It's a Waverly Life

by Maria Murnane

  I trotted to the front door and pressed the intercom. “Hello?”

  “It’s me,” Andie said.

  “Cool.” I buzzed her in and opened the door, then went back to the bathroom to put on some lipstick.

  When I joined her in the kitchen a few minutes later, she had cracked open a bottle of wine and was munching on a cracker. “So what’s the big news?”

  “You’ll see soon enough.” I opened the cupboard and pulled down four more wineglasses. “Is this enough food? Do you think I should open a bag of chips?”

  She nodded. “People will always eat chips.”

  I opened a bag of Ruffles and a can of mixed nuts, then poured them into bowls and set them on the table.

  “You seem nervous,” Andie said.

  “I am nervous.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know, I just am.” I turned toward the living room.

  “I saw CJ yesterday.”

  I stopped in my tracks.

  “No way.”

  “Way.”

  “What happened? Where did you see him?” After she’d spotted CJ kissing a guy, Andie had broken things off without telling him why. She didn’t want to out him before he was ready to do it on his own.

  “At Naked Fish on Chestnut. I was getting takeout, and I saw him there with some guy.”

  “The guy from the sighting?”

  “I think so.”

  “And?”

  “I went right up to their table to say hi, and CJ looked like he might jump right up to the ceiling and hang on with his fingernails.”

  “What did he say?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing really, I mean, now that I know, it’s sort of sad to watch. They were obviously together, but he was so clearly uncomfortable. It must be so hard to live like that.”

  “I can’t imagine.”

  “So anyhow, I wanted to figure out a way to let him know that I’d be cool with knowing, even though I didn’t want to come right out and let him know that I know, you know?”

  I squinted at her. “What?”

  “I wanted him to know he can be himself with me.”

  “Why didn’t you just say that?”

  “I just did. Anyhow, I gave him a hug and said I’ve loved knowing him, and that he’s a wonderful guy, and then I whispered in his ear that maybe, when he’s ready, we could go to a Ricky Martin concert together.”

  I laughed. “You did not.”

  “I did.”

  “You think that was subtle?”

  “Nebraska, Waverly, he’s from Nebraska.”

  The doorbell rang. Still laughing, I walked over to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s Ivy and Casey.”

  Ivy and Casey? I buzzed them in, then sneaked a peek back at Andie, who was still in the kitchen. Hmm. At least this would put an end to the mystery once and for all.

  A few moments later, Ivy bounded through the door. I gave her a hug, and she turned to the tall blond guy standing next to her.

  “Waverly, this is Casey. I hope you don’t mind that I brought him along, but…we just got engaged!” She held up her left hand, a diamond sparkling on the ring finger.

  “Wow, congratulations.” I gave her a hug. “That’s wonderful!”

  “It was a complete surprise, and it literally just happened, so I couldn’t just leave him alone after that. But I couldn’t bail on you either, so we’re going to dinner after this. It’s really okay?”

  “Of course it is. This won’t take that long. Come on in, have some wine. And Casey, it’s great to finally meet you.” I led them into the living room. Andie was now sitting on the couch. “Andie, this is Ivy and Casey. They just got engaged.”

  I watched for a reaction on her face, but there was none. She stood up and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you both. Congratulations!”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Ivy said. “Waverly’s mentioned you many times. I hear our crazy mothers would get along fabulously.”

  Andie laughed. “I like you already.”

  “Andie, will you help me get them some wine?” I gestured toward the kitchen, then turned back to Ivy and Casey. “You two, please make yourselves comfortable.”

  When we got into the kitchen, I lowered my voice. “Don’t you think he looks a lot like CJ?”

  She gave me a strange look. “What?”

  “Casey and CJ. Don’t you think they look alike?”

  She took a step back toward the living room to look at Casey, then shrugged. “A little, yeah, I can see that. But CJ’s way shorter.”

  “He is? He looked so tall when I met him.”

  She laughed. “Waverly, I’m a hobbit. Everyone looks tall next to me.”

  I laughed too. All that stress for nothing. I would make a horrible eyewitness. We brought wine out to Ivy and Casey, and the doorbell rang. “That must be Nick.” I walked to the front door to buzz him in, then waited so I could warn him that Casey was there.

  A moment later, I saw him. He was wearing a button-down tan shirt with super thin blue stripes.

  “Nick, you look great.”

  “Thanks, I wanted to look nice for, you know…” His voice trailed off, and my heart broke for him.

  “Listen, Nick—”

  “Is that Prodromou?” I heard Ivy’s voice from the living room, and before I could say anything more, Nick had passed me. I turned around to see Ivy running up to hug him.

  “Hey, stranger, it’s so great to see you,” she said.

  “Of course it is. It’s nice to see you too.”

  Then she turned to Casey, who was still seated on the couch. “Nick, this is Casey. We’re getting married!”

  I could see a brief flash of pain in Nick’s eyes, but like a gentleman he hid it with a smile. “Wow, that’s great news.”

  “Thanks.” Ivy grabbed Casey’s arm with both of hers and pulled him up. “Can you believe it?”

  “Congratulations.” Nick extended his hand to Casey. “She’s a great girl.”

  Just then Andie returned from the bathroom. “Waverly, I love that new hand soap. It smells just like cranberry. Makes me crave a vodka cranberry. You got any vodka?”

  Nick turned around.

  “Hi,” she said to him, suddenly shy. “I’m Andie.”

  “I’m Nick, and I love a good vodka cranberry.”

  I heard a knock on the door. “That’s my upstairs neighbor. You guys are going to love this man.” I ran to the front door and opened it.

  “Hi, Red, thanks so much for coming over.”

  He removed his fedora and smiled. “Good evening, Miss Bryson. How can I be of help?”

  I shook my head and motioned for him to enter. “You’ve already done more than enough. Now please, come meet my friends.”

  After everyone had been drinking and chatting for a few minutes, I stood up and tapped a fork against my wineglass.

  “Thank you all for coming tonight, even though I didn’t explain why I needed you here.”

  Andie held up her glass. “Free wine.”

  I smirked at her. “And Casey, I know you don’t even know me, so thanks for dealing.”

  He held up his glass too. “Free wine.” Ivy laughed and lightly hit him on the knee.

  “Anyway, as the rest of you know, the past year or so has been about transition for me. Quitting my job, turning thirty, trying to figure out my next step in life, occasionally freaking out about it, et cetera.”

  They all nodded.

  “Also, as you know, as part of this transition I launched a line of greeting cards for women called Honey Notes, and until quite recently I also was working as columnist for the San Francisco Sun.”

  “Acclaimed columnist,” Nick said.

  “Extremely talented,” Andie said.

  I laughed. “While the main purpose of the Honey on Your Mind column was to answer questions about relationships and dating, I received a lot of e-mails that didn’t contain a single question.”

  “I mis
s those,” Ivy said.

  I shifted my weight from one leg to the other. “And some of the e-mails didn’t really have anything to do with dating, either.”

  “I miss those too,” Ivy said.

  “The thing is, through all the e-mails people sent to Honey on Your Mind, I realized there are a lot of people out there who like to, well, share what’s on their mind, so to speak.”

  I saw confusion on everyone’s face except for Red’s. He smiled as if he understood perfectly well.

  “What I’m trying to say is that I think people could relate to what I was writing about, which made them want to share their own stories, even if they weren’t actually asking for advice.”

  More confused faces.

  “At first I didn’t get it, but then I realized something. People were writing me, and reading the column, because…because they like knowing that they’re not the only ones who don’t have life all figured out. Does that make sense?”

  Everyone was nodding, but I wasn’t sure anyone was following.

  I took a sip of my wine. “So I started thinking about combining the idea behind the Honey Notes with some inspiration from readers, as well as from my awesome friends, to create an entire line of Honey products.” I swept my hand across the room to emphasize the word friends. “It took me a while to pull it all together, but that’s what I came up with, and I’m excited about it.”

  Everyone raised their eyebrows. They were clearly lost. Everyone except Red, who smiled.

  “I know I’m not explaining this very well, but what I’m trying to say is that instead of worrying about what to do next with my life, why not make life itself the focus of what I do next? The goal would be to make people point and nod and think, Yes, that’s totally true! Whether the products are about dating…or just about…life.”

  “Life?” Andie said.

  “Yes. I guess you could say this would be a line of products about…life.”

  “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place? I think I fell asleep for a few minutes there.”

  I pointed at her. “Hey now, be nice.”

  “I’m just keeping it real.” She leaned forward and refilled her wineglass.

  “Anyhow, I was thinking about calling the line Waverly’s Honey Shop.”

  “Waverly’s Honey Shop?” Nick said.

  “Yeah. What do you think?”

  Andie looked at Ivy. “That’s pretty catchy.”

  “I agree,” Ivy said. “What would the products be?”

  I leaned down to open the box on the floor next to me, then pulled out a few fitted shirts I’d mocked up. “Well first, I was thinking about Honey Tees. They’d be for women, at least to start. Some could be witty, others a bit more profound. Here are some I thought would be fun.”

  One by one I held the shirts up.

  A pink one said, “E-mail Breakups Don’t Count” on the front and “Or Text Breakups” on the back.

  A green one said, “Stuffed Animals Do Not Belong in Cars” on the front with “And Dogs Do Not Belong in Purses” on the back.

  A blue one said, “Having a Plan Doesn’t Make You Smart.”

  A gray one said, “I Know Nothing, but at Least I Know That.”

  The last one, in black, said, “Life Is Scary, Now Get Over It.”

  Everyone laughed. “Those are great,” Andie said.

  Nick reached for one to get a closer look. “These definitely have the potential to be amazing. Of course, I like to think I’m somewhat of a role model for you.”

  I laughed. “Of course you are. You’re awesome.”

  “What else do you have in that box?” Ivy said.

  I leaned down and pulled out two neutral-colored tote bags and one black one. “I was also thinking about doing Honey Totes.”

  “Honey Totes?” Andie said.

  “Yep.” I held one up that said, “Make Happily Ever After Happen” in bright blue. The second bag said “Just Smile” in pink.

  I turned to Red. “These first two are all you.”

  “I’m honored, Miss Waverly.”

  Then I held up the black one. It said, “Is It Worse to Be Fake or Bitchy?” on the front and “Honey, Just Face It—If You’re Asking, You’re Probably Both” on the back.

  I laid all three totes on the coffee table.

  Ivy reached over and picked one up. “These are cute. I would totally use them.”

  “Me too,” Andie said. “Especially if you made one with that stuffed animals line on it. I can’t stand it when people have a million stuffed animals in their cars.”

  “Anything else in that bag of tricks?” Nick said.

  I set my glass on a bookshelf, then reached into the box and pulled out a wine bottle sack and six matching coasters that each said, “Girlfriends + Wine + Laughter = Fountain of Youth” in burgundy font.

  Andie examined a tote bag while Ivy ran her fingers over a coaster. “Oh my God, I love these,” Andie said.

  “So cute,” Ivy said.

  Then I reached into my bag and pulled out a small box covered in blue and white striped fabric that said, “Stuff I’ll Never Use” in bright green lettering, as well as a small blue pillow that said “Dream” in white lettering.

  “Ideally these will be bigger. These are just miniature prototypes.”

  “Adorable,” Ivy said.

  “You have anything in that box that’s not for chicks?” Nick said. “I mean, I love chicks, but I don’t want to be one.”

  I walked in place. “Baby steps, my friend, baby steps.” I reached down and pulled out an eye mask for sleeping. It was light blue and said, “Tomorrow Will Be Better” in white font.

  “This one’s also for you,” I said to Red.

  He winked.

  Ivy put the mask on. “How do I look?” Casey messed up her hair and kissed her forehead.

  “Waverly, these are all great,” Andie said. “I’m really impressed.”

  “Thanks, I have a bunch more ideas, but I haven’t had samples made yet.” I took a sheet of paper from my manila folder in the box and held it up. “Here’s a list of the other products. I was thinking I could use the tagline ‘Sometimes We All Need a Spoonful of Honey,’ just like on the back side of the Honey Notes.”

  Everyone huddled together to read. In addition to everything I’d shown them, the list included compacts, cocktail napkins, sticky notes, toiletry bags, and oversize coffee mugs. Each came with a suggested saying, but the product line and colors would be mix and match.

  “This is fantastic,” Ivy said.

  “I agree,” Nick said. “Really, Waverly, these are cool ideas.”

  “You think so?”

  “Definitely. And you know I’m in touch with my feminine side.”

  “Just one of the many things that make you amazing.” I interlaced my hands in front of me and made eye contact with everyone in the room. “Last week I had a meeting about this idea with Smithers Publishing, the company that makes my Honey Notes.”

  They all nodded.

  “I was hoping they’d want to invest in the product line, maybe even help me open a store. There’s an open spot on Fillmore that would be perfect.” I glanced at Red, and he smiled.

  “Waverly’s Honey Shop,” Ivy said softly, nodding slowly.

  “And?” Andie said. “What happened?”

  I frowned. “And they shot me down.”

  “What?” Nick said.

  “They shot me down.”

  “They suck,” Andie said. “I hate them.”

  “Why did they say no?” Ivy asked.

  “They said it wouldn’t fit it into their product line.”

  “Weak,” Nick said. “Very not amazing.”

  Andie stood and held up an empty bottle. “I’m getting some more wine. Anyone else want some?”

  Everyone raised a hand. Everyone but Red, who was drinking water.

  “I’ll help you.” Nick stood up and followed her. A few moments later they returned with two bottles and filled
everyone’s glasses. I cleared my throat to regain their attention.

  “When the people at Smithers said no, I thought that would be the end of it. But after briefly wallowing in self-pity, I realized how much I believe in this idea, how excited I am about it.”

  “It is a good idea,” Andie said.

  “You should be excited about it,” Nick said. “Hell, I’m excited about it.”

  “So…I’ve decided to do it on my own. Here.” I pointed to the floor. “My dear friends, you are looking at the future worldwide headquarters of Waverly’s Honey Shop.”

  “Nice digs,” Nick said. “Does it have a gym?”

  I laughed. “I’ve decided to launch the company on my own, at least online. But to do that, I’m going to need some help, which is why I’ve asked you here tonight.”

  I looked at Nick, who at the moment was staring at Andie.

  “Nick, will you help me build a website? Nothing fancy?”

  “Piece of cake.”

  Then I turned to Ivy. “Could you help with product shots, to make the selection look beautiful?”

  She smiled. “I’d love to.”

  “And Andie, the finance wiz. I was hoping maybe you could help me with the numbers side of things? Just until I figure that out on my own?”

  “Why of course. I could do that in my sleep.”

  “And one last thing,” I said, looking over at Red. “To make life a little bit easier for those who could use some help, I’m going to donate a portion of every sale to charity, ideally one for kids. Maybe you could facilitate some introductions?”

  He tipped his head and smiled. “I’d be honored, Miss Waverly.”

  I put my palms up and faced the rest of the group. “So you’re all in?”

  Nick raised his glass. “One team, one dream.”

  “Oh, and since the Sun canceled my column, I thought I could revive Honey on Your Mind as part of the site to—”

  Ivy interrupted. “YES! I love that column!”

  Andie raised her glass to her. “Now I know why Waverly likes you so much.”