Jenny's First Book Deal!

When I started writing this little blognovel here, I knew I couldn't be the only person writing like this. Somewhere, someone else was probably just as lazy as me, and wanted other people to tell them what to write about.

So I started to investigate. I found Destiny Chasers, a blognovel thing for young readers that a woman named Ceri is writing, and I also found Fiction Express,  which is also for young people, who have to pay 39pence to "unlock" each week's chapter. Just like with Katie's story, the authors (who are all Real Authors with Actual Published Books) end each chapter with three or four choices, and the next chapter written is based on whichever choice got the most votes.

With some encouragement, and in a fit of crazy, I wrote up a sample first chapter for a young adult novel (at the time called "Twice Upon a Time In Mexico") and sent it to the publisher. And they commissioned it!

"Falling Backwards" is about Leah, a 16-year-old who is on her way to Mexico on an exchange. While on the plane she meets April, a woman who did a Mexican exchange 17 years ago, only hers was a disaster. The plane goes through a terrible storm, Leah faints, and when she awakens she finds herself in April's 16 year old body, in 1994.

The first chapter goes "live" on November 18th, at which point readers will have three days to download, read, and vote on what should happen in the next week's chapter. I'll be emailed the results from the votes on Monday morning, and I'll have to write a 3,000 word chapter to be sent to my editor for Wednesday. We'll then go back and forth with the chapter until Friday morning, when the chapter is published, and we do it all over again. This whole exercise will repeat itself for 10 weeks....(11 chapters in total).

I'm pretty excited, though nervous. I think it'll be a great time, and I really hope you'll all read it and participate. It will be so nice to have friends along for the ride!

The sad thing is that I won't have as much time to devote to other things in life, such as eating, laundry, or writing Katie and Eoin's story. Because I will still be working full time, and this new book is being "Edited" I can't just write a chapter and throw it up there at the last minute, spelling errors and all. It has to be Professional. Which means Katie, my non-professional, might have to take a back seat.

I will still try to write new chapters for her when I can, but they might be quite short. I know you will understand, and I am NOT abandoning her -- we still have a lot of her story to tell. We'll get there....

And here is where you come in.

WOULD ANY OF YOU LIKE TO BE A GUEST WRITER? WOULD ANY OF YOU LIKE TO WRITE A CHAPTER OF THIS STORY???

Please let me know if you'd like to take a week or two and help me to finish Katie's story...I could help with editing and things if you are nervous about it.

Okay! So that's the news.

Jenny

Chapter 36: In Which The Author Writes a Bunch of Dialogue Which May or May Not Have Any Bearing On The Novel As A Whole, But She Was On a Roll

Just then Katie’s phone in began to vibrate. “It’s Eoin,” she said.

“He says he thinks he’s in love with you.” Bobby sighed. “Heaven help him.”

“Should I answer it?”

“What have I been telling you? Live the life you want to live. And if that includes Mr Fancy Pants Artist, then answer the damn phone.”  

And Katie did. Because he maybe kind of loved her. And she maybe kind of loved him. And that was a pretty fantastic start to the rest of her life. 

* * * 

"So this is the infamous Rococo Room." Eoin, off the booze for the night, took a sip of his soda-with-lime. 


"Infamous?" Katie was nursing a Moscow mule. "Is it?" They were leaning against a railing dividing the VIP room from the riff raff. She still hadn't asked him about this "love" business. She wasn't entirely sure how to bring it up. Nor had she told him about Bobby being her ex. She wasn't sure the Rococo Room was the best environs for either chat.

"Well, sure." Eoin said. "I mean, it's all this crowd was talking about for, like, the whole walk over." His long arm swept the space, where Melissa's friends were all lounging around on crushed velvet sofas and leaning against ornately-patterned wallpaper. The place looked like a very upscale brothel. Eoin's head had nearly hit a low-hanging chandelier on their way in. 


"It is pretty fancy," conceded Katie. "I just wish the drinks weren't so expensive." 


"That's how you know you've made it," he said. "When the drinks cost more than the snacks."


"I believe they're called tapas in a place like this." Katie felt a bit giddy, and it wasn't just the vodka. Even though her conversation with Bobby had been difficult, it had been freeing, in a way. He seemed like he was doing okay. He was over by the bar, chatting with Melissa. Katie would have to ask her later what they talked about. 


"Whatever," Eoin rolled his eyes. "Do you want anything?" He proffered a Tasting Menu and they scanned the list. "Look. Nachos! Don't they seem a bit too common for this place?" 


"Ah, these are made in the Rococo Style -- see? Served with caramelized vegetables and rich dipping sauces, in an ornately sculpted bowl."

"Ooh! Are you guys getting food?" Rebecca had not slowed her booze consumption; she was carrying around a bottle of champagne and a glass. "Anyone want some? I got it for Melissa's big day. But she only wanted one glass!" She hiccuped and poured out the dregs from the bottle. "Oops! Nothing left for you two."


"That's fine. We're okay," said Eoin. 


"Listen, Katie. I need to talk with you," Rebecca whispered loudly.


"You do?"


"Yes." Rebecca wedged herself into the space between Eoin and Katie. "I've been talking with your cousin Violet about the great success she's had with your marketing campaigns --"

"You have?"


"Yes. I got the number from that mousy little assistant of yours."

"Erica gave you Violet's number?" 

"Yes. I called the office yesterday. You weren't there so Erica helped me out. I hope that's okay."

"Of course, it's fine." Erica must have given Rebecca her own cellphone number and pretended to be Violet.  Erica's work with the Improfessionals was certainly paying off.

"I must confess that I was thinking of leaving your organization and taking my business elsewhere -- though Melissa is a lovely girl, she's just not giving me what I want." Rebecca tried to pour more champagne from the bottle, obviously having forgotten that it was empty. "But before I left, I wanted to hear from Violet. She's been such a loyal client, and I know it can't just be the family connection." 


"So what did she tell you?" Katie was almost afraid to ask. 


"Oh, that you think outside the box, that you're a super leader, and really nice. That kind of thing. That when you going, you're really inspiring and have great, creative ideas...you know."


"She really said all that?" Katie felt a warm glow. She really should get Erica a plant or something for her desk.


"So here's the thing. I've got a proposition for you." For a drunk person, Rebecca suddenly seemed very sober. 


"Sure. Anything." 


"I don't know if you've noticed, but there's some pretty creative graffiti around town lately. Some interesting posters, too, and the other day my assistant came across a set of postcards left in a phone booth. I think it's all the same artist -- there's always the word fantastic mixed in. It's really inspired." 


Katie grabbed Eoin's hand and squeezed hard. "You hearing this, Eoin?" 


"I sure am." He squeezed back. 


"I want that artist, whoever it is. I want that artist to design my campaign." Rebecca pointed a finger in Katie's face. "Find me that fantastic person or I walk." 


You Decide! 


Katie and Eoin tell Rebecca the truth about the mastermind behind the graffiti campaign,


or


Katie and Eoin pretend they have no idea what Rebecca is talking about.

Chapter 35: In Which Katie and Bobby Have An Emotional Talk In The Rain

Dammit! Bobby had found Eoin before she’d been able to explain. She hadn’t wanted that to happen. She’d wanted to break it to him gently, she wanted him to hear about her new relationship from her. And she wanted Eoin to find out about Bobby from her. Damn David and his unborn child!

Maybe there was still time. She hovered around the door way, eavesdropping.

“Katie? Sure, I know her,” Eoin said pleasantly in his kind, sexy, Irish accent.

“Do you know her well?” Bobby asked.

Okay. That was it. She should go in now. Before it was too --

“Definitely.” Eoin kind of slurred the word.  “She’s my girlfriend.” Really? He’d never called her that before. It was so sweet.  “And I’ll tell you this only because you’re a stranger and I’m drunk -- but I am pretty sure I’m  in love with her.”

What?

“Oh,” was all Bobby managed, and Eoin started giggling in this weird, nervous way. “Sorry, man, that was....wow. That totally came out of no where.”

No kidding. Katie stood there, outside the doorway, incredulous. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with her. Had he really said that?

“No, it’s fine,” said Bobby, but it wasn’t fine, Katie could tell from his voice that Bobby wasn’t fine. Katie’s heart was torn in two. On the one hand, she was happy (was she? Or was she freaked out? She thought she must be happy. But also freaked out. Surely that was a normal reaction to hearing that the person you’re seeing is a) your new boyfriend and b) in love with you? Especially if the first person he tells is your ex...) but on the other hand she felt sad for Bobby, the man who’d wanted to marry her, who had actually said, “No one will ever love you like I do,” when she’d left him. It didn’t seem fair that Bobby had to hear this.

And so Katie blundered into the room.

“Hey!” She leaped onto the bed, amongst the jackets. “Here you are!”  She wasn’t specific about who she meant by “you.” She could have meant anyone, she just needed to get into the room, into the conversation.

“I was just getting our jackets,” said Eoin.

“Thanks.” She took hers from him. Now what?

“So it turns out you know a talent scout,” Eoin said, leaning down to kiss her. Katie pulled away, jamming her arms into her jacket sleeves.

“Bobby? Oh, yes. I know him.” Katie looked over at Bobby and felt guilt overwhelm her. “I know him” was too simple, too generic. This was a man she’d loved.

“Well, I’m going to head out now,” Bobby was holding out a card to Eoin. “Eoin, I’d love for you to get in touch. I’ll be in town for the next few days if you’d like to show me your work.” The two men smiled Business Man smiles,  shook hands, and Bobby left the bedroom.

And Eoin’s long, strong arms were around her waist, pulling her in. He smelled like booze. “Katie, I’ve missed you. I’ve been talking with that guy all night. God, he was boring.”

“He’s not boring,” Katie said. “He’s just...organized.”

“How do you know him, anyway?”

“It’s a long story.”

“You didn’t used to date, did you?”

“Kind of. Look. I’ve just got to catch him. Wait for me here?”

“Sure,” Eoin smiled and kissed her cheek. “As long as you come back. As long as you’re not trying to get back together with him.”

“Never,” Katie promised. Eoin crawled onto the bed, under the coats, and Katie ran out of the bedroom.

Bobby wasn’t in the kitchen, wasn’t in the bathroom, wasn’t in the living room, wasn’t with the others, gathering in the hallway getting themselves organized to go to the Roccocco Room for part two of the party. She saw Melissa, who was changing into a pair of white ballet flats.

“No way I’m walking 6 blocks in these,” she held up the 4-inch heels. “Not when I plan to drink mojitos all night.”

“Good thinking,” Katie said, distractedly. “Listen, have you seen Bobby?”

“Yeah, I think he just left.”

“Thanks,” Katie said, already out the door and running towards the elevator. “Damn!” The elevator was going down, rushing towards the main floor. Katie took the stairs, two, three at a time, leaping to the landings and racing as fast as she could. She needed to talk to Bobby. She needed to say the things to him that she should have said so long ago but instead he was leaving, walking away, with her blase “oh, yeah, I know him,” and Eoin’s “I love her” running through his mind. (And through hers, too, Eoin’s words running round and round her head while she tried to decide how she felt about them, in a safe, quiet part of her heart set aside for things like that.

By the time she got downstairs the elevator was already on its way back up, and Bobby was nowhere to be seen in the lobby, so Katie rushed out of the building, and onto the sidewalk, the whole time wondering just what it was inside of her that was making her run after her ex-boyfriend instead of telling her new boyfriend that she loved him, too.

And then there he was, up ahead, Bobby, with his hands jammed into his pockets and his head hunched down against the wind. “Bobby!”

He stopped, turned around, and stood there, on the sidewalk, under the street light. “Katie?”

“Wait there!” She called. “I need to talk to you.”

She ran as fast as she could in her impractical party shoes (unlike Melissa, she did not travel with a spare pair), but Bobby didn’t move to get closer; he only stood there, waiting for her to catch up. There was a time he’d have gone anywhere, done anything, for her, but tonight he was standing firmly in one place, making her come to him.

“Bobby.” She had finally caught up to him. “I need to talk to you.”

“Yeah,” was all he said. “Me too.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to town?”

“Would it have mattered?” He looked tired, hurt.

“Well, I would have been prepared.”

“What would you have done differently?”

“I would have invited you out for lunch, for one.” She tried for playful, for a smile. It was starting to rain, a little, the cold drops of spring.

“I don’t know why I didn’t tell you. I guess I didn’t want to see  you.”

“So you came to Melissa’s birthday party?”

“I guess I secretly did want to see you.”

“That’s fucked.”

“I know.”

And they smiled. And the rain came down harder.

“Look, Bobby, don’t go. I want to explain about Eoin.”

“What’s there to explain? You came here to break into the art world. It only makes sense that you’d hook up with one of it’s brightest lights.” Bobby only sounded a little bit bitter, he was also kind of in awe.

“It’s not like that. I’m not an artist. I’m just …” Katie pulled her jacket hood up. “I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing. And I feel badly, I feel guilty about you because … my life is kind of a mess. And I need to apologize, Bobby. Please, let me apologize.”

The sky cracked, lighting sliced through the darkness above. The rain kept coming, and yet they still stood there, not moving.  

“Why should you apologize? Why should you feel sorry about me?”

“Because I’m a loser!” And then thunder crashed around them with perfect dramatic timing. “I left you do great things with myself, I left you so I could be more than what I was, and now I’m … I’m nothing!”

And of course Katie was crying, of course she was. Bobby reached out and pulled her into his arms, held her close, and though it felt different than it used to feel, it still felt nice, it still felt comforting.

“I highly doubt you’re nothing, Katie.” Bobby started walking them back towards the condo building.

“I’m working at an office!” Katie gulped. “I never paint. My sister is a drunk. She’s homeless, you know? Like, she walks dogs for a living. And I was supposed to have an art show and I froze. I chickened out. I left you and our life so I could be better, be amazing, and I’m just …”  

They were back in the lobby, now, the rain battering the windows. Bobby shook his head. “I can’t help you, Katie. I can’t tell you it’s okay, because it’s not. Not if you feel that way. But it’s your fault. You left me to make something of yourself and you didn’t.” His words weren’t said with malice, or venom, they were matter-of-fact, and he was stroking the hair out of her eyes as he spoke. But, still: Katie’s heart went cold.

It was the meanest, cruelest thing anyone had ever said to her. “What?” This was not the loving, patient boyfriend she’d known.

“Katie, listen. You do not need to feel guilty, or badly, about what you did to me. I am fine. I had a rough six months but honestly? I’m doing a lot better. But it sounds like you’re not.”

“I was supposed to be be fantastic.”

“So do something about it. But stop feeling guilty about me. Stop worrying that what you’re doing, or not doing,  affects me. Because I’m more or less over you.”

“You are?”

“As over you as I can be. I mean, you basically destroyed my heart and ruined my life plans. But, you know, I’m trying to make the best of things. So why aren’t you?”

Just then Katie’s phone in began to vibrate. “It’s Eoin,” she said.

“He says he thinks he’s in love with you.” Bobby sighed. “Heaven help him.”

“Should I answer it?”

“What have I been telling you? Live the life you want to live. And if that includes Mr Fancy Pants Artist, then answer the damn phone.”  

And Katie did. Because he maybe kind of loved her. And she maybe kind of loved him. And that was a pretty fantastic start to the rest of her life.

You Decide!

I have an idea about what I want to have happen with Rebecca and Katie, but I’m unsure as to the setting. It involves Katie’s Guerilla Art Projects.

Should it go down at the Roccocco Room, where Eoin and Rebecca are both drunk,

or 

should it happen on Monday at work, where Rebecca is totally embarassed about her behaviour at the bar? (NB: this choice would mean we jump ahead in time, and you won’t get to read about the Rococco Room)

I'm a Winner! (and a nominee)

Last week something super-fun happened! Mary Kate Leahy at House of Laoch awarded me my first blog award. It's called the 7x7 Link Award.


The idea is that I find seven posts on my blog that fit seven categories, and then I award the 7x7 award to seven of my favourite bloggers!


So here goes:


Most Beautiful --Chapter Fifteen: In which Katie makes a speech and a friend shows up to save the day!
Katie's emotions are very real and honest in this chapter; it's the first time she seems very vulnerable. I was definitely in The Zone while writing it, which is a beautiful experience, and I think that the writing itself is pretty lovely, too. I have also gotten lots of great, positive comments about this one, (many of you thought it was a really moving read), which is beautiful, too!

Most Helpful -- Chapter Six: Katie has supper at her mother's house

At the end of Chapter Five, I really thought you'd all go for the "Stalk Ex Boyfriend On Facebook" option. I was so confident, in fact, that my second option, which was "Have Supper at Her Mother's House" was kind of a throw-away: I didn't think I'd have to write it. But then you all picked the wrong one, and suddenly I had to write about Katie and her mother. In the end, this proved to be an extremely helpful post to have to write, because I had to explore Katie's family life, which ended up creating a much more intricate story about Anne, the homeless sister.

Most Popular -- Chapter One: In which we meet our heroine

Surprise, surprise! The first chapter has had the most views. Now if I could somehow get those people who stopped reading after one chapter to move on to Chapter Two, ect...

Most Controversial -- In Chapter 19: In which Katie attempts Cognitive Therapy Katie has to decide what to eat for supper -- Thai or Italian. In the chapter, Katie makes some rather stereotypical observations about the other cultures with whom she shares Toronto. While nothing of what she says is overtly racist, I wondered if Katie's comments, such as worrying about the restaurant being filled with "intimidating Italian men in their undershirts, drinking tiny cups of coffee, leering at her" and her insistence on referring to the man who owns the Thai restaurant as "Mr Thai", might be construed as insensitive and, well, not very P.C. I did hope that within the rest of the chapter, Katie's uncomfortable ignorance might be humorous, and, I suspect, somewhat familiar to some of us...But I still worried this was a bit controversial.

Most Successful --Well, obviously THIS one that you're reading right now, since this is the post where I'm talking about my award!

Most Under-rated -- In June I attempted Jenny's First Giveaway! in which I was giving away a novel to a lucky reader. I was convinced I'd have dozens of people clambering to win the book, and I didn't. I really thought this was just the best idea ever, but my readers just waited patiently for me to post another chapter. What did I learn? My readers aren't interested in winning other authors' novels. They're interested in reading mine. Which is pretty great, actually.

Most Pride-worthy -- I think this would have to go to the last chapter I've written (in this case, Chapter 34: In which Melissa cries cause she wants to. (You would cry, too, if it happened to you.). I'm proudest of the last chapter I wrote, because it means I'm still writing.

So now I will nominate seven other super bloggers! They are:

Retirement is Work, where the Reluctant Retiree finds one good (and funny, and true) thing to say each day about retirement.

Shopping Detox, where you can learn all about how to live frugally, fashionably, and fabulously!

Bread and Jam, because Frances knows what a cutlet wears before it's breaded.

Famscans, where Nina posts no-holds-barred photos of her hilarious family. Most of them were taken at Disneyland (Disneyworld? Someplace with rides and large fuzzy animals) and most of them feature extreme outfits and/or emotions. It's like Awkward Family Photos with only one family.
 

Kitchen Retro, where you can look at fun old advertisements, and read witty commentary by a fine writer!


Adventures of Cinderita Rita is currently engaged in a super-awesome project in which she hugs a new stranger every day for a year. By the end of the year she'll have 365 new friends!

http://readywritego.blogspot.com/ Where Cherie shares wise words about writing. I also quite like this blog's design!


Also, I just discovered I've been nominated for the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards in the Best Written, Humour, and Writing & Literature categories!

Chapter 34: In which Melissa cries cause she wants to. (You would cry, too, if it happened to you.)

They stood there in silence for a while. The party was in full swing in the next room, but any minute now Nora would appear to whisk them off to the VIP lounge. Or Eoin would show up. And Katie hadn’t really told Eoin anything about Bobby, about the breakup, about any of it. And Rebecca was going to come out of the bathroom eventually.  Katie needed to take action, she needed to make a move. But she was frozen -- it was those Terrible Four Months all over again, when she was overcome with fear.

Luckily she didn’t have to say anything, because for once Bobby spoke first. “Listen, Katie, I didn’t come back for you.”

“You didn’t?”

“No. I’m actually here to check out a new artist. Perhaps you've heard of him? Eoin Verdon?"

"I'm sorry. What?" People were talking, the music was loud, Rebecca was singing "Dancing Queen" loudly over the flushing toilet. Maybe Katie hadn't heard him right.

Bobby leaned in closer, took her elbow. "I said, Eoin Verdon. He's a new artist, an up-and-comer, and the museum wants to talk to him about a project he's working on."

"Oh." This was a wrinkle.

"So do you know him? I mean, I know you're back in the art scene." Because you left me and our life together in order to pursue your career as an artist, so you'd damn well better be making a name for yourself was what Katie was reading loud and clear between the lines.  

"Yeah." She took a deep breath -- she would have to tell him. After all, Eoin was at the party. He was kind of her boyfriend. Bobby was going to find out soon; better it come from her. "He's actually....Umm.... We met a couple of months ago--"

Just then the bathroom door opened and out strolled Rebecca, who was holding a hair-brush as a microphone. "Young and sweet, only seventeen..." she trilled, rather off-key, but it didn't matter -- her volume more than made up for it. "Come on, kids!" With an arm around both their shoulders, she pulled them in for a group sing-along. "You can dance, you can ji-hive, having the time of your life, ooohooh!" Bobby and Katie swung and sung along for a couple of lines. Rebecca patted them both on the cheeks, handed the hair brush to Bobby, and began bopping along to the song her in head on her way towards the rest of the party.

But the interlude was only a temporary reprieve. Katie couldn't hide forever. "The thing is, Bobby, Eoin's here tonight. We're --"

"He's here?" Bobby's eyes lit up. "I wasn't sure how to find him. We have no information on where he lives, where he works. And you know him! Can you introduce us?"

"It's not like he's Bansky, or something," said Katie, feeling somewhat irritated. Suddenly Bobby was more interested in Eoin than he was in her.

"Not yet," Bobby finished off his drink. "But he's going to be huge, Katie."

"Is he?" Katie tried to quash the jealousy that was surfacing. She couldn't be competing for her ex- boyfriend's attention with her new boyfriend. That was crazy.  And yet, Katie never imagined that the first thing she'd be talking with Bobby about, after nearly a year of no contact, would be Eoin.


"So how are you doing?" She laid a hand on Bobby's arm, trying to bring the conversation back to them. "How have you been? It's a shock to see you here. I'd love to catch up."  

"Of course," Bobby said. "Yes, we'll totally have to chat. But listen, can we talk to Eoin first? Just in case he's going home early. Or has another party to go to. You know artists!"

"Yeah. Okay. But listen, Bobby, I should tell you something. It's --" Suddenly her cell phone was ringing. It was Melissa. “Just a sec,” she said to Bobby. “Hello?”

“Katie! Where are you?”

“I’m at your party. Where are you?”

“I’m in the elevator.”

“Why?”

“Can you come please? Come to the elevator?” Melissa was clearly crying.

“Okay.” Katie hung up. “Look, Bobby, I know this is bizarre, but it’s Melissa. She’s having some sort of crisis. Can, um, can it wait to meet Eoin? I should really deal with whatever this is.”

“Sure.” Bobby and Melissa had always been friends. “If she’s having a meltdown at her own party, this must be serious.”

“Thanks. I promise I won’t leave until we have a chance to talk.”

On her way out of the apartment, Katie found Eoin in the kitchen, pouring himself a drink. “Listen,” she said. “I have to find Melissa. She’s having a crisis. She’s summoned me to the elevators.”

Eoin raised an eyebrow (damn he was sexy). “That sounds intense,” he said. “Take fortifications.” He handed her a bottle of white wine and a bag of pretzels.  

“Thank you.” She hugged him quickly, fiercely, and hurried to find her friend.

***

“She’s what?”

“Pregnant. Five months, apparently.” Melissa took a deep gulp of wine.

“And they told you this?” Katie took the bottle from her. They had put an emergency stop on the elevator and they were drinking while suspended in mid-air. The situation was that dire.

“Yep. When they arrived. It was pretty obvious, though. Georgina’s like, already out to here.” Melissa put a hand about two feet in front of her tiny, flat stomach.

“Do you think that’s why they got married?” Katie nibbled on a pretzel.

“I don’t know, Katie. All I know is I was finally feeling okay about them as a couple, I mean we made ‘friends’,” she air-quoted the word, “at the wedding, but that was before this. This is …” Melissa took the bottle from her friend.

“Yeah.” Katie took it back. They drank in silence for a while.

“So, this changes things.” Katie handed Melissa the last sip.

“Well, kinda. Don’t you think?”

“But you never wanted kids,” Katie’s voice was careful, measured.

“That doesn’t mean she gets to have any!” Melissa’s voice was not.

“I see where you’re coming from.” Katie leaned over and hugged her normally calm, cool friend. “Do you think we can stay in here all night?”

Melissa wiped her eyes. “No. It’s my party. I should go back.” She didn’t move.

“You don’t have to. You can totally cry if you want to. That lady in the '50s made it a rule. And, if you think about it, your situation is pretty much the same as hers was.”  
“What?”

“You know, 'Judy and Johnny just walked through the door, like a queen with her king, oh what a birthday surprise, Judy’s wearing his ring!'” Katie’s singing voice was marginally better than Rebecca’s, but it still made Melissa laugh."So should we go in there and face your ex and his demon spawn?"

“I’m pretty sure David and Georgina left.” Melissa fished around the pretzel bag.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I told them they were a couple of insensitive assholes and that they had to leave.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Not before I got my present from them, though.” Melissa pulled an envelope out of her pocket and took out a gift card for Swiss Chalet.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Dave knows I like the dipping sauce.” At that Katie and Melissa started laughing, quite hard, actually. So hard they forgot the pretzels in the elevator when they went back to the party.

***

“You’re just in time!” Nora greeted them at the door to her apartment. She was in a cool navy blue leather jacket. “We’re just about to get going. Where were you two?”

“Getting drunk in the elevator,” Melissa said.

“Sure,” said Nora. “Whatever.” She ushered them inside, where party-goers were gathering, putting on shoes and jackets. “We’re going to be late for our reservation. So chop, chop everyone!”

“She doesn’t believe us,” Melissa giggled.

“That’s because she thinks you’re too good for drunken elevator escapades. I have to find my stuff.” Katie moved against the sea of bodies toward the bedroom, where the jackets were stored. But she stopped when she got the to doorway: Bobby and Eoin were already in there, talking as they picked up their coats.

Dammit! Bobby had found Eoin before she’d been able to explain. She hadn’t wanted that to happen. She’d wanted to break it to him gently, she wanted him to hear about her new relationship from her. And she wanted Eoin to find out about Bobby from her. Damn David and his unborn child!

Maybe there was still time. She hovered around the door way, eavesdropping.

“Katie? Sure, I know her,” Eoin said pleasantly in his kind, sexy, Irish accent.

“Do you know her well?” Bobby asked.

You Decide!

Eoin replies with: “Definitely. She’s my girlfriend. And I’ll tell you this only because you’re a stranger and I’m drunk -- but I am pretty sure I’m  in love with her.”

OR

Eoin replies with: “Well enough. We’ve been hanging out quite a lot recently, but we’re re just friends; it’s nothing serious.”