She only has one rule...
[WATTYS SHORTLIST 2022]
A buttoned up bookworm agrees to a fake relationship with a surprisingly literate male model in order to save his career. She only has one condition: No kissing allowed.
***
At age 27, Cora Glass ha...
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Penny's phone dinged with an incoming text. "Uh oh. Sorry ladies. That's my cue."
Lauren groaned. "And how is Mr. Fancy Pants?"
"Sadly, I couldn't tell you, unless one of you happen to be fluent in ancient Babylonian?" Penny snickered at her phone. "If I had to guess, David appears to be texting while carrying around two screaming toddlers who refuse to go down for the night."
She turned the phone to let them see:
help I Cunningham get rut ER of them down 🆘
Lauren let out a snort. "Weaponized incompetence at its finest."
Penny stuffed the phone in her purse and stood. "He's competent in... other areas."
"He better be!" Lauren called after her, as Penny stood to gather up her raincoat and umbrella.
But Lauren's teasing was playful, without the biting undertone that had once driven Penny to move out of their old apartment in Brooklyn. The two of them had long since made up and resumed their friendship. Lauren still enjoyed mocking Penny's wealthy and powerful husband every chance she got, including when she gave the speech as Maid of Honor at Penny's wedding. She had the whole room in stitches, David included, poking fun at Mr. FancyPants and his endless list of rules. All in good fun though. The only undertone these days was affection.
Cora stood to see Penny out. "Call me if you need to talk," Penny told her quietly as they lingered at the door. "Any time. Day or night."
Cora hugged her friend goodbye. "I'm fine," she lied. "Your babies need you more. All three of them."
Penny gave her a startled look.
"David!" Cora explained quickly. "I meant the twins plus David."
"Oh!" Penny laughed, but Cora wondered if she might have accidentally guessed something she wasn't supposed to know...
She would wonder about that later. Cora turned back to Lauren, still seated before the laptop. "Are we still watching this?" Lauren called.
"I figure that's it, right?" Cora said as she plopped back down.
"Not much left," Lauren confirmed. "He just stonewalled until Danna lost her temper, and then there was a suspiciously abrupt cutaway to the other contestants getting ready backstage."
"She swears like a sailor when she's angry," Cora recalled.
"By the time they cut back to her, Jamie was on his way out. Little Miss Camilla did her interview alone."
"Turn it off. I don't want to watch anymore." Cora faked a yawn. "I just want to go to bed."
Lauren side-eyed her. "Listen to me. You know I tell it like it is, right?"
