Part 11 (1/2)

Gary laughed. ”I like you, Waverly from San Francisco. You've got s.p.u.n.k.”

I smiled and held up my gla.s.s to his. ”I like you too, Gary from Nashville.”

a a a The next morning, the entire Love, Wendy crew had a planning meeting at NBC. Wendy attended it, but arrived a few minutes late, looking a bit disheveled. That woman had never looked disheveled in all the time I'd known her, but today she just looked...off. Even her helmet hair was droopy. She sat down next to me at the far end of the conference table. I briefly took in her unusual appearance, and then turned my attention back to Scotty at the front of the room.

”So the powers that be at NBC have chosen December twelfth, at the lovely New York Athletic Club on Central Park South. If you have a conflict, that is unfortunate, because I believe the contract has already been signed, sealed, and delivered. Correct?” He gestured toward the intern, who nodded his confirmation without looking up from his phone. I think that thing was surgically attached to his hand.

”What's he talking about?” Wendy whispered to me.

”Holiday party. It's for all the daytime shows,” I whispered back.

”Oh, yes, of course. I knew that.” She seemed distracted, even a little dazed. What was that look in her eyes? Despite the typical power play of stating that of course she knew the party date ahead of time, she didn't look as, well, as evil as usual. I'd long ago abandoned my efforts to figure out what made her tick, but I was still curious.

Scotty kept talking. ”Details to be announced, but it's going to be fun and fancy and full of famous people, so start shopping for that perfect outfit now.” I adored Scotty, and so did everyone else, except Wendy. How could you not love a male boss who actually cared about what anyone was going to wear to the company holiday party?

”Also, I have another announcement. A big one,” Scotty said.

We all looked at him.

”The bosses upstairs have decided to let us partic.i.p.ate in the New Year's Eve show.”

We all raised our eyebrows.

”You mean the live show?” I said, swallowing. Live? As in the one with the ball?

”Yes and no. We'll film it live from Times Square, but it will be aired at our regular time slot the next morning.”

”So...still basically live?” I said, feeling hoa.r.s.e.

He nodded. ”Exactly. We expect enormous ratings for this because they're going to promote it on the regular live New Year's Eve show, so this is our chance to really make a name for Love, Wendy.”

A wave of energy engulfed the room as everyone began chatting excitedly about the pseudo live broadcast. Amid the mayhem, I glanced up at Scotty, who looked at me and nodded slightly. This opportunity was a big deal for all of us, and I knew the pressure was on.

Yikes.

a a a After Scotty went over the logistics for the New Year's Eve show, he dove into the normal planning meeting. Soon, Wendy snapped out of her haze and returned to her old self. I flinched when she suggested we do a show on...child beauty pageants.

You can't be serious.

”I mean, I think that would make for a wuuunderful show, don't you agree?” She batted her eyelashes and looked around the room. As usual, no one disagreed...everyone was too afraid of her. Scotty wasn't intimidated like the rest of us were, but he rarely challenged her opinions either. I wondered whether that could be because he really didn't care. After all, he had plenty to think about with the Today show, the darling of the network. Normally, I didn't care all that much either because my contribution to the show was taped separately, but this new idea of Wendy's was too much for me.

I cleared my throat. ”Um, don't you think that might be a little offensive to some people?”

She turned and looked at me. ”Offensive? Why do you say that?” Her surprise at my objection seemed genuine.

How can you be so clueless? I wanted to say.

I s.h.i.+fted in my chair. ”I mean, well, because there are a lot of people out there who think child beauty pageants aren't...aren't a very good idea.”

She waved a hand in the air. ”That's nonsense, Waverly. Beauty pageants are important for positioning women as strong members of society, and they provide wonderful educational opportunities through scholars.h.i.+ps. That's how I put myself through college.” The when I was Miss South Carolina went unsaid, because we'd all heard her say it a thousand times.

I swallowed. ”I totally understand that, but I mean child pageants. Adult pageants are one thing, but child pageants seem to be more about the parents than the kids.” I quickly scanned the faces around the table for help. I could see support in everyone's eyes, but no one spoke up.

”Well, I disagree,” Wendy said. She didn't sound angry, however. Then she completely surprised me. Instead of vetoing my dissenting opinion outright, she looked around the room. ”What do y'all think? Do you think Waverly is right?”

I pleaded around the table with my eyes. Come, on people!

Finally, a couple of people nodded their heads.

”I think she's right,” Scotty finally said. ”To be honest, I think child pageants are awful.”

The intern raised his hand without looking up from his phone. ”I second that.”

Wendy's eyes got big. ”Really? Do y'all really think that?”

One by one, everyone in the room nodded.

I was afraid Wendy was going to slap me and storm out, but all she did was shrug her shoulders.

”Well, OK, then, I guess we'll scratch that idea. How about we move on to the cutest dog contest? I'm thinking only dogs that fit in purses could apply. Wouldn't that be faaabulous?”

And that was that.

a a a Later that morning, I was chatting with Scotty in the kitchen about the New Year's Eve show when Wendy walked in. Given her moodiness, I'd learned to mirror her behavior and not speak to her before she spoke to me, but for some reason, that day I decided to roll the dice and be friendly. Maybe it was because of her change of heart about the child pageant show, or maybe it was because I knew I'd be on a plane to Cleveland in a couple of days. When I was about to see Jake, nothing could sour my cheeriness, not even crazy Wendy Davenport.

”Hi, Wendy, how's it going?” I said with a smile.

Scotty looked up from his coffee mug at the sound of my voice, clearly surprised to hear it. He knew my strategy for dealing with her because he employed it too: Don't speak until spoken to. I think pretty much everyone who worked on the show did the same thing.

She sighed loudly. ”h.e.l.lo, Waverly. h.e.l.lo, Scott. I'm doing fine, not great.” She placed a tea bag into a mug and poured hot water over it.

Now I was the one who was surprised. In all the months I'd known her, Wendy had never been so candid.

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I didn't say anything.

”I just haven't been sleeping well lately,” she added, her back still to us.

I looked at Scotty, who raised his hands in an I have no idea gesture.

”Um, I'm sorry to hear that,” I said.

She turned around and half smiled. ”Thanks. To be honest, I'm a bit stressed out about something.”

Now I was nearly speechless. Who are you, and what have you done with Wendy? I stole a glance at Scotty, who looked equally confused.

We sat there in awkward silence for a moment, and then I finally spoke.

”Um, would you like to have lunch with us? Maybe talk about it? Or get your mind off it? Your call.” Did I just invite Wendy to have lunch with Scotty and me? Who am I, and what have I done with Waverly?

She smiled. ”Really? That would be lovely.”