The Dating Intervention: Book 1 in the Intervention Series (28 page)

“It’s no biggie, we ordered you a beer,” Summer said.
 

Now that she was back on good terms with her two best friends, Delaney felt like her world was in balance. This week, Rowdy’s cheerful, festive St. Patrick’s Day decorations, a string of shiny green shamrocks behind the bar and green and white balloons floating near the ceiling, aligned with Delaney’s enthusiasm.
 

“Cheers to Summer and The Sweets. Two more days ’til the first live gig!” Josie said.

“Cheers!” Delaney said.

“Cheers to that,” Summer said. “Not quite the same, toasting with water, but still.”
 

“So, are you ready?” Josie asked.
 

“I’m nervous,” Summer said. “Really nervous.”
 

“You guys will be great,” Delaney and Josie said at the same time.
 

“And it’ll be the first of many performances,” Delaney said, “So get used to it! Stardom is just around the corner.”
 

“True.” She took a deep breath, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. “Okay, I’m letting it go. Plus you guys will be there to support me. So, Josie, tomorrow’s the deadline to turn in your principal application. You’re in, right?”
 

Tomorrow, Josie would know who else was on the list of applicants. This meant they could start working on their plan of attack: which strengths they’d focus on, which accomplishments to play up and most importantly, which shoes to pair with her power suits for the long series of interviews to follow.

“Oh, yeah. I’m in. I was thinking about putting some ipecac syrup in Blair Upton’s coffee today during morning recess, so she couldn’t turn in the paperwork tomorrow. But I held back.”
 

“She’s got nothing on you,” Summer said.
 

Delaney narrowed her eyes at Josie. “Have you been working out? I thought we agreed you were going to. For stress relief. You still seem really stressed.”
 

Josie looked down at her vodka cranberry.
 

“Josie!” Delaney said. “You need to start working out. That is your
one
rule. You always do this. You take a couple of steps toward … whatever, and then you just quit.”
 

She knew she was being just a little mean-spirited, but it was so nice to have the attention on someone else, for once.
 

“I know. It’s just that I’m so stressed out, I can’t see how adding one more thing to my to-do list is going to help.”
 

“When you release all the tension through exercise,” Summer said, “your mind is calmer and you’re able to focus better on that long to-do list.”

“Do we need to spy on you, Josie?” Delaney said. “Make sure you’re going to the gym after school?”
 

“Oh, God, no. I’ll start going. Tomorrow, I promise.”
 

“I can go with you,” Delaney said, and then, because she couldn’t resist a little dig, she added, “Moral support, not spying.”
 

“Okay, already, Dee. We get your point,” Summer said.
 

For the next hour, they settled into their usual conversation topics. It was just like pre-Intervention times, Delaney thought.
 

Summer told the girls how Luke unrolled an entire roll of paper towels on the kitchen floor so he could make a telescope out of the cardboard cylinder. Delaney told them about a dog who’d peed in the front room of a vet’s office where she applied that day, creating a vast puddle that required a massive number of paper towels to mop it up. And Josie told them the stomach flu was going around her school and one of her students barfed all over her floor. The janitor had used a mop and a truckload of paper towels to clean it up, but Josie was so busy trying not to gag that she hadn’t watched.
 

When Summer stood up to pee for the fifth time at seven p.m., they decided to call it a night.
 

“I know my hormones are making me haywire,” Summer said, stretching, “but I sure love you girls.”
 

“We love you too,” they said, embracing her.
 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Delaney said to Josie. “Five o’clock.”
 

“Five o’clock,” Josie said. “Sharp.”
 

She was so lucky, she thought on the way home, to have two friends who she loved so much. She’d do anything for them. Anything.

Wednesday evening, Delaney didn’t even look at her phone as she drove to the gym. If Josie attempted to text Summer and Delaney to slither out of their workout commitment again, she would show up out of obligation.
 

In the gym parking lot, Josie leaned against her car, arms crossed, mouth set in a pout. Delaney, scared to be alone with her, took her time getting her gym bag and water bottle, hoping Summer would arrive soon. No luck, even after a pretty decent attempt at stalling. Delaney steeled herself and got out of the car.

“Hey,” she said, barring any trace of enthusiasm from her voice.
 

“Hey,” Josie responded, without looking up or changing position. Delaney had known Josie for almost twenty years, but she still hated having to force pleasantries when she was like this. So she skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the meat of the matter.

“So … is it official?” Delaney said. “Are you an applicant for the principal position?”
 

“No. I didn’t apply.”

“I thought you said today was the deadline.”
 

“It is,” Josie said.
 

“What?”

“You heard me.”
 

“Josie, I –”
 

Josie pushed off the car and turned to face Delaney. Her eyes glittered like coal. “Look, don’t lecture me. That bitch Blair Upton is going to get that position. I can’t go through the next few weeks under her beady brown-eyed watch until she gets hired.”
 

“But who’s to say she’s going to get it?”
 

“She is. And Scott Smith. Who she’s probably going to sleep with, if she isn’t already.”
 

“This is ridiculous,” Delaney said, running a hand down Josie’s arm. “Number one, you want this position. And number two, you’re going to be great at it. Number three, you can’t let Blair Upton control your life. You need to go back to work and get your application in.”

When Josie didn’t answer, Delaney said, “Did you do this just so you wouldn’t have to work out?”
 

“Shut up, Delaney. No. I’m not applying. Why is Summer always late? Can’t we just get this over with, already?”

“Let’s go in and change.”
 

“Okay.”
 

Josie picked up her gym bag and they walked across the parking lot, but Delaney found she couldn’t let this one go.

“So when is the deadline to apply?” she asked.

“Today,” Josie said, her voice saturated with impatience.

“I know that, Josie. But I mean, what time?”
 

“Midnight.”

“How do they know if you turn it in by midnight?” Delaney said. “Nobody’s going to be at the office, are they?”

“It’s electronic. You do it all online. It’s the world we live in, Dee. Technology is remarkable.”
 

“So you could still go home and apply.”
 

“I’m not,” Josie said. “Stop talking about it.”
 

The locker room desperately needed a renovation. Cracked wooden benches stood on cracked white tile floors. Bright orange lockers, most of them covered with chipped and peeling paint, lined the walls.
 

“It stinks in here,” Josie said.
 

“It’s bad,” Delaney agreed. “Stop changing the subject.”
 

“
You
stop talking about the application. Okay?”

“What about the application?” Summer asked from the doorway.

Thank goodness
.
Reinforcements.
 

“She didn’t apply.” Delaney recapped the situation, and watched Summer’s indignation grow.
 

“Josefina Garcia,” Summer said. “You will apply for that position immediate— wait. Did you do this just so you wouldn’t have to work out?”

“No! Geez, you guys!” Josie said.

“Fine,” Summer said. “You will apply for that position right when we’re done here. Number one, you really want it. Number two, you’ll be great at it. Number three, you can’t let Blair Upton control your life.”
 

Delaney raised an eyebrow at Josie, but chose the high road and remained silent.
 

After moving her eyes from Delaney to Summer and back again, Josie said, “Are we here to work out, or pick on me?”
 

“Prickly again, I see,” Summer said. “Let’s hit the treadmill.”
 

“I forgot my water bottle,” Josie said. “In the car. I’ll be right back. You guys can get started.”
 

“If you don’t come back in three minutes, we
will
hunt you down,” Summer said as Josie marched out, exasperation emanating from her back.
 

“We have to do something,” Delaney said as she and Summer walked into the gym. “We can’t let her back out of this one.”
 

“You’re right..”

In the free weight section, burly men in short shorts grunted as they curled twice their body weight.

“That is just unnatural,” Delaney said. “Look at that guy’s legs. They’re, like, as big around as a wine barrel.”
 

Summer wrinkled her nose. “I think that guy shaves his chest.”
 

Delaney nodded toward a guy who was doing squats with a huge bar across his back. “But that guy’s not bad to look at. Let’s focus on him.”
 

They lifted weights for a few seconds.
 

“I know!” Delaney said. “After this, I’ll come over to your house and we can send in her application.”
 

“But how will we get into it? It’s all online, right? We don’t have her password.”
 

“You know she always uses bigpenis.”
 

Delaney and Summer racked their weights and walked over to the first two treadmills in the cardio room. Summer nodded.
 

“Dial it up,” Delaney said. “I’ll meet you at your house after this.”
 

“Perfect,” Summer said.
 

By the time Josie returned, they were both wearing their headphones. Summer walked at her pregnancy-friendly pace and Delaney jogged. Neither of them acknowledged Josie when she stepped onto her own treadmill. They didn’t want to give anything away.
 

After exactly thirty minutes, Josie made a big show of turning off her treadmill and stretching.

“That sucked,” she said when they gathered in the locker room after cooling down. “I hated it.”
 

“It’ll get easier,” Delaney and Summer said at the same time.
 

“Whatever. I’m out. Love you guys.”
 

They waited for her to leave the room, even giving her a few extra seconds. Summer turned to Delaney. “Well, it was easier to get rid of her than I expected. I thought we were going to have to stand around trying not to act suspicious.”
 

“I know. I just remembered I have cooking class. So I’ll come over after and we can do her application on your computer.”
 

“Sounds good,” Summer said. “Bring me leftovers. Baby’s hungry. My tummy’s grumbling.”
 

***

The students in the How to Boil Water class chattered, bustling around the kitchen as Delaney walked in, just a minute early.
 

“Change of plans,” Beth announced. “We’re doing a
dessert
tonight!”
 

“No wonder everyone’s so excited,” Delaney said. “What are we making?”
 

“Whatever it is, there’s lots of chocolate,” Beth said, pointing to a stack of chocolate cubes on the counter.
 

“My mouth is watering.”
 

“I know. Mine, too.”
 

“So I have some exciting news,” Beth said. “I finally have a date.”

“FindLove.com?”
 

“Actually, no. Blind date.” She winced. “My mom set it up. One of her co-workers has a son that’s also single and they decided we should go on a date.”
 

“Have you ever met the guy?” Delaney said.

“Nope. We’re going for ice cream.”
 

“What’s his name?”
 

“Josh.”
 

“Good name,” Delaney said.
 

“I don’t care what his name is,” Beth said. “I just hope he has that smoldering, I-want-to-devour-you look
your
boyfriend had when he was standing outside the window licking you with his eyes. That’s not everything, but it’s a fine start.”
 

Delaney flinched at Beth’s cavalier use of the term “boyfriend,” but before she could respond, Wendy clapped her hands.
 

“Time to begin,” she said from the front of the kitchen area. “I decided to surprise you today with a sour cream chocolate cake recipe. It’s a bit complicated, but I have confidence you can pull it together. It’s my birthday and this is my favorite chocolate cake recipe. So don’t mess it up.”
 

She winked, and then began to demonstrate how to use a double broiler to melt the chocolate.

As Delaney filled the bottom pot and Beth unwrapped the chocolate squares and added them to the top pot, Beth asked, “So how is it going with Jake?”
 

“He’s dreamy,” Delaney said, setting the top pot inside of the bottom pot and turning on the burner. “Really dreamy. I know it’s crazy, but I like him. Like, a lot. My friends are doing this thing, The Dating Intervention, and they want me to stop seeing other people. But I always feel like I need a backup, you know?”
 

“I totally know,” Beth said. “I get it. But your friends are right – and let me just say it sounds like you have awesome friends. The thing is, if you’re always looking for something else, you’re putting the wrong message out there. Then of course it’s not going to work out with Jake.”