Page 109 of The Marriage Narrative
He was staring at his drink, spinning the short glass in an endless self-loathing circle on the increasingly damp napkin, when someone finally leaned against the bar on his left.
But it was only Mabel, loftily holding a champagne flute. Behind her, his camera pod suddenly began filming the party instead of him.
“You,”he accused. “Youknewthat Bea had been filming this whole time.”
“Obviously. She has her owndevastated and drowning herself in work before nostalgia makes her do something stupidstoryline going on.” She sipped her drink and then mused, “I’ve never been good with titles.”
God damn it. Jordan’s jaw was beginning to hurt from clenching his teeth. “Why didn’teitherof you tell me? You could’ve at leastwarnedme the trailer was releasing tonight!”
“We would’ve if you bothered to ask. Not to mention that you just joined the bigger picture brigade,” she said. “Look, Sadie never reveals her entire plan to anyone. That includes me, by the way. You just have to trust her.”
“Of course I do.” With his life, but maybe not with his wife.
“Good. Because she’s retiring from the show but not the industry and I warned you: lots of moving parts to this shit. We’re keeping eyes on us by any means necessary, while making sure they only look wherewewant them to.”
Speculation is relevancy and any relevancy is cultural currency. Sadie was banking on theZaffre Hoursfinal season to take all of their careers to the next level—Bea must’ve wanted in on the spectacle.
Mabel had admitted that his mom got ahead of herself with matchmaking. Bea never wanted to actually reunite with him. He’d beenrightfrom day one.
“Is Bea here?” he asked.
“She was slated to be, but something suddenly came up. A schedule snafu, if you will,” she said, overenunciating everys.
“Sadie.”
Mabel tapped her nose. “She only pushes, never breaks. And just between us, it’s the network you need to be worried about. They put Bea on the guest list, but Sadie caught it in the eleventh hour. You’re taking too long to pop the question.”
“It’s only been twenty-seven days. We had an agreement.”
“Yeah,wedid.” Mabel gestured between them. “But whenyoudon’t move fast enough, the network retaliates by fucking up your personal life. They’ll always hit you where it hurts most. Sadie keeps them on their toes to keep them out of her business. If you’re going to follow in her footsteps, do it right. Here comes our girl.” She pointed past the bar. “And the wolves are already descending.”
Zinnia
Even as hyper-focused as she was on getting to Jordan, there was no ignoring the amount of double takes being tossed her way. No one was saying anything because ogling, whispering, laughing got their message across just fine.
She was in no way prepared for viewers to choose sides in a love triangle she never agreed to be in. The real high school sweetheart versus a kindergarten chic imitation. This could notpossiblybe her life right now.
A woman reached out to grab her arm—Zinnia twirled in an elegant circle to avoid being touched. “Well, hello there,” she greeted calmly, swishing to a stop.
“Hello, yourself.” She was a pretty white woman with dark hair wearing a black dress. “I’ve been friends with Amber for years. I’ve heard so much about you the past few months—it’s lovely to finally put a face to the name. She left out how…striking you are.”
Months of practicing had prepared Zinnia for this moment. She hid the startled deer-in-the-headlights look that always told on her with a deft smile for the camera pod. “Did she? Now, that’s not like her.”
The older white man next to her raised his distinguished gray eyebrows. “She did mention that you were an artist. What kind?” he asked.
“Digital primarily, but I’m proficient in several mediums. Currently, I’m designing a limited-edition winter cup collection for Tantivy Shops. Jordan is the founder and owner. It’s done so wellorganically that he’s been able to comfortably expand to two, soon to be three, locations in under two years.”
“Is Alfie limiting himself to the West Coast?”
“For now. Contributing to the community and becoming a part of the local economy is so important to him. He still hand selects each location ensuring he can be on-site for at least six months post-opening.”
“That’s an interesting approach. Where is he?”
“Just over there. I should get back to him. Very lovely to meet you both.” Zinnia dazzled them with a parting smile before fleeing toward the bar.
“Excuse me, Miss?”
She’d barely made it ten steps! But being approachable was nonnegotiable in this line of work. “Yes?”
