That’s right. My pocket-sized friend is only pretending to date Kate Finn for a job she won’t go into details about. It’s frustrating, but since I doubt Mr. Tanaka would put her in danger—and she has a black belt in Taekwondo if he did—I’m sure she’ll be fine.
Maybe he thought Bex needed to get out as much as I did. For the last two weeks, she’s been at Kate’s side for six public events and one live-streamed shopping excursion. Recalling all the times I’ve tried and failed to take her clothes shopping, I’m still a little upset that I wasn’t invited to that.
“Oh, you can’t leave yet!” She looks crestfallen. “We had this plan and… Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
“Any hints about the plan she’s talking about, Valentine? Is it sinister? Machiavellian?”
“Memorable. She wanted to make tonight memorable for you,” he says to his water glass.
“But you didn’t agree, so you’re trying to depress me by being extra, broody and interrogatory instead?” I tease, nudging his arm with mine.
“I’m sorry, Win.” He runs a large hand over his face and sits up a little straighter. “I really did want to hang with you, but I think this whole situation is fucking me up. Yours and… Well, you know.”
I am aware. “You should have told her sooner. And when I say sooner, I’m talking decades ago, when puberty hit and you imprinted on her like an overgrown baby duck.”
He doesn’t laugh. “She wasn’t ready then. And now she’s so obsessed with paying imagined debts and proving herself that she doesn’t think before she volunteers for things like this.”
“You mean things like making out in public with the infamous and beautiful Queen Calamity?”
“She’s not royalty,” Val grumbles. “She’s an online influencer and party girl.”
And his new nemesis, if his attitude is anything to go by.
“Queen Calamity is her username on social media and her following is now the size of a small country,” I inform him. “In this brave new world we live in, that sort of makes her royalty.”
“Whatever. Bex isn’t making out with her because she wants to. Some online stalker started taking her crazy to the real world and Bex is trying to flush her out.”
That news is a slap in the face I didn’t need tonight. “What the hell?That’swhat’s going on? Why didn’t I know this?”
“I only found out today. For some reason all my friends are keeping really important shit to themselves lately.”
“This isn’t the same thing.” I can’t believe her boss actually agreed to this. It doesn’t make sense. “If it’s an online stalker, why didn’t Tanaka handle it himself? I thought there was no one he couldn’t find with an internet connection.”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
Neither do I. Bex and I are going to have a little talk about her dangerous decision-making as soon as possible. Information gathering is one thing, but making herself bait for some nut job? Val’s right. She takes unnecessary risks. Yet another topic for our upcoming intervention.
That and her new entanglement with the Finns. She knows better. Coming to the pub is one thing, but getting involved with them is a whole different ballgame. One of our favorite bartenders here at Finn’s Pub was blissfully single until a member of that family set his sights on her. Now she’s— Okay, she’s still happy, but she’s also constantly pregnant and we hardly ever see her.
“Do you think it’s just an act?” Val asks, his eyes on Bex and Kate, who are standing in a loose embrace near the stage.
I’m not sure how to answer him. Over the last six years, Kate “Calamity” Finn has gone from working at her brother’s gym to social media stardom because of her wild reputation. She’s so beautiful that companies pay her to wear their clothes and sell their products. So charismatic that people follow her to bars and parties like she’s The Pied Piper of bad decisions. She’s made a career out of being the life of the party, and she’s known for being reckless, thoughtless and, well, calamitous if you’re looking for anything more serious than a temporary fling.
She’s exactly the kind of person Bex always steers clear of, so I know what Val wants me to say.Of course it’s an act.But after watching her play Kate’s constant, affectionate companion tonight, I’m not sure I believe it. And neither does Val, which is why he’s in a mood. I hope, for both their sakes, that she hasn’t caught any actual feelings for the Irish whirlwind who’s walking onto the stage. That way leads to heartbreak.
“Oi, you drunks,” Kate shouts into the microphone, though the way people react she might as well be purring. “Are you ready for one last prezzie from me before we pop off for the night?”
The pub vibrates with the answering affirmative roar.
“Somewhere in this pub is a man that can melt your knickers off with his voice. At least, that’s what I hear.” She winks. “It’s a big night for him, the start of a new adventure, but it’s going to be bigger if we can convince him to get up on stage and sing us a carol right now. If he’s any good, the band might ask him to be their temporary front man while theirs has a baby. Since he could use the money, let’s hope he’s also got the pipes.”
Another roar, this one fanning out as the crowd looks around for the promised crooner. I have this inescapable feeling that she’s talking about me. Did Bex get her fake girlfriend to turn my temporary unemployment party into an audition I didn’t ask for?
“No,” I say as I meet Val’s knowing gaze.
He’s finally smiling. Almost.
“Absolutely not,” I repeat more vehemently.
