Out of Practice

by Carsen Taite

  “Let’s get a backdrop with racks of dresses.” He looked at Abby. “You can show us that, right?” Turning back to Roxanne, he added, “Micah’s waiting to do a sound check. Meet you back here in five and let’s get started. Stuart wants to see film this afternoon.”

  Roxanne caught Abby’s eye and telegraphed her regret for the interruption with a frown, but it was probably for the best that everything about this shoot stayed professional, and a few minutes alone with Abby likely would’ve blown that all to hell.

  The sound check was a breeze, and a few minutes later, she was seated across from Tommy Barclay and they were both surrounded by a sea of bridal gowns. Abby was standing off to the side, a few feet out of her sight line, but simply knowing she was there gave her a charge. Focus. Focus.

  Tommy fiddled with the mic on his collar and drank an unusually large amount of water from one of the glasses Micah had set on the table between them. “I haven’t done many of these interviews either,” Roxanne whispered.

  “Then I guess asking you for advice about how to stay calm would be a bad idea?”

  “Probably. I do know one thing. I’m pretty good at one-on-one conversation. I plan to forget about the cameras and what will ultimately happen with the footage they’ll be taking today. It’s just you and me, talking about the business you love and have known all your life. Nothing more.”

  “When you put it that way, it sounds easy.”

  Roxanne picked up the other water glass and tilted it toward the one in Tommy’s hand. “Here’s to good conversation.”

  Tommy clinked his glass against hers and they both drank. Over the rim of her glass, Roxanne sought out Abby across the room and found her staring in her direction, wearing a flirty grin. She recognized the desire in Abby’s eyes, and took pleasure in knowing it was directed at her. For someone who insisted she was only interested in sex and friendship at most, Abby sure was attentive and sweet and thoughtful—several of the exact qualities Roxanne would like to find in whoever she chose to share her happily ever after. The problem was that more and more, she couldn’t think of anyone else she wanted to have that happily ever after with.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Abby downed her espresso and pointed at Wynne’s empty cup on the conference room table between them. “You want another?”

  “I’m good,” Wynne said. “Are you having another?”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “Well, you’ve already had two and it’s still early. At this rate, you may peak and crash before we ever get to the hearing.”

  Wynne had a point. They’d met at the office early to go over last-minute prep for the court appearance, but Abby was more focused on staying awake than on the papers in front of her. “You’re probably right, but I didn’t sleep well last night, and I want to make sure I’m fully caffeinated for whatever the twins’ attorney decides to throw our way this morning.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  Abby paused before answering. The truth was last night was the first time since the long weekend with Roxanne that she’d spent the night by herself, and it reminded her of how she’d felt after Roxanne had left her alone in Azure. Funny how you spend your whole life sleeping alone and a few nights with a certain someone and suddenly you start tossing and turning like it’s the night before the bar exam. Hopefully, tonight she and Roxanne would be celebrating a victory for Tommy and the brides-to-be, and tomorrow morning she’d wake up refreshed and ready to take on the next challenge. “Everything will be great once Judge Abel grants this injunction. We should probably start packing up. I’ll drive.”

  The phone on the conference room table buzzed and Abby pressed the intercom button. “Good morning, Graham. What’s up?”

  “Mr. Barclay is on line two with a matter of great urgency. And you should leave in five minutes to allow adequate time to traverse the distance to the courthouse.”

  Abby barely suppressed a laugh at the word “traverse.” “Certainly. We shall leave post-haste. Please put Mr. Barclay through immediately.” She hung up the line and when it buzzed again, she punched the intercom button. “Hi, Tommy. Is everything okay?”

  “Everything’s fine, or it will be once the judge rules in our favor. I just wanted to make sure you don’t need me to bring anything. I’ve got the prospectus and investment package for the online store in case you need it.”

  Abby looked over at Wynne who nodded. “Go ahead and bring it. I’m not sure the judge will let us get into your other business plans, but it’s better to be prepared. We’re about to leave for the courthouse now. See you there?”

  “You bet. Oh, and do you happen to know when the interview with Best Day Ever’s going to air? I was telling this woman I’m dating about it and I don’t think she believed me. Of course, the camera adds ten pounds, so I’m not sure I want her to see it. By the way, the chemistry between you and Roxanne is off the charts. How long have you been dating?”

  Abby nearly fell out of her chair in her rush to take the phone off speaker, but she could see by the knowing grin on Wynne’s face, it was way too late for damage control. “Hey, Tommy, I have another call coming in that I have to take before we leave. I’ll see you in a few.” She disconnected the call and slumped back in her chair. “Well, shit.”

  “It’s not the end of the world to be dating a smart and pretty woman you know.”

  “We’re not dating.”

  “Okaaay.”

  “You sound just like Campbell.”

  “I guess we’ve been dating too long then.”

  “Just long enough,” Abby said. “Besides, is it still called dating if you’re engaged?”

  “That sounds like a question for the BBF.”

  “It does, doesn’t it?”

  “Totally. You should ask her on your next date.”

  Abby laughed. “Clever. Very clever.” She decided to do exactly that, but in the meantime, it was time to get off this subject before she confessed out loud that she probably, kind of was dating Roxanne, and she actually liked it.

  The courthouse was in downtown Austin, only a few miles from their office, but Austin traffic was a bear on a good day, and it took thirty minutes to crawl the distance. As Abby made the turn in front of the building, she urged Wynne to start looking for an open parking meter. “I hate parking in that big lot. Someone always parks right up against my door and then I have to pretzel my way out of the car. Last time, someone dinged both sides. At least when you park on the street—”

  “Abby, look to your right. Right now.” Wynne pointed out the window and shook her finger for emphasis.

  Wynne’s tone was ominous, and Abby followed the line of her hand. It took a few seconds to register what she was seeing, but then she realized she’d seen it before, outside her office building—a crowd of women dressed normally except they were all wearing wedding veils and carrying signs. Except at her office there had been a few dozen women, tops. There were at least a hundred women marching in front of the courthouse right now. She narrowed her eyes and focused on the woman closest to her who carried a sign that read. I bought a wedding dress from Barclay’s and all I got was sore from holding this sign. Not the most original, but who needs original when you’ve got volume, and these brides-to-be had a ton of that. “This can’t be happening.”

  “I’m afraid it is,” Wynne said. “Don’t suppose you know a secret way into the building?”

  “Just the usual. I don’t understand why they are all whipped up again. I thought they’d calm down once Roxanne stopped posting about the store closing.”

  “Good question,” Wynne said, pulling out her phone. “Maybe there’s something in the news that got these women all hopped up about their MIA dresses again.”

  Abby drove up to the next street and turned right, determined to find a parking place well out of sight of the angry almost brides. While she idled behind a line a cars, her phone rang through the car speakers, and a glance at the dash told her it was To
mmy calling. She connected the call quickly in order to warn him not to approach the building yet. “Hey, Tommy, we’re outside the courthouse looking for a spot to park, but we’ve got a bit of a problem.”

  “You’re damn right we do. What the hell is your girlfriend up to? Did you know she was going to twist everything I said or were you so blinded by the sex you ignored her lack of ethics.”

  Abby’s head spun and she struggled to make sense of Tommy’s harsh words. “Tommy, I don’t know why you’re so angry, but protests on the courthouse steps are a thing. and this is not any different from the protests outside your stores. We’ll simply walk by these women with our heads held high, looking straight ahead.”

  “You think I’m talking about a bunch of women wearing veils and carrying signs? How petty do you think I am? I’m talking about the interview you talked me into doing. My investor sent me the link just now. It’s a complete disaster. I didn’t say those things and you know it.”

  “Tommy, I’ll call you right back.” Abby disconnected the call and looked at Wynne. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. The interview isn’t supposed to air until the premiere of the show. What’s happening?”

  Wynne was already typing on her phone, and Abby pulled over into a no parking zone, not caring at this point if she got a ticket. As soon as she put the car in park, Wynne handed her the phone. “There’s a commercial for the show on Best Day Ever’s website.”

  Abby tapped the play button and the screen filled with the image of Roxanne seated next to Tommy, while an off-screen voice said, “What if you say yes to the dress, but the dressmaker says no to you? Tune in next week to see the Bride’s Best Friend take on the disgraced owner of Barclay’s Bridal over the scandal that has brides across the country reeling.”

  “Okay,” she said turning down the volume. “It’s a little sensational, but the interview went very well. I’m not happy about the way it’s being billed, but networks pull this crap all the time to get people to tune in. I can’t even count how many times I’ve watched a Dateline episode because the commercial said it was going to rock my world, and it was a dud.”

  Wynne pointed at the screen. “Wait, it’s still going.”

  Roxanne was nodding at something Tommy said, and then she said, “I see.” Abby backed the video up to see what she’d missed. When she hit a spot where Roxanne was talking, she stopped and let it play.

  “I know that Barclay’s has taken pride in personalized customer service, but some people say the store closing was all about money.”

  While the camera panned row after row of dresses, Tommy’s voice could be heard in the background. “Yes, it is about the money.” The camera cut back to Tommy’s face and the off-screen voice cut in. “You’ll hear astounding admissions.” The camera focused back on Tommy from a different angle to catch him saying, “Brides can get their dresses somewhere else.”

  “Well, that sounds bad,” Wynne said.

  “It does. But that’s not what he said.” Abby backed the video up again and jabbed a finger at the screen. “Right here, where he mentions the money? What he actually said was in response to her question about his decision to open an online dress business. He said that it is about the money because if he has to use funds to fight this court battle, he wouldn’t be able to fund the reopening of the store. And the part about they could get their dresses elsewhere? He followed that up with, they will never receive the level of service and care that we can provide and that we believe every bride deserves. They’ve chopped up all the questions and answers and rearranged them to make it seem like Tommy’s a total jerk.”

  “There’s more,” Wynne said, pointing to the progress bar on the video. Together they watched while the disembodied voice promised further reveals and teased a couple more out of context quotes.

  Abby shook her head and stared at her phone. “I need to call him back, but I don’t know what to say. It’s my fault he gave that interview in the first place. I never thought she’d…” She couldn’t complete the thought because talking about Roxanne right now burned, and not in a good way. She’d gone her whole life without getting attached to another woman, and the first time she let her guard down, bam! Grace sure had called this one.

  She heard a ring and looked at her phone, thinking Tommy was probably calling to find out what was going on, but Wynne held up her phone and signaled for her to stay quiet.

  “Wynne Garrity,” she said. “Yes, Your Honor. We did see them. Yes. I know. I understand. We’ll wait to hear from you. Yes. Thanks for the call.” Wynne set her phone down. “Guess you figured out who that was.”

  “Judge Abel. Let me guess, she’s pissed about the brides.”

  “She’s not happy. Apparently, there are just as many inside the courthouse as outside. She said they have the security lines completely jammed up and jurors reporting for duty can’t get through. She sent out her bailiff to announce the hearing has been postponed to get them to go away.”

  Abby wasn’t quite registering. “Are we supposed to sneak in later for the hearing?”

  “No, it might actually be postponed. She said she’d review the motion and response again and if she needs to hear from either side, she’ll reschedule, but it’s likely she’ll just rule on the pleadings we filed. She said to expect to hear from her office in a few days.”

  “So much for our imminent harm argument. If she’s not in a rush anymore, it probably means she’s going to rule against us.”

  “Or it could mean she wants to take a breath and make sure she considers all the angles.”

  Under other circumstances, Abby would appreciate Wynne’s optimism, but right now she felt too defeated for it to make a difference. She glanced down at the console and stared at her phone which was blowing up with texts from Tommy. She wished she could just text him that the hearing had been postponed and leave it at that, but he deserved a call, and the sooner she got it over with, the better. She reached for the phone and scrolled through the messages. In between the increasingly angry texts from Tommy were a couple of seemingly innocent requests from Roxanne for her to call when she was done with court. As if.

  Abby started to put the phone down, but as she did, another text alert rolled down from the top of the screen.

  I’m worried you’re angry with me. Please know that wasn’t supposed to happen.

  Abby read the text several times. “That wasn’t supposed to happen” pretty much summed up her life from the moment she’d met Roxanne at the airport in PV. She couldn’t do anything to erase the past, but she could keep it from happening again. She placed her thumb over the text from Roxanne and slowly slid it to the left until the bright red delete button appeared, and then she quickly hit the delete confirmation with her other thumb before she could change her mind. She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen next—relief, release—but she was completely unprepared for the empty, hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach and the strong sense of loss at the idea that whatever she’d had with Roxanne was over, finished. Done for good.

  * * *

  Roxanne watched the teaser for the premier of Best Day Ever for the third time, and barely kept from jumping out of her chair and strangling Stuart with her bare hands. Stuart had summoned her to the office first thing this morning to show her a surprise. She was surprised all right.

  “Do you love it?” Stuart asking, his entire face a stupid grin.

  “I do not. No. Not at all. It doesn’t work, on any level.” She took a breath. “I hope I’m being clear, but just to make sure. You absolutely cannot run that teaser.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that’s not at all how the interview went. It’s edited to make it look like Tommy said things he didn’t. It’s not…” She waited a beat and then plowed forward. “It’s not honest.”

  “We’re not a pharmaceutical company peddling the next great cure. As long as everyone gives consent, there’s absolutely no reason we can’t mix things up a bit to garner interest.” />
  “Can you hear yourself? You can call it what you want, but it’s not honest and I’ve built a reputation based on giving my honest, unbiased opinions.”

  “Exactly. Which is why no one will question your coverage, no matter what you say.”

  Roxanne wanted to shout and pound her fists against his chest, but she was certain the effort would be futile. Instead she forced as much calm as she could muster. “We’re not airing this teaser. Not now, not ever.”

  Stuart leaned back in his chair, his grin was gone, replaced by a concerned and pensive expression. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then you better check your contract. The talent has some say in the show topics, but you don’t have the right to dictate the marketing.” He pointed at the screen. “Besides, that little gem is already running on every network in town.”

  Roxanne bristled at being referred to as “the talent” like she was some prop in the show, but that was a battle for another day. “What do you mean it’s already running? You haven’t even had the interview footage for twenty-four hours.”

  “See how devoted we are to promoting the new show?”

  She wanted to punch the grin off his face, but there was probably some other dumb provision in her contract that said she could be fired if she did. Besides, she could tell he wasn’t getting it and he probably never would. She reflected back on every interaction she’d ever had with Stuart and realized she should’ve seen this coming. How could she have been so naive as to think getting her own show meant it would actually be hers?

  What she wanted to do was tell him to fuck off and that she quit, but more pressing was the need to talk to Abby. She told Stuart she’d deal with him later and stalked out of the conference room. She pulled out her phone as she left the building, wondering if Abby was still in court and hoping like hell she hadn’t seen the teaser. She sent a text, asking Abby to call, and then refreshed her phone for an irrational amount of times, hoping for a response that was anything other than “go to hell.” Finally, she got in her car and started to drive, hoping the distraction would calm her nerves, but instead her mind buzzed with possible solutions. She could go to the courthouse and try to sneak Abby’s phone away from her and erase her ability to access the internet. That would only be a temporary solution, but the idea wasn’t half bad. The courthouse was only a few blocks away. She could go there and be waiting when Abby was done with her hearing.