Page 77 of Pride and Protest
Good idea! That’s off too
I’m on my way.
Liza laughed out loud in the quiet room and jolted everyone out of their polite and quiet agreement on the grandeur of the home. Colin touched her arm. “Did you know I brushed past the First Lady at a book signing? She’s notthatnice,” he stage-whispered.
“Honey, why don’t we show Liza around the place?”
Colin walked Liza around their historic home, giving her infinite details about the original windows and the procedures associated with changing the baseboards in a historic home. “Senator De Berg has been kind enough to supplement the cost of some upgrades like central heating. Do you know how expensive installing central heating in a historic home is?”
“I bet it’s a lot,” Liza mumbled.
“Tons,” Colin corrected. For the third time, he looked down at her shirt.
“If we dine out with Senator De Berg, you won’t be wearing that shirt, will you?”
Liza looked down innocently. “I was thinking about it.”
“Once again, he is an ally,” Colin warned.
“Then he’ll laugh it off.”
“It’s crude.”
“It’s true.”
“Liza,” Chicho interrupted. “What about that cute little military-style blazer you have? Did you bring that? It would go great with your jeans and can class up your shirt.”
Liza loved that jacket. Chicho knew this. They looked at each other for a minute.
“C’mon. It gives you Janet Jackson ‘Rhythm Nation’ vibes,” Chicho wheedled.
“I know.” Liza rolled her eyes and slumped her shoulders. “I’ll wear the jacket.” Chicho mouthed, “Thank you,” and Liza checked off a box inside her head.
Smooth sailing with my BFF
Honestly, she and Chicho hadn’t talked much these past several weeks, and when they did, the conversation had taken on a new strained quality. Liza was frantically asking after everything with fake cheerfulness, and Chicho tried to tamp down her enthusiasm for her new life.
“The senator’s friends with Only Ms. Venezuela.” She used their nickname for Dorsey. “You’re just now getting over all of the memes, but I couldn’t tell him no.”
“No, it’s fine.” Liza pressed her lips firmly together and tried not to make any sudden moves. She knew Chicho would read her like a book. She would sniff out Liza’s wobbling facade of dislike before Liza even had a chance to truly understand it. Whatever this companionable texting thing that had sprung up between her and Dorsey was, Liza knew what itwasn’t. It wasn’t sex, and it wasn’t cheap. The depth of vulnerability they had shared with each other over text was just the tenderest thing in her fucking life right now. And she wasn’t ready to spoil that feeling just yet with flashlights and cross-examinations.
“Y’all, I thought we were going out tonight. But this one is better. We’ve been invited in!” Colin squealed. Chicho and Alfredo cheered.
“Invitedinis about six times as personal as being invited out,” Alfredo said sagely before Colin could say it himself. Liza saw a tinge of pride in Colin’s eyes. It was clear he had come to love Fredo, and for that, Liza gave him a break and held up one hand in a limp “raise the roof” pantomime.
“The senator said he’s especially excited to see you again, Liza!”
Dorsey sat in the back of the town car peeling away calluses on his hands. He had a nervous habit when he was a child of biting the rough skin, which had suddenly surfaced again out of nowhere. He planned to close the loop on his strange preoccupation with Liza Bennett and had called in his closest friend for reinforcement. Park was one of the most affable people he’d ever met, with a rare combination of charm and substance that made him irresistible to ladies even when he’d had empty pockets. They had met when Dorsey was on an ill-fated date at a Korean dumpling class in New York, and Park was the instructor making ends meet. The girl didn’t last, but the friendship had.
“You look like you’re about to get hit by a bus, dude.”
“Maybe I am.” Dorsey shifted in the back of the car.
“Oh, I have got to meet this woman. Instagram is not enough. All the lovely ladies I try to set you up with come back and tell me you’re an impossiblekkadonam.”
