Page 8 of Love Hollow at Last
All the details of the Zion Creek Pilgrimage were already threatening to overwhelm her.The museum had held the event annually since it opened, and seeing people who were there as internees and their descendants never failed to move her.For her grandparents, it had been a hugely important event, a chance for them both to reconnect with old friends and to take pride as they showed off a successful farm and a growing extended family.Noah had once known how central it was, but apparently, holding a festival that would make the whole desert stink of weed was more important to him.
“The museum almost never brings in revenue?”he asked, and she kicked herself mentally.
“We do.I mean, that’s not the point.That’s not what being a nonprofit is about.”
“If revenue is the main thing here… Listen, I can tell you?—”
“It’s not,” snapped Aya.“The point is that you cannot allow this festival to go on right in the backyard of the camp.And to call it ‘Love Hollow Lovefest’ without even considering our history?”
She could see him exhaling.“I’m sorry.I’m getting a history lesson from you now?”
“I have a PhD in history!”she shouted at him.“Almost.I’m finishing it next semester.”
The weight of the lie fell between them.Aya wondered, for a moment, if Noah was going to call her out on it.But what he said next was even uglier.
“Sue me,” he said.
Aya’s voice fell by half an octave.“Excuseme?”
“It’s something I learned in the music industry.I’m going to do what I planned to, and if you have a big-enough problem with it, you and the museum will bring a lawsuit.And I’ll deal with that lawsuit.”
They definitely didn’t have the budget for anything legal at all.Even as Aya thought through the people she could call who might offer something pro bono, it all seemed ridiculous.There wasn’t time for a lawsuit anyway.The Pilgrimage was about to happen.So was the festival.Even if they could create some kind of legal trouble, it would never work in time.
In a sense, Noah was right.And that was what infuriated her.She hadn’t dealt with the festival before, mostly because she hadn’t wanted to talk to him, and now it was too late to do anything.
“I’m not going to sue you,” she said.“And I don’t know if I can stop the festival.”She leaned on the side of the bridge.“But fuck you, Noah Kato.I will do every single thing I can, and I will go down trying to stop it.”
She walked away, listening to his plea.
“Aya, please.You can’t just leave.”
“I certainly can,” she said without turning.
“You really can’t.I’m stuck.”
8
Noah
Aya hesitated.She was probably wondering if she could just walk over the next hill and call the fire department.
“Please,” he said again.“If the fire department comes to rescue me, it’s going to be all over the news.”
“All publicity is good publicity,” she said, turning to look at him.
“Yes, but it would be humiliating,” he said, aware that he was begging.“And I’m sure they have better things to do.”
Aya took a step closer to him.“If I pull you out, you’ll cancel the festival?”
“I’ll make some concessions.I’ll write up a formal proposal, not just to you but to your whole board.”
He felt shocked that he had used the word “proposal” with her.But she didn’t seem to notice.She was contemplating the offer.
“Fine,” she said.“We’ll read what you have to offer.”
He felt so weak with relief that he almost fell over and sank into the creek.
“There’s a red box at the base of the bridge,” he said.“It’s sort of built into the third step?It looks like it’s locked, but it’s actually not.You’ll see that.”
