Page 24 of Try Hard

“That won’t be necessary,” I replied quickly. “I was just… thinking about one of our science classes. The time that guy was holding bunsen burners hostage.”

“Oh, right. Gary.”

“ That was his name. I couldn’t for the life of me remember it.”

“I’m extra flattered you remember so many things about me.”

I hummed noncommittally. We didn’t need to get into just how much I remembered—or why I did.

“You know he fancied you, right?” she asked, her voice expectant.

“What? No, he didn’t.”

She laughed more heartily than I thought that required. “Yes, he did! I told him to stop thinking with his dick around you. What did you think that meant?”

My brain felt like it was buzzing. “That you were… commenting on the patriarchal society in which we live?”

“Adorable.” She sounded far more fond than I deserved.

“Not a word people usually associate me with.”

“Yeah, well, I think you’re adorable. And so did Gary… whatever his last name was.”

I hated that, now she’d said it, I could kind of see the logic. Lots of guys had behaved like that with girls they liked. But there was no way she’d been right on the money with that one. I was not the person everyone at school fancied. I wasn’t popular or pretty like Eve was.

“That’s really blowing your mind, isn’t it?” she asked when I didn’t speak for a moment.

“No.”

“Yes, it is,” she laughed. “Do you want me to tell you who else had a crush on you, or shall we save that for another day?”

“Oh, god. There was nobody else. You’re forgetting who the desirable one was at school.”

“I absolutely am not. But, whenever you’re ready to know, just say the word.”

“Like you have a list of them ready to go?”

“Exactly like that.”

“Archer,” I groaned.

She laughed, sounding like she was on top of the world. “So, if you don’t want that conversation, do you want to talk about what’s bothered you tonight?”

Nothing was bothering me while she was talking to me. Sure, I was embarrassed, a little mortified, but nothing was bad around her, not really. Even what had been bothering me.

Of course, the moment I focused on it, the more it came into relief.

“It’s nothing,” I said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced myself. “Just work stuff.”

“I’m here if you want to talk about it.”

I did want to talk about it. To her. It didn’t make any sense, but I did. I wanted her to stand beside me and scare away the things I didn’t like, just as she had with Gary all those years ago.

“I promise I’m here to listen,” she reassured me with a gentle tone when I simply stared at the bed in silence.

“Yesterday, when I got home, a guy I work with, Fuad, called. He said there are some changes being considered.”

“Changes you don’t like?” she asked easily, and I was amazed how readily I wanted to answer. I didn’t want to burden her, but she really did sound like she was fully engaged and wanted to listen.

“Yeah, I guess.” I paused, chewing on my cheek briefly. “It’s silly because anyone could see them coming from miles away, but the job’s already changed so much from when I started, and it’s not exactly like I have it that badly. It feels foolish to complain.”

“You’re allowed to like some parts of your job and not others.”

I nodded, more to myself than her, particularly since she couldn’t even see me.

“They’re floating the idea of having us make content for social media, which, of course they are.

But that’s not me. I’m not an onscreen personality and I don’t want to be—hell, I don’t even know how to be.

And, yeah, I guess it’s silly. There are people out there who would sell their souls to be influencers, and I’m potentially being asked to do a little bit of that and I feel…

lost. I shouldn’t even be dealing with this while I’m off, but I’m also glad I know because some warning is better than none, right? ”

“It’s okay if you felt like you wanted to shoot the messenger,” Eve said gently.

I laughed bitterly. “I think, famously, that’s something you’re not supposed to do.”

“We’ll allow it this time. Just for you.”

“I also think that requires revisiting that whole mean thing we discussed.”

“Nah. Everyone’s upset about news they get sometimes, and everyone’s felt angry at the messenger for it. I know you well enough to know you weren’t mean to him, even if you were upset.”

I considered, thinking back to my call with Fuad and the unending texts he’d been sending me all evening. “Yesterday, I think I was frustrated, but, the longer it goes, the more I hear from him about it, the more it’s bothering me. Like, the longer I sit with it, the worse it feels.”

“The more real it becomes.”

“I guess, yeah.”

“Do you want to stay there?”

That was the crux of it. The one I’d been trying to contend with when Eve had texted me. “I thought I did.”

“But now you’re not sure?”

I blew out a breath. “Can you just fill in my side of the conversation and then tell me what the outcome is? You know me well enough.”

Even in the wave of confusion, something warmed in me from saying that and knowing it was true.

She breathed a laugh and sounded hopeful when she said, “I’m glad I do.”

“Me too,” I whispered.

“I don’t think I can tell you what to do here, though.”

“Shame.”

She laughed once, sympathetically. “But what I can do is promise to be by your side as you figure it out. You can talk to me, you can have any and all emotions you want about the situation, and, if you end up deciding to stay and do the on-camera stuff, I can help with that.”

“What? How?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Ophelia,” she said, sounding amused, “but in another life, I was quite the public persona. I think you mentioned something about seeing some of my interviews.”

“Hm. Yes. One or two.” One, two, five, five hundred… What difference did it make?

Eve laughed, but the sound was still intimate, sympathetic, sweet. “Well, I’ve had quite a bit of media training. I can help you with all of that, but only if it’s what you want.”

“Archer,” I murmured, almost saying her first name and giving up all of my efforts to refrain from giving in to her and how wonderful she still was.

Although, if she was going to treat me so kindly, what did she think was going to happen?

“Thank you. You realise you don’t have to do any of that, right? ”

“I want to.” Her voice ached with sincerity. “No place else I’d rather be, remember?”