There was no way out of it. She shrugged helplessly. “Sure.”
Lorraine scooted to the edge of her seat as she fiddled with her laptop and waited impatiently for the video to load. A few other workers passed by in the open space, and Lara made sure to keep close to Lorraine’s workspace, leaning against the desk so as to not get in any one’s way. She had learned her lesson the hard way the last time, and she was not about to repeat her mistakes.
“Here you go!” Lorraine smiled wide, but no matter how hard Lara tried, she couldn’t seem to muster even a fracture of the intern’s excitement. Lorraine pressed play, and Lara braced herself.
The video started with a voiceover from Paige. A panning shot of the library decorated with autumn leaves and the first inklings of Halloween paraphernalia filled the screen as Paige spoke about Lara’s career beginnings as a librarian. The video cut to a shot of Lara standing at the library checkout counter. Genie made eye contact with camera in the background.
“Tell me about the library,” Paige said off camera.
“Well, it’s a big building with a lot of books.” The Lara on screen flashed a smile that was full of cheese. This Lara was proud of herself. This Lara was…happy?
She barely recognized herself. The Lara standing in the Daily Page office blushed. She hadn’t meant for that joke to be usable content. She hadn’t even meant for that video to be useable content. A hand came up to rub behind her neck and soothe the burning skin there. “You kept that part?”
Lorraine paused the video and looked up to meet Lara’s eyes. “Yeah, I thought it was funny. It was too good to get rid of. You and Ms. Daley are cute together. I can see why you dated.”
Lara’s hand froze on her neck. “You know about that?”
“It’s a small town, and I’ve worked with Ms. Daley for almost six months. It’s hard not to know.”
Of course. Everything was hard not to know in Perry.
Lara’s blush was turning into an outright fever. If she didn’t try to sway the conversation in a different direction, her entire body was going to be as red as her face must be.
“You’ve worked with Paige for six months and you still call her Ms. Daley?” Lara couldn’t recall the last time someone had referred to Paige so formally. Paige was outgoing enough that even her college professors had gotten to know her on a first-name basis. She couldn’t imagine anyone apart from a complete stranger being too timid to call Paige by her first name.
“Uh, yeah.” The intern shot Lara the same look of surprise that Lara was sure was reflected on her own face. “I’ve never seen her joke around like that with anyone. You might be able to bring out that side of her, but around here I am not going out of my way to undermine her authority.”
Was Paige that domineering? Lara thought back to the first time she had come to the office. Paige had brushed Lorraine off, and the way she’d said ‘intern’ meant it was clearly not a respectable title in her book. Lara had trouble picturing Paige as an overcontrolling boss, but she had mentioned being stressed lately. Maybe the work was getting to her.
“I’ll talk to her,” Lara said before she fully registered that the words were coming out of her mouth. “If she’s in a bad mood, she shouldn’t take it out on you guys just because she can.”
“Y-you really don’t have to!” Lorraine was clearly as thrown off by Lara’s words as Lara herself was. “It’d probably be better if you didn’t, honestly. If she finds out I said something….”
“I won’t mention you,” Lara said. “I’ll just talk to her. See what I can do.”
Now Lorraine was the one to blush. She swiped a stray strand of hair out of her face and scratched the back of her scalp. “Thanks again, Lara, but you really don’t have to. She’s actually been a little better these past few weeks. She let me leave early the other day, which is, like, actually unheard of. And she let me work on this project. I think you’ve already helped me out.”
Had she? Lara doubted that.
“You’re the one who’s done such a good job on the contest. She’s rewarding you for your work.”
Behind her smile, Lorraine seemed to consider the thought for a moment. “Maybe, but I don’t know. She’s been nicer to everyone.”
Lorraine was young, excitable, and maybe a bit overwhelming, but the more time Lara spent with her, the more she could tell that this girl was a genuinely good person who cared about her work and the people around her. Lara felt bad for judging her unfairly.
Lorraine pushed play again, and they turned back to the video. On-screen Lara was sitting on her couch, talking to Paige about Festive Feline Fashion. The video wasn’t anything unexpected, but it was as clean and professional as Lara could have hoped for. Lorraine had clearly put a lot of effort into the project. She even made Lara look good.
“So did you like it?” Lorraine asked when the video faded to black. “Do you think I should have cut out that banter with you and Ms. Daley? I like it in there. Ms. Daley said it was fine, but if you think that was too personal, I can think about that next time I’m doing a project like this.”
What did it hurt? Lorraine was right; it was a personal touch, and it worked. “No,” she said, “you’ve got good instincts.”
A broad, genuine smile crossed Lorraine’s face. “That means a lot, Lara. Thank you. Hey, you should post the video on your Facebook! I think your fans would like it. Plus it’ll help our numbers.”
Fans? Lara considered the people who followed her customers and cat enthusiasts. If they were fans of anything, it was her cat pictures. A video of Lara talking about how she changed professions from librarian to knitter was far less entertaining than a cat in a Santa sweater dangling from a Christmas tree like an ornament.
“I don’t know about that,” Lara said. “I can’t imagine why they’d be interested.”
“The Daily Page readers seem to like it.” Lorraine scrolled down to the comments section Lara had read earlier. There were several more now. “If these random people have good things to say, I’m sure your fans will too. They’ll get to see a different side of you.”
It wasn’t the worst point, but Lara still wasn’t convinced. “The side that doesn’t knit cat sweaters? I’m pretty sure that’s the only side they care about.”
“It’s a more personal side. People will get to know you better. And for who you really are.”
Lorraine was using the same tone Lara’s mother had used on her after her first disastrous piano lesson as a child. Her mother’s assurances had only made Lara feel all the more pitiful. You did great, and you’ll get better with more practice was parent code for You were terrible, but I feel bad for you.
“So you’ve read the bad reviews?” Lara asked.
Lorraine bobbed her head back and forth. “One or two of them.”
Lara groaned.
“Hey, fuck ’em,” Lorraine said. The informality surprised Lara. The girl was so afraid of Paige that Lara hadn’t expected her to drop the F-bomb in the middle of the office. “They don’t know you like we do.”
Who was “we”? Lorraine? Paige? The people who had met Lara in real life?
“Thanks.” As much as Lara wished she wasn’t having this conversation, she meant it. It was nice to have someone on her side, even if the girl was a practical stranger. “You know more about me than I know about me, huh?”
“No one knows you better than you know yourself.”
Paige’s door finally swung open, and she tumbled awkwardly out of her office, one bag on her hip, one over her right shoulder, and a camera around her neck. She looked like a nature photographer who had packed enough supplies to survive in the Sahara for a week. As she locked the office door behind her, she struggled to adjust her bags into a comfortable enough position that she could walk with them.
Before Lara could say anything about how silly Paige looked, Lorraine spoke up. “I’ll see you at the parade,” she told Lara, then nodded in Paige’s direction. “You should probably go help her.”
> She was right. Lara grabbed one of Paige’s bags, and the relief on her face was tangible.
“Thank you.” Paige adjusted the camera around her neck. She looked more comfortable and was standing straighter.
“No problem.”
Paige pushed ahead, and Lara followed her towards the exit. “How does it feel to be my subject again?”
“What?”
“You’re in the parade, so I’m kind of covering you,” she said over her shoulder.
Oh. A suddenly sinking feeling in her stomach made Lara look away until she could compose herself. “Well, barely. I’m on the knitting club float. I can assure you that we will not be the highlight of the event. Not even the kids will like us. Most of the group is old ladies who will probably throw out hard candy left over from the ’50s.”
Paige chuckled. “If you say so, Lara.”
It made her feel even more awkward somehow. Avoiding Paige’s gaze, Lara held the door open for her as they stepped into the parking lot, then unlocked the car. Having something to do with her hands made some of the awkwardness dissipate.
Now was as good a time as any, and she would probably lose her nerve if she didn’t say something.
“I wanted to thank you,” Lara said.
“Oh?” Paige fiddled with a zipper as she tucked her equipment into the back seat. “What for?”
“You got Sanchez fired. It was really nice of you to give that video to Genie.”
Their gazes locked for a long moment until Paige raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “Eh. It was no big deal. Just felt like the right thing to do.”
But Lara could see the smile on her lips. For a moment, she continued to watch Paige fiddle, seemingly without point, then she circled around and pulled something out of the trunk.
“I made these for you and Cosmo.”
It was a bad idea. Lara knew it. Every knitter knew it. But she couldn’t help herself. Making matching sweaters for Paige and Cosmo was the most fun Lara had had while knitting in months. It was refreshing, doing it to because she wanted to rather than to fill an order. And after their conversation about the first sweater, Lara thought Paige might appreciate the action this time around too.
Paige’s head jerked up, and when she saw Lara dangling the set in front of her, her eyes went wide. It took her a moment, but Paige reached out and took the sweater and its miniature gently, reverently. Her smile grew.
“I love them, Lara. Thank you.” She laid them carefully in the back seat beside the rest of her stuff and gave Lara a hug that nearly knocked her off her feet.
She stumbled within the hug and just barely managed to not fall over. But once she righted herself, she just stood there, her eyes squeezed shut. Paige didn’t seem in any hurry to end the hug, and despite her better judgment, Lara found she wasn’t either. When Paige finally pulled away, Lara walked back to the driver’s side of the car, her steps light as air.
Paige sunk into the leather cushions of the passenger seat and made cooing sounds of admiration. Lara had never seen someone so intrigued by a scuffed-up dashboard and a faded gearshift. “The car is exactly the same.”
“It’s only been a couple of years, Paige,” Lara said, like those couple of years hadn’t felt like an eternity.
“But you kept everything so clean.”
This was clean? The spare change in the glove compartment was so old that it was probably collecting mold. Lara was pretty sure a search would turn up several lost French fries beneath the cracks of the seats. She hadn’t even bothered to clean anything out this afternoon. She had no appearances to keep up for Paige Daley.
“My car looks totally different than it did a few years ago,” Paige said.
“Really? ’Cause it was a piece of junk then, and it’s a piece of junk now.”
“No, it’s definitely junkier,” Paige said. “You were the one who made me take care of it.”
What was there to say to that? She wasn’t wrong. Lara suppressed the urge to smile and started the car.
“I should get a new one,” Paige said over the purr of the motor warming up. “I could. I have the money. I just haven’t had the time. And it still runs. Most of the time. I’d hate to get rid of it when it’s not completely useless.”
“I get that. I need a new phone, but I’ve been putting it off for the same reason. It still works. Mostly.” Lara plugged her phone into the car charger. The cracks in the screen glowed like the jagged mouth of a jack-o’-lantern.
Paige eyed the fractured glass. “Oh man, that’s rough. What happened?”
“Rocket knocked it off a table.”
“Is that a code for you getting angry and throwing it?”
“No, Rocket legitimately knocked it off a table.”
Paige smirked. “Rocket’s a little shit, isn’t he?”
“The worst.”
A comfortable silence loomed over them as they set off down the road. Lara had almost forgotten what they were talking about when Paige spoke up again.
“You don’t necessarily have to get a new phone. It’s not like broken things can’t be fixed, you know. You’ll be happy with it once it’s repaired.”
“Or replaced.”
Paige was quiet for a moment. “Sure.” But she didn’t sound convinced of her own answer. “Sometimes that works too.”
When Lara pulled into the meeting place for the parade, they were far from the first ones to arrive; the parking lot was full of cars and parade participants looking for their groups. The park was the only place in town big enough to accommodate a couple dozen floats, and emergency personnel were already busy blocking off roads and setting up the line.
It felt like everyone in Perry was here. There was a mix of so many types of people, as if the park had booked overlapping conventions on the same day. In the parking lot alone she spotted a group of men in kilts, a children’s gymnastic team in tights, and enough dog walkers to put all the middle school kids out of their summer businesses. The whole scene reminded Lara of the time her parents had taken her to the travelling circus.
Paige’s eyes were wide with opportunity the moment Lara finally found a space. She couldn’t grab her camera fast enough and undid the manual latch to let herself out before Lara had time to unlock the doors. Lara got out of the car far less enthusiastically, taking time to lock up and make sure their belongings were safe.
Already squatting to her knees in the middle of the lot, Paige was busy taking wide shots, trying to get as many people in frame as she could. She took photos of the floats and the police brigade in front of the park’s gates.
Lara couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of her. “Jesus, Paige. You look like a photographer, not a journalist.”
“Can’t I be both?” Paige asked. Lara’s mock criticism rolled off her like water off a raincoat. “No one’s ever just one thing. Photography’s one of the best parts of my job.”
Lara envied her confidence. Paige did what she wanted, and nobody stopped her—not posted signs, not gossipy neighbors, not people staring. How many times had Paige’s passion for something put Lara in an uncomfortable or embarrassing position right in the middle of downtown Perry?
But seeing Paige now, looking like some kind of khaki-clad wildlife photographer in her element, it was obvious to Lara what she hadn’t had the distance to see years before: Paige had never meant to embarrass her. She just approached anything she liked with an unselfconscious gusto that made her completely indifferent to what anyone else thought.
Lara had been that passionate about knitting once. She missed that feeling.
Lightly, she tapped Paige on the shoulder, not wanting to disturb her creative trance. Paige looked up with a smile in her eyes, too happy to be annoyed at being interrupted.
“I’m gonna go find April and the other ladies,” Lara told her. “We’ll meet up back here when everything is over.”
“Sounds good. Have fun.”
“You too.”
As she moved to leave, Lara realized
that her hand was still on Paige’s shoulder. She jerked away from the prolonged contact, muttering a small “sorry” that Paige definitely couldn’t hear over the din of parking lot conversations and a marching band warming up somewhere on park grounds.
The Tight Knit float was one of the tamer ones. For once, April’s efforts didn’t look over the top. There were floats with rafters and stands. Floats with giant thrones. Floats large enough to hold entire football teams. A few floats were nothing more than trailers with crude homemade signs and spare decorations, but all of them were impressive and unique in their own right. Still, it wasn’t hard to pick out the giant ball of yarn in the middle of the park.
April stood in the center of the float, using it as a soapbox as she doled out instructions to the group of women in front of her. Out of half dozen or so women and one little girl, one person stood out more than the others. Lara claimed a spot next to her and leaned closer to speak in her ear. “April roped you into this too, huh?”
Kerry jerked back in surprise, but relaxed when she realized it was Lara who had snuck up on her. She gripped Lara’s arm to stabilize herself, her grip a bit tighter than necessary. “You scared me!”
“Sorry,” Lara said, not sorry at all. “I couldn’t resist.”
“Jerk. And to answer your question, no, April did not rope me into this. She asked me if I wanted to be a part of the parade, and I politely declined.”
“If you declined, then why are you here?”
“Because after I declined, April told me that you were going to be here. I then revoked my declination.”
Lara’s stomach was a buddleia, and she couldn’t stop the butterflies from flying into it if she wanted to. In fact, she was pretty surprised at the level of nonchalance that came out of her mouth.
“It sounds like April roped you into it by telling you exactly what you wanted to hear. Face it, she bribed you.”
Both of them looked up at April, who was still vehemently giving her rundown of the path of the parade and the floats that would be in front of and behind them. She was a natural-born leader. The other women were eating the words out of the palm of her hand. Even the young child was listening attentively.
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