Honey on Your Mind (22 page)

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “Thanks, but no.”

“Are you
sure
?”

“Life doesn’t always go the way we planned, Waverly.”

I looked up at her.
Why are you acting so weird? Don’t you know I care about you?

There were suddenly so many things I wanted to say, but I just sat there, silently stunned.

She gave me a quick hug before turning to leave. “I need to run now. Happy holidays. Have fun with Jake’s family.”

“OK, thanks.” My mouth hung half open.

She was nearly out the door when she stopped and turned to face me. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a set of keys. “Here’s your set. On January first, Waverly’s Honey Shop starts a whole new chapter.”

Before I could even respond, she was off again. She blended into the busy sidewalk outside, and I stood there, staring at the keys in my hand, thinking of the key I’d tried to give her.

Life doesn’t always go the way we planned.

I thought of the way Gary had grabbed my arm at the holiday party. He wanted me to stay out of it, and now Paige was telling me to mind my own business as well.

Paige. Sweet, smart,
kind
Paige, who deserved to be with someone who deserved her.

Someone who wasn’t already married.

I rubbed my fingers over the keys and wished they could unlock the hold he clearly had over her.

The week continued at its frenetic pace, and by Friday, I could barely keep my eyes open. And I wasn’t the only one. Early that morning, before yet another double taping in front of a live studio audience, we had our last staff meeting before everyone scattered for the holidays. The strain from the workload showed on everyone’s faces, but none more so than Wendy’s. Small bags were visible under her eyes, which looked a little bloodshot, and for the first time I could see tiny crow’s feet at the corners.

Scotty clapped his hands to start the meeting. “OK, people, I know it’s Christmas Eve, and I know everyone has been working double time to keep us covered over the holidays. I want you to know how much I appreciate all your hard work. Especially you, Wendy. Staying cheery for hours on end in front of the bright lights of a studio audience isn’t easy, but you’ve done a remarkable job of holding it together.”

Wendy nodded and chewed at her fingernails.

She looks awful,
I thought.
Did she find out about Paige?

“One more show, and then everyone is free for a few days. Do you have it in you?” He looked like a cheerleader up there.
He should get a job at Southwest Airlines
, I thought. Those people are always freakishly happy, no matter how crowded their flights are.

Wendy smiled and nodded. “I have it in me. Just let me stop by makeup, and I’ll make the audience fall in love with me.”

I looked at her.
You’re totally right.
Bizarre as she may be behind the scenes, Wendy was the consummate professional before an audience. She was full of charisma, and her fans adored her.

“Waverly, you’re on this afternoon’s show, right?” Scotty said.

I looked up at him. “Excuse me?”

“You’re doing a studio appearance on the show today, right?”

“Huh?” I definitely didn’t remember that.

“On the two o’clock taping. Wendy said we’d scheduled you to talk about
Honey on Your Mind
, sort of a holiday-themed wrap-up?”

I looked at Wendy. “Did we schedule that?” I knew
I
certainly hadn’t. If I had, I wouldn’t have booked a four o’clock train to Boston. My suitcase was all packed and ready so that I could leave for Penn Station right from the office.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Waverly, we did.”

I opened my mouth but didn’t speak.
Huh?
Although I had zero recollection of scheduling anything with her, with everyone in the room staring at me, I caved. “Um, I’m sorry; I must have forgotten to make a note of it.”

Scotty gave me a look that made it clear he didn’t know what to believe but didn’t have time to get into it. “OK then, Waverly, looks like you’ll be joining Wendy in makeup.”

“You could use it, my dear,” Wendy said under her breath.

• • •

I called Jake as soon as the meeting broke up, but he was already on a plane to Boston from Atlanta, so I had to leave a message about my change in plans. If the taping ended on time, which was
never a guarantee, I might get out of the studio by three-thirty. That would
probably
give me enough time to catch my train.

Wendy was already in makeup, so I settled into an empty conference room to prepare for my appearance on her show. What was I supposed to do at the last minute? If I’d had proper notice, I would have pulled together a fun montage of my favorite clips with a soundtrack and graphics, but there was no time for that now. Clearly, I just was going to have to wing it and talk. About
what
, I had no idea. I wondered why Wendy hadn’t told me about this earlier. Was she trying to ambush me again? Was she more upset about the holiday party than she’d let on?

Scotty had already left, so I couldn’t check in with him. I scribbled a few notes and tried to think of what to say on camera.
This could be a Honey on Your Mind segment on its own,
I thought. “
So what’s on
your
mind, Waverly? Wondering how to deal with a lunatic boss, that’s what.”

I chewed on a pencil and stared at the page in front of me.

I am so screwed.

I let out a loud sigh and put both my hands on my head.

Ugh.

“You doing all right, Waverly?”

The sound of a voice startled me. I looked up and saw the skinny intern standing in the doorway.

“Are you OK? I heard that sigh all the way down the hall,” he said.

I offered up a weak smile. “Oh, hi, Ben. I’m fine, just preparing for the show this afternoon.” I covered the sheet of paper with my hand, not wanting him to see that it was nearly empty.

He laughed and pointed to my hand. “It’s OK, I’m not going to steal your answers to the history midterm. Or is it the SAT?”

I looked at the paper and laughed too. “Sorry, I have no idea why I did that.”

He sat down across from me. “Let me guess. You’re brainstorming ideas for what to say on the show…because you didn’t prepare anything…because Wendy never told you about it?”

I pointed at him. “Bingo.” This was the most I’d ever heard him speak.

“Why not read some of those hilarious e-mails you’ve shared with us in the staff meetings?”

I chewed on my pencil again. “You think so? You like those?”

He nodded. “I love them. They keep me from falling asleep when Wendy starts droning on about her latest shopping spree on Fifth Avenue.”

I laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that. What a great idea.”

“I think the audience would really enjoy it.”

“Thanks so much, Ben, really. You may have just saved me from completely humiliating myself on national television.”

“My pleasure, Waverly. Happy holidays.”

As he sauntered down to the break room, I ran to an empty workstation and logged on to my e-mail account. It wasn’t a video montage, but within seconds, I had a pile of potential material staring back at me.

Score one for the intern.

• • •

“Waverly, it’s so nice to have you join us on the set like this. It’s been awhile.” Wendy beamed at me from her plush chair.

I smiled back and shifted slightly in my intentionally not-as-plush seat. “Thanks, Wendy. I’m glad to be here.”

She clapped her freshly manicured hands together and looked out at the audience. “So, my friends, I know you’ve all enjoyed Waverly’s
Honey on Your Mind
segment, so I thought it would be fun to invite her on stage for a little behind-the-scenes gossip.” She turned to me again. “Waverly, can you share with us some of the moments that didn’t make it on camera? It would be a
hoot
to see some bloopers.”

Like a seasoned politician, I deflected her question to focus on the answer I had prepared. “Actually, I thought I’d do something a little different.” I looked out at the audience. “What do you all think? Mix it up a little?”

As a small cheer erupted from the crowd, I could feel visual daggers coming from Wendy’s direction. At least I was ready for them this time. I turned to face her with a forced smile. “Does that sound OK to
you
, Wendy?”

Her own phony smile was even bigger than mine. “Why
suuure
, Waverly. That sounds wuuunderful. What did you have in mind?”
Wow, she’s a genius at being fake
, I thought.

I sat up a little straighter and turned back to the audience. “Great. Well, as you know, on my segment I talk about things that are on
my
mind as well as on the minds of people on the streets of New York.”

Wendy nodded, as did the audience.

“However, I also receive a lot of e-mails from viewers across the country who like to share with me what’s on
their
minds.”

More nods.

“So I thought it would be fun to share some of the, um, more
colorful
ones, with you today.”

Wendy raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly to the side. “That sounds like it could be a little…shall we say…
dangerous.
” She turned to the audience and winked. Everyone laughed.

I laughed too. “This is true. I definitely get some e-mails that aren’t fit for public consumption. However, the majority of them are very entertaining.” I held up a piece of paper and looked out at the audience. “I’ve got some fun ones here. Anyone interested?”

“Yes!” the audience shouted.

“Well there you go,” Wendy said with a smile that could melt steel. “Let’s hear them.”

“OK, here goes.” I cleared my throat and began to read:

“Dear Waverly, I just saw a lady pushing a dog in a baby stroller. A
dog
. No baby in sight. What the hell? That’s what’s on
my
mind, why people are such idiots.”

Laughter from the audience.

“Hi, Waverly, you know what’s on my mind?
Bumper stickers.
I’m of the opinion that the number of bumper stickers on a person’s car is roughly the same as the number of days that person goes between showers. Just thought I’d share.”

More laughter.

“Dear Waverly, why is there never enough parking in Chicago? It drives me crazy. I even saw a sign in front of a church the other day that said,
T
HOU SHALL NOT PARK HERE
. At least God is laughing with us, not at us.”

More laughter.

I glanced over at Wendy. She was nodding and smiling and truly seemed to be enjoying herself.
This is going really well
.

I kept reading.

“Hi, Waverly, here’s what’s on
my
mind: I’m recently divorced and decided to give the online dating thing a try. The first woman I had a conversation with seemed nice, so I asked her out to dinner. She accepted, but then immediately sent me another message that said, and I’m quoting verbatim here, ‘You
do
make more than $400K a year, right?’”

The audience totally cracked up at that one, so I felt good as I entered the homestretch.

“Dear Waverly, I could stand to drop a few pounds, so ever since college I’ve been joking about how I need to ‘lose my baby fat.’ Now that I’m in my thirties, I’ve unfortunately realized that I can’t do that anymore. The last time I said it, the person I was speaking to asked me, ‘How old is your baby?’”

“Oh my,” Wendy said, putting her hand over her heart.

I laughed and looked at her. “I know. Brutal, huh?”

“Oh yes, just
awwwful
. Actually, that reminds me, Waverly, wasn’t having a baby on
your
mind?”

I looked at her.

What?

I hoped my jaw hadn’t visibly dropped.

“I’m sorry?” I said.

“Weren’t you talking about having a baby soon?”

I didn’t reply. I wanted to, but my mouth was frozen.

What?

Before I could speak, Wendy put her hand on my arm and laughed. “I’m just joking, my dear. I know you’re not even
close
to being married.” She held up her ring finger and kissed it. “True love like mine doesn’t come around every day, but maybe one day
your
prince will come. I’m holding out hope for you.”

I still didn’t say anything. I willed my brain to kick into gear and come up with a clever comeback, but all I kept thinking was,
What?

As I sat there like a stone, Wendy smiled out at the audience. “Well, I’m sorry to say, folks, but it looks like we’re out of time. Waverly, luuuv, thanks so much for visiting us. You were
veeery
entertaining, as always. Ladies and gentleman, let’s give a big round of applause for Waverly Bryson!” She put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a little squeeze, then clapped her hands enthusiastically.