“They all look so good. Are your dressings homemade?”
Hailey nodded, stuck for a minute on the distinct sound of the woman’s voice. “Yes, sorry, your voice sounds so familiar.”
The two women exchanged a glance then the blonde beamed at Hailey. “I’m a DJ for 96.2 Sun.”
Hailey snapped her fingers. “That’s totally it. You’ve got an excellent voice.” She loved that station. It was fun, engaging, and played great music.
“Unless she’s singing,” the other woman said quietly.
The blonde—damn, what’s her name, she’s on billboards … Stacey!—sent a mock glare to her friend. “That worked out pretty well for you in the end.”
Unsure what they were talking about, Hailey worked to keep her cool. A radio station DJ in her shop. How cool was that? Seeing as she’d run a Craft Food Truck on movie and television sets in her previous life, one would think she’d be more chill. But since moving to San Verde, Hailey had listened to the station almost every day. They played cool games, did giveaways, and generally made listening to the radio enjoyable. A forgotten media art form.
No pressure but this salad needs to be fantastic. Do what you do—make a salad to knock her gorgeous high heels off.
“I love your station. I’m thrilled you decided to check out my shop,” Hailey said. Okay, so she wasn’t great at being chill. She’d had to teach herself not to openly fangirl when on set. They were all there to do a job. Her ex, an actor who got enough work to feed his ego but not make him a star, had constantly told her how childish she seemed when she gushed over meeting someone she admired. Once they’d gotten together, he’d told her not to embarrass him. It made her self-conscious, but what was the harm in telling her she liked the station?
“I’m excited you’re open. I need something to counteract the brownies Tara makes,” the woman said. She gestured toward the wall By the Cup shared with Baked. “Tara’s our friend, she owns the bakery. I’m Stacey. This is Everly, my bestie and producer for my show.”
“It’s really a pleasure to meet you both. I’m Hailey. Whatever you’d like, it’s on the house.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Everly said.
“I want to. Honestly, I’m a big fan. What would you like?”
They ordered a San Verde Supreme, a Citrus Chicken Cup, and a Mexi Cup to go. Hailey chatted with them about the neighborhood and what it was like to be on the radio. Everly didn’t say much at all but she was one of those people who made it obvious with eye contact and body language that she was listening.
“Thanks for the salads and welcome to San Verde. You’ll love it here,” Stacey said.
“Thanks for coming in,” Hailey said, watching them go with a mixture of hope and disappointment. It would have been great if they’d eaten in, enjoyed the shop. Maybe live-Tweeted or TikTok’d it or something. She really did need to get some music in here.
How had she thought that would go? That the tall DJ would take a bite and swear an oath to promo the hell out of Hailey’s shop? A girl could dream.
She texted Piper. Regardless of anything else, it was pretty cool to have a radio personality visit the store.
Piper
That’s awesome! Give it time. Wait until they try it. You’ll see.
Hailey had had enough of waiting for things to come to fruition. When she’d made the decision to leave L.A. and open up a shop of her own, she’d left behind her “wait and see” attitude. If she didn’t do it for herself, no one else was going to jump at the chance.
Hailey
I guess. I want more scones.
Piper
Don’t mask your feelings with food, Hails.
Hailey rolled her gaze. Piper had a degree in psychology and was working on her master’s degree so she could do counseling. She used Hailey, frequently, as a test subject.
Hailey
My feelings are: you’re a dork but I love you.
She stared at the three bubbles.
Piper
FYI according to Urban Dictionary, what you’re saying is
dork
(n) a whale penis
The blue whale has the biggest dork on earth
By anonymous, February 14, 2003
And burst out laughing.
Hailey
Point proven.
* * *
The following week, she saw just enough customers to make her feel like she wasn’t in a sinking ship but not enough to celebrate. She had a degree in business and marketing but there were few industries that changed as quickly. She’d taken two years of culinary school, working for food services trucks on movie sets while she’d saved for her own truck. She was good at what she did. She knew how to run a business, but the thing about knowing and doing was they were worlds apart. Especially in the age of social media.