brothers had started so long ago, he’d probably never find the beginning. Chris had updated them on Ari’s new plan, and the three of them were alternating between coming up with ideas to distract her and complaining about their father.Totally productive.
NOAH:If you boost the ratings, especially during that time segment, Dad can’t fight you.
CHRIS:Thanks, genius. I hadn’t thought of that.
NOAH:That’s why I’m here.
WESLEY:The numbers really aren’t that bad. I played with some of the data, and it looks like when you targeted ad space and music to a specific demographic, your ratings improved.
NOAH:Do you ever get tired of talking like that?
WESLEY:Like I know what I’m doing? No. But I get why it would be hard for you to understand. Most things are.
