Page 88 of Ten Rules for Faking It
The staff was wrapping up their air check meeting—a playback of the shows from the week before—on Monday morning when Chris switched gears. The fact that Everly recognized he was about to slip out of work mode only worried her slightly. As people got closer, they picked up on tells. That’s all this was.I bet once you spend some quality time with Owen, you’ll pick up on his nuances, too.That was her latest diversion. Whenever she thought of Chris, she made herself think of Owen. Sweet, cute, available Owen.
“I’ve been putting this off for too long, but with all the extra hours you guys have been putting in, I wanted to do something to show how much I appreciate you,” Chris said, looking around the table.
“You flying us to Hawaii?” Mason kicked back in his chair, giving Chris a toothy grin.
“Not quite. But there is a beach involved.”
“I like the sound of that,” Stacey said. She was doodling on a piece of paper while they chatted.
“I rented a house on the beach for next Saturday. All you guys have to do is show up. I’ll have food, drinks, and entertainment covered.”
It shocked Everly to realize that she felt excited.At the idea of socializing? Who are you? Where’s the real Everly Dean?What was happening to her?
Chris grew more enthusiastic. “We’ll have a lot to celebrate by the end of the week.”
Everly’s happiness deflated like a balloon. Right. She’d have made her final decisions on her love life.
“That’s awesome. That sounds fun. Where is it?” Stacey asked.
“I’ll have Jane send out all the information. There’s plenty of room for everyone to stay the night. I’ve arranged for pretaped segments and the remote deejay to cover Sunday’s spots.”
The staff started talking over one another, but Everly’s nerves crept in like a stealthy fun-sabotaging ninja.
“Hopefully no one minds, but my brother will be joining us. He’s out visiting from New York. Please feel free to bring your significant others,” Chris said.
“Oh, maybe Everly can bring her final choice. We don’t have to advertise it before the big reveal, but you’ll know by then, right, Everly?” Mason sat forward.
She nodded. “I guess, but I don’t want to bring anyone to a staff function.”
“But you’ll come, right?” Chris asked.
She turned her head. They were seated beside each other, and the minute their eyes locked, Everly felt like the others faded into the background.
“Of course.”
“Can we get back to work now? Is the meeting over?” Mari slapped a hand on the table, jolting Everly out of the moment.
“Sure. Sorry,” Chris said, appearing flustered like she felt. Which couldn’t be true.He has a wicked crush on you,Stacey had said. She was definitely more adept at picking up cues than Everly, but she couldn’t be right about that.
When Mari stood, Everly remembered what she’d wanted to do today. “Wait, I wanted to talk to everyone about something.”
All eyes turned her way, filling her stomach with lead. She took a deep breath. Stacey smiled at her, giving her a thumbs-up.
Chris moved his chair slightly closer. “What you wereworking on on Saturday?” He asked it so quietly, she almost didn’t hear him over the thunder of her heartbeat.
“Is that okay?”
“More than.” His ready encouragement boosted her confidence.
She pressed her hands flat to the tabletop so she wouldn’t fidget, then looked at her colleagues. Mari looked slightly pissed. Everly might not be great at social cues, but she hoped what she was about to say would eliminate the undercurrent of competition between them. Everly had no desire to compete with these people. They were…Holy shit. They’re your friends. Your work friends, but still.
She sat straighter, telling herself to pretend she was cool.Stay cool, Ponyboy.She grinned at the image of Veronica Mars saying that.
“I’d like to piggyback on the success of the dating promo by doing a real talk series. We can look into podcasts because I think it’s great to branch out, but after doing some research, I don’t know if we need to.” They didn’t look irritated, so she continued, “In the age of social media where everyone posts their best self, I feel like a lot of people would benefit from the truth. The other night, I chatted with a woman who talked about how hard it was to put herself out there. She said it was uplifting to know she wasn’t the only one. People want to know they’re quote-unquote normal. Whatever that even means. The point is, no one wants to feel like they’re alone. When we look at everyone else’s achievements, we feel less than. My proposal is that we do a series of interviews and chat spots with successful people who are willing to give us the gritty details.”
Mari shifted in her seat. “Gritty how? Like who’s cheating on their husbands and nanny cams?”
Everly pushed down on her instinct to sink farther into her chair.Explain it better.She glanced at Chris and Stacey. Neither of them looked ready to rescue her. She smiled. She didn’t need rescuing.
