I froze, cracker halfway to my mouth.
“Nope.” Keira’s voice was mild.
“Sorry.” Taylor sighed. “I just hate talking around that shit. Pretending slavery never happened. I deal with that enough in my hometown.”
Keira shrugged. “Hey, at least I wasn’t the only one here asked where I’m from—where I’m really from. Even in LA, I get that a lot.”
“So you’re in LA?” I asked Keira, wanting to move us onto a safer topic. Did Taylor really have to bring up slavery, especially with Keira being the only Black person in the room?
“Yep. Just flew in this morning.” She popped an olive into her mouth.
“What do you do?” I asked.
“Hold up.” Taylor clapped her hands. “Since we’re all here, how about we save time and go around and do a little intro? Where we live, what we do, all that fun stuff.”
Since we’re all here. They didn’t know Wren was coming. And maybe—chance of chances—she wasn’t? It was hard if not impossible to believe Wren’s fangirl adoration of Roza had waned. But her life was different now. Maybe another trip or opportunity had come up that she couldn’t turn down. I felt a twinge of hope in my chest.
“Good suggestion from the teacher.” Keira smirked, pushing up her glasses.
“Why, thank you. I’ll start.” Taylor straightened. “So, yes, I’m a middle school teacher, so if I try to organize things and it’s annoying, well, I have no idea what to tell you.” Poppy and I chuckled. Taylor had a theatrical, kinetic way of talking and moving, and I could totally see her keeping kids’ attention in front of a classroom. “I’m in Austin.” She cocked her head. “Let’s see, let’s see, what else. I have a cat named Orson and a girlfriend named Kitty. We’re open—me and Kitty, not me and the cat. We love Roza—me, Kitty, and Orson. I think that’s good for now. Poppy?”
“Okay.” Poppy set down her glass and brushed back her honey-colored hair. “I’m Poppy, as you know. I live in Atlanta—born and raised. And I work in PR.”
Atlanta: a large metropolitan area. It was interesting that she’d seemed so confused by the pronouns—but maybe she’d just been flustered?
“PR!” Taylor snapped her fingers. “Of course! I can feel the pep!”
“Aww, thank you, girl. I have a boyfriend named Jack… Did I miss anything?”
“I’m curious to see what kind of stuff you write.” Taylor crossed her arms. “You seem somewhat straitlaced to me. No offense, of course.”
Poppy laughed. “I get it. I don’t know if I’m as dark as Roza. But I’m pretty dark. Is that enough?”
“Absolutely.” Taylor turned her gaze on me like a flashlight’s beam. “Alex, you’re up.”
I felt naked with everyone’s eyes on me. “So I’m in Brooklyn.” I cleared my throat and forced a grin.
“Short trip,” Keira remarked.
“I know. I’m lucky.” I hesitated. Should I share that I was a late addition to the group? But if Wren didn’t end up coming, what would be the point? The hope, the feeling that I might’ve made it home free, gave me a sudden giddy rush of confidence. “As for my job, I think I can proudly say I’m in the most exciting field here.” I paused for dramatic effect. “That field is academic publishing.”
“Hey!” Taylor cried. “Come on, be proud! We’re both educating the future!”
“I guess.” I rolled my eyes.
“Partner?” Taylor asked. “Dating anyone?”
A quick image of Pete, which I pushed away.
“Nothing serious.” I said it brightly, hoping it didn’t sound too pathetic. It was rough to be the only single one in a group. Oh, no one likes you? What’s wrong with you?
“Playing coy, huh.” Taylor tapped at her lips. “We’ll get some more intel from you later. Keira, did you finish sharing? Job?”
“I write.” She smiled.
“Full-time?” Taylor pressed her hand to her chest. “Are you one of the last unicorns?”
“Well, I write all sorts of things. Press releases, wellness articles, corporate handbooks.” She shrugged. “The corporate stuff is not super fun. But that’s how it goes.”
“Until now.” Taylor hopped up to refill her glass. “I mean, this is Roza Vallo. Anyone connected with her is going to have no trouble getting published. We’re golden.”
Keira smiled. “I hope so.”
“Partner?” I asked, conscious of using a non-gendered term.
She shook her head. “I broke up with someone recently. He and I were together for three years. So just being consciously single for now.”
I felt a brief sense of relief that I wasn’t in fact the only single one. And Keira somehow made it seem preferred. I imagined her lighting candles in her room, reading a book, enjoying her own company. Why couldn’t I be more like that?
“So, have you guys met Roza yet?” Poppy frowned. “Can I say ‘guys’？”
“I’m fine with it.” Taylor glanced at Keira. “And not yet.”
“We met Ian,” Keira continued. “Her editor, or one of her editors. He said she hadn’t gotten here yet. She’s flying in from Europe.”
“We also met Yana.” Taylor said her name with a surprisingly good accent. “Our Russian friend.”
“She made me think of a czarina from a community theater play,” I said, and Taylor laughed.
“Right? She’s awesome. She does not give a fuck.” Taylor ran her hand through her short hair. “Sorry, peeps, I swear a lot. And because you’re not nine years old, I don’t have to hold back!”
“Oh, hey, another question: Did you guys figure out the Wi-Fi?” Poppy pulled out her phone.
“I asked earlier too.” Keira raised an eyebrow at Taylor.
“And?” Poppy blinked.
“No Wi-Fi,” Taylor said.
“What?” I asked. “But there’s no service here, either.”
“Yup.” Taylor seemed satisfied by our shock. “We’re completely and utterly cut off.”
“But I told Jack I’d call him tonight.” Poppy pressed her lips together.
“There’s a phone in the study,” Keira told her. “A landline. I called my mom earlier. I can show you where it is.”
“I guess this explains why Roza doesn’t use social media?” Taylor shrugged.
“It’s fine. I could use a break.” Poppy pressed a palm to her cheek. “It’s so surreal, talking about Roza, knowing I’ll meet her.”
“Hang out with her,” Taylor amended. “For a whole month!”
“How’d you get off of school?” I asked.
“What?” She glanced at me.
“Yeah.” Had I misunderstood? “Aren’t you a teacher?”
“Oh, yes.” She grinned. I noticed her canines, which were slightly vampiric, descending noticeably below her other teeth. “I took the semester off. It was hard because I love those fuckers, but there was just no way around it. I’ll go back for the summer session.”