Honey on Your Mind (5 page)

• • •

“So where was Wendy?” Scotty and I were across the street at Argot Tea. I stirred brown sugar into my latte.

“Wendy? She doesn’t come to staff meetings all that much.”

“Really? But isn’t this, well,
her show
?” I was secretly thrilled at this news.

“Yes, but it’s in her contract that she doesn’t
have
to attend every meeting, especially the regular ones where, as you just saw, we basically go over a checklist of what everyone needs to take care of throughout the week. She comes now and then, especially if we’re going to be kicking around ideas for the show, but overall she thinks meetings are a waste of her time.”

“You’re joking.”

He shook his head and smiled. “Welcome to TV, my love. It’s unlike any industry you’ve ever seen, one in which moderately talented people get paid enormous amounts of money to act like spoiled children.”

“I would have thought Wendy would be all over
every
meeting. She seemed like the type, you know?”

“People aren’t always what they appear to be. Especially that one. You’ll see.”

“I can’t say I’m exactly looking forward to that.”

He put his hand over mine. “Please. You’ll be fine. So tell me about
you
. You’re settling in OK? So far, so good?”

“So far, so good. I’m surprised at how smoothly it’s gone, to be honest.”

“How are you liking Brooklyn Heights? I think it’s one of the prettiest areas in all of New York City. A hidden gem, if you ask me.”

I could feel my eyes brighten. “I’m
loving
Brooklyn Heights. It’s hard to explain, but in a strange way, I feel like the neighborhood was made for me, Scotty. I just feel so comfortable there. They should have called it
Waverly Heights
.”

He smiled. “Glad to hear you’re fitting in. I knew you would. So when are you coming up to my roof deck for a drink? Given how much I’ve been talking about you since you took the job, I think Tad’s convinced I’m going to go straight and make a move on you.”

I coughed. “Yeah, right. I’d love to come by and meet him for more than two minutes this time. I’m curious about the man who captured the heart of the elusive Mr. Scotty Ryan. I’ve got to say, I never thought I’d see the day.”

“You and me both, princess.” Scotty and I had both met Tad at a wedding nearly two years earlier, but the only thing I remembered from my brief encounter with him that night was thinking it wasn’t fair that his eyelashes were longer than mine. Scotty, on the other hand, had since moved from Dallas to New York to live with him.

“So when are you free?” Scotty asked.

I held my hands up. “My schedule is wide open–except for having to figure out my new
job
, that is. I hope you won’t regret hiring me.”

“Kitten, I know a natural when I see one, and you’re going to be fine. This is
not
rocket science, so trust me, OK? Do you trust me?” He sipped his tea.

I nodded. “I do. I’ve learned that doubting you is a losing strategy.”

“There you go.”

“Well, hello, Scott. And is that you…Waverly?” The sound of a woman’s voice made us both look up.

Standing next to our table was Wendy Davenport, holding a cup of coffee to go.

Good lord, her blonde helmet has expanded. How is that even possible?

“Hi, Wendy.” I stood up and held out my hand. “It’s nice to see you again.” I tried not to stare at her hair, but it was seriously hard to look away. I was mesmerized.

She accepted my hand, but just as she’d done when we’d met on the
Today
show set, she didn’t grasp it back. Instead, she just held hers there, limp, before we both let go. How is it possible for
anyone
not to realize how creepy that is?

“Welcome to New York.” Despite the weak handshake, her smile was magnetic.

“Thanks.”

“I see you two are getting reacquainted,” she said to Scotty in a tone that I couldn’t help but notice was a bit…cold.

“We missed you at the production meeting,” Scotty said in a voice that wasn’t cold but definitely wasn’t gushing with enthusiasm either. It made me wonder what was going on between them.

She waved her hand in front of her. “Oh please, y’all don’t need me to take care of those pesky details.”

“Of course not,” Scotty said. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I think he may have rolled his eyes.

She looked back at me and flashed another bright smile. “So are you excited to join my show? It’s a smash hit, you know. Some are even calling it a sensation. We’re thrilled to have you on board.”

I nodded and smiled too. “I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks so much for this opportunity, Wendy. I really appreciate it.”

“Oh don’t thank me, thank your boyfriend here.” She gestured to Scotty. “If it were up to
me
, we would have gone with someone a bit more, shall we say,
seasoned
. No offense, of course.”

Before I could respond, she turned on her heel and breezily headed toward the door. “Enjoy this lovely weather. See you at the office,” she said over her shoulder.

I looked at Scotty. “Did that really just happen? How could she be so nice and…so
mean
at the same time? She
was
being nice and mean at the same time, right?”

“Indeed she was.” He nodded.

“How did she manage to do that?”

He shrugged. “Maybe she’s more talented than I thought.”

I turned my head toward the exit and watched Wendy cross the street. “And was I imagining it, or does she dislike you even more than she dislikes me?”

“She dislikes us both, but you’re straight, so she probably dislikes you less.”

My jaw dropped. “She doesn’t like you because you’re
gay
?”

He nodded.

I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry, Scotty.”

“Oh don’t worry about me, my dear. I’ve got a thick hide. It’s not worth getting upset over.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you sure? I get upset when anyone doesn’t like me.”

He laughed. “Really, Waverly, it’s not a big deal. She’s probably going to be meaner to you than to me anyway—you have nicer skin than she does.”

Great.

• • •

“I think it’s a brilliant idea. How did you come up with it?” Tad refilled my wine glass and set the bottle back in the ice bucket. It was a few evenings later, and we were on the roof deck of the posh building where Scotty and Tad, a sports agent, owned a spacious loft. They lived right by Madison Square Park in the Flatiron District, home to the famous building of the same name.

I took a sip of my wine. “I got the idea from a reader awhile back, actually. I could never quite figure out what to do with it for the
column
, but I thought it could be a fun segment for TV.”

“I love it for TV,” Scotty said as he sat down next to Tad. “Our viewers will love it too. In fact, if I weren’t producing
Love, Wendy
, I might be tempted to use it myself for the
Today
show.”

I pointed at him. “Hey now, don’t go stealing my ideas. You’ve already made me paranoid enough about these horrible TV people.”

He laughed. “They’re not
all
bad. It’s just that some of their egos outsize their talent, and that can get a little irritating.”

I thought back to the days when I used to work in sports PR. At least there was no doubt that the prima donna athletes I had to deal with back then excelled at their chosen sport. I could only imagine how annoying it would have been to have to coddle them if they weren’t even
good
.

My phone buzzed with a text message. “Hey, Kristina’s here. Can we let her in?”

Tad stood up and headed toward the stairwell. “I’m on it.” Tad already knew Kristina because one of his coworkers represented her husband, the Knicks star Shane Kennedy. Shane was the face for the basketball shoes of a former client of mine from my days when I worked at a big marketing firm, but he was far from a prima donna. He had a degree from Duke, perfect grammar, and not a single tattoo. He and Jake had been roommates in college, and he had introduced us at a trade show. For that act alone, I would forever be grateful to him.

As soon as Tad was out of earshot, I leaned toward Scotty. “I like him, Scotty. He’s not at all what I expected, but I really like him.”

He leaned toward me. “What did you expect?”

“I don’t know exactly, but not
that
. I would hang on to
that
if I were you.”

He kissed my cheek. “Look at you, giving
me
relationship advice. You’re taking this
Honey on Your Mind
thing quite seriously.”

“Apparently I am. But I’m off the clock right now. That was a freebie, my friend, just for you.”

He laughed. “Well in that case, let me pay you back by pouring you some more wine. He stood up to retrieve the bottle, and I admired the sprawling roof deck.

“I can’t believe you live here, Scotty. This place is unbelievable.”

“I’m not complaining.”

As he refilled my glass, I looked up at the sky. “You know, I have to say that I can’t believe I’m wearing a tank top and shorts at seven thirty. Can we just take a moment to acknowledge how amazing that is?”

“It’s the end of summer, Waverly. It’s like this every night.”

“I know, but I’d
totally
be wearing a ski jacket in San Francisco right now, maybe even gloves and a hat.”

He held up his glass in a toast. “This is New York, my princess. As I’ve learned myself, there’s a reason people never leave. But just wait until the day comes when you’re literally sweating off your skin. You might change your tune then.”

I jumped up when I saw Tad and Kristina walking toward us.

“Kristina! How are you? It’s so great to see you.” I gave her a big hug and led her by the hand to the table. “You know Scotty Ryan, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, of course, it’s nice to see you again.”

Scotty handed her a glass of wine. “Most people call me Scott, but I’m sure you probably figured that, given that I’m in my forties.”

Kristina laughed. “I
did
figure that. I’ve gotten used to Waverly’s nicknames.”

I took a sip of my wine. “Hey now, don’t be hating on the nicknames.”

Kristina sat down next to me. “So how are you? I can’t believe you’re living in New York now. This is so exciting.”

My eyes got big. “I know, isn’t it? I have a brand new life! It may be the wine talking, plus the fact that it’s eighty degrees out, but I think I may grow to love this place as much as San Francisco.”

“Wait until winter,” Scotty said. “Then we’ll talk.”

Tad put his hand on Scotty’s knee. “You really need to get over the weather thing, babe.”

“
I
reserve the right to complain about the weather,
you
reserve the right to wear those awful skinny jeans,” Scotty said. “That’s the deal.”

Tad laughed and turned toward Kristina. “Shane’s in Boston and Minnesota this week, right? Word on the street is they’ve got a phenomenal squad this season.”

She sipped her wine and half-smiled. “They say that every year, don’t they?”

“Only the die-hard fans,” Tad said. “And the ticket sales department at Madison Square Garden, of course.”

She laughed. “Of course. Actually, Shane
is
optimistic about some of the younger guys they brought over in that big trade in the off-season. He doesn’t want to retire until he gets his ring, but I just hope he’s not forty-five by the time that happens.”

“Isn’t it crazy how retiring at forty-five is considered incredibly late in professional sports, while it’s unthinkable in pretty much everything else?” Tad said.

I raised my glass. “Don’t forget Internet gazillionaires. Some of those guys can retire before they’re old enough to rent a car.”

“Ah, good point,” Tad said, laughing.

“And child actors. Can’t forget them,” I added.

Kristina put her hand on my arm. “So Waverly, tell me more about your new gig. I’m excited to watch you on TV.”

I leaned toward her but didn’t lower my voice. “I can’t get into any details because my, um,
boss
is in the immediate vicinity, but I’m hoping you’ll find it entertaining. My first segment is going to air next week.”

“Next week? Already?”

I nodded. “We begin taping on Friday.”

“Wow, that was fast. Are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, and I can reshoot any mistakes until I get it right.” I looked at Scotty. “Right?”

He nodded. “That’s the beauty of prerecorded television.”

I looked back at Kristina. “How much can I screw
that
up? Plus Scotty’s going to be directing the crew, so he’ll make sure I don’t muck it all up.”

She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. “I love your new attitude. When I first met you, I guarantee you’d have been a basket case worrying about what could go wrong. It’s great to see you so relaxed and confident.”

I took a sip of my wine. “Thanks. I do feel relaxed, although I’d say
confident
is a stretch. But we’ll see how relaxed I am when I have to appear on live TV.”

“When will that be?”

“Next week. After we get the first segment wrapped, Wendy’s going to bring me on as a guest to introduce
Honey on Your Mind
to the world. God knows how that’s going to go. She’s not exactly a fan of mine.”

“You might want to tuck a can of mace in your purse that day,” Scotty said as he got up to check the barbecue.

As soon as he walked away, Kristina leaned in and lowered her voice. “Are you carrying this new positive attitude over to your relationship with Jake?” Kristina was quite familiar with my unfortunate tendency to freak-out at inopportune moments, which had nearly ruined Jake and me more than once.

I nodded and smiled. “So far, so good.” Then I quietly knocked my fist on the teak table. “Just to be safe, you know.”

“That’s my girl.” She put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

On the way home later, inspired by the warm glow of both the moonlight and a couple of goblets of sauvignon blanc, I left Jake a voice mail: