The three of them sat together in the private booth. Despite not having seen each other in ages, there wasn’t the slightest hint of awkwardness; even their asional silences felt perfectlyfortable.
Conversation bounced around at lightning speed–one moment they were talking about the weather, the next they were knee–deep in gossip. It was a little <i>random</i>, but easy and lighthearted.
“So that’s everything that happened?” Queenie took a sip of water, listening as Ste recounted the whole saga with Ileana, using the ss to mask her expression.
“Talk about luck–she managed to escape overseas.” Queenie’s tone was unreadable, but Ste didn’t notice; she simply nodded in agreement.
“I know, right? She got off easy.”
“Well, maybe not that easy. Cole broke both her arms, and Max gave her a real ‘wee home‘ present–threw thest piece right at her head. She never even made it into the house–went straight to the hospital instead.”
Alessia clearly felt zero sympathy for Ileana. After all, she’d gotten exactly what she deserved.
“But what made you suddenly decide to help Lucy?” Ste had been curious about this for a while, but never found the right moment to ask–and then she’d simply forgotten. Now, with Ileana’s name in the air, Lucy naturally came to mind.
“Was it just because she gave you a heads–up about Ileana?”
Alessia shook her head. “She owns a few shops on that block–they’re useful to me. They’re nning to build a new shopping center there, and I scoped out the location; it’s actually pretty good.”
“Lucy<i>?</i><i>” </i>Queenie frowned, trying to ce the name. “That sounds familiar.”
“She’s the one who tried to pick on you, to get on Lessie’s good side,” Ste
summarized.
“Oh, right–her dad cheated, and she and her mom’s situation was shaky. In the end, she traded her handful of shops to Lessie in exchange for help with her mom’s divorce, and then <i>took </i>her share of the settlement to hide out overseas. She was terrified her dad woulde after them. Is that about right?”
12:37
Ste nced at Alessia, who nodded in confirmation.
“So it was her,” Queenie said, sounding only mildly interested.
She hadn’t really cared much about that whole bullying incident. Lucy just had the misfortune of picking the wrong moment–Queenie hadn’t been feeling well that day, so when Lucy pushed her, she instinctively shoved back. Spotting Alessia nearby, she’d simply let herself fall. That little stunt had solved the problem of the annoying girl always hovering around Lessie.
Of course, no one but Queenie herself knew the truth. Even airheaded Lucy still believed it was all her doing. Still, Queenie had to admit, it was thanks to Lucy that she and Lessie had be friends so easily.
Otherwise, the Summers family probably wouldn’t have survived this long.
Queenie set her teacup down. “The exhibition’s set for Sunday, and it’ll be up for a week. Lessie, didn’t you say you wanted to do a custom coboration with A&P? Why not kick it off at the end of the first day?”
“Perfect,” Alessia agreed. “I’ll bring Vera and Penny Sullivan along. We’ll nail down the main theme and ideas, and you can handle the details with them after that. Just send me the drafts at each stage for a quick look, and we’ll be good.”
Ste wasn’t interested in their business talk. She scrolled through her phone as she picked at her food, but suddenly put down her fork when something caught her
?eye.
“Hey…”
“What’s up?” the other two asked in unison.
“Lessie, <i>your </i>third brother’s trending online. He’s only debuted, what, a week? And he’s already <i>got </i>haters?” Ste showed Alessia her screen.
Queenie grabbed her own phone to check.
#BarSinger
#LiamBreaks FastestFallFromGraceRecord
#LiamNewSong
“This must be about that bar incident, right?” Ste clicked the link. The video onlysted a few seconds–just a clip of Liam shoving a customer. Out of context, it looked like two guys fighting over a girl. If the video had been a second longer, the truth would’vee out.