She Gets What She Wants

by Denise N Wheatley

  Devon couldn’t take her eyes off of the sparkler. She held the sides of her face, smiling profusely while shaking her head in awe.

  “This is amazing, Gab. I’m so happy for you. I guess we’ll be making a congratulatory toast with those smoothies then! Come on. We’ve got a wedding to plan!” She hopped up and headed toward the door.

  “Yes we do! But wait, I’ve got one more thing to tell you…”

  “What’s up?”

  Gabby broke out into a huge grin and placed her hands on her belly.

  “I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

  Devon froze. “I’m sorry. Come again?”

  “I’m pregnant,” she repeated.

  Devon screamed and jumped up and down. “Oh my God! I cannot believe this! It’s just too much for one day!”

  Gabby laughed and hugged Devon as they swayed back and forth.

  “How far along are you?”

  “About six weeks.”

  Devon wiped her eyes. “I am not gonna cry anymore. I am not gonna cry anymore,” she chanted despite the fresh crop of tears trickling from her eyes.

  “At least they’re tears of joy,” Gabby said, looping her arm around Devon’s. “Now let’s go make those smoothies and get to planning, starting with my engagement party.”

  “Ooh, yes! Where should we have it? When’s it gonna be? Soon I hope, because we’ve gotta get a move on before the baby comes!”

  Devon grabbed her laptop and the two friends and hurried downstairs, frantically bouncing ideas off of one another along the way.

  *

  Later that evening, Devon’s head was buried in her computer while an episode of Insecure played in the background. She’d begun penning an episode of Here To Stay in hopes of using it as leverage if, by a long shot, she was actually being considered for a spot on the writing team next season.

  As she brainstormed a catchy phrase to end act one, her cell phone pinged. It was Jason calling.

  “Ugh,” Devon groaned. She had been avoiding him ever since he’d left town, knowing that the next time they spoke, he would want to discuss her moving back to Berman.

  On the third ring, she picked up.

  “Hey, Jason!” She cringed at the sound of her forced, cheery tone.

  “Hey, babe, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for days. Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, everything’s okay. But uh…we need to talk.”

  “Uh-oh. I don’t like the sound of that. What’s going on?”

  Devon propped her forehead in her hand and took a deep breath. “Jason, you know I care about you. But I just don’t see this situation between us moving past a friendship.”

  “Whoa, whoa, hold on, Dev. Where’s this coming from? I was just there with you, and we had a phenomenal time. Now it’s sounding like you’re ready to just cut me off again. What’s the problem?”

  “The way you keep pressing me to move back to Berman, for starters.”

  There was dead air between the pair for several seconds before Jason spoke up.

  “You know what? This isn’t really about you moving back to Berman. This is about that Ryan dude, isn’t it? Don’t think for one second I didn’t peep the way you dragged me out of Catch L.A. after you saw him dancing with that chick.”

  Devon jumped up from the bed. “Excuse me? First of all, Ryan and I are work colleagues. That’s it. Secondly, this actually is about you sweating me to move back home. You know how I feel about my life here in L.A., yet you expect me to just drop everything and run back there to support you.”

  When she was done, Devon could hear Jason panting through the phone.

  “I just assumed that whatever little writing you do for the show could be done from anywhere,” he said. “At this point, all you really do is make copies and coffee runs, right?”

  Devon felt the high she’d been on from working on her script come crashing down.

  “Damn. Really, Jason? Um, no, I don’t just make copies and coffee runs. See, that question just proves that you have no idea what I do, not to mention you clearly aren’t listening to me when I discuss my job.”

  “Whatever, Devon. If nothing else, I know I’m right about Ryan.” Jason chuckled snarkily before continuing. “And by the way, good luck with that. From the looks of things, the feelings aren’t mutual.”

  Devon almost gagged on her own saliva. She took a deep breath and banged her hand against her chest.

  “And from the sound of this conversation,” she sputtered, “I’m doing the right thing by ending…whatever this is we’re doing. Goodbye, Jason.”

  And with that, Devon hung up the phone. She plopped back down onto the bed and ran the conversation through her head several times.

  Fool me once, shame on you… she thought.

  Devon contemplated texting Gabby to tell her what had just happened. But then she thought better of it, considering she was in no mood to hear I told you so.

  Instead, Devon grabbed her laptop and turned her attention back to the script, unwilling to give Jason another thought.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “And that was it,” Devon said. “After Jason proved he has no clue what I do for a living and accused me of having a thing for Ryan, I bid him adieu and hung up the phone.”

  Devon was sitting in Showstopper Studios’ conference room collating scripts and chatting with Gabby, who was on a ten-minute I’m pregnant and need time away break as she liked to call it.

  “Girl,” Gabby said, reaching over and high-fiving Devon, “I love it. I hope I’m not being insensitive when I say this, but I’m so glad things didn’t work out between you two. He just wasn’t the one. And I know I was pretty vocal in my feelings about him. But I knew you had to see it for yourself.”

  “Well, that’s exactly what I did last night. I’m just glad I pulled the plug before things went too far.”

  “Me too…” Gabby paused briefly, then continued. “Do you think there’s any truth to what he said about your feelings for Ryan?”

  Devon swallowed hard and dropped the script she’d been assembling onto the table. “You know, I honestly haven’t really faced whatever it is I feel for Ryan. But I clearly felt some type of way when I saw him dancing with Laila James at Catch, and that day she came here to pick him up.”

  Gabby slammed her hand down on the table and cackled.

  “So does this mean you’re finally ready to admit that you do have some sort of feelings for Ryan? Because I’ve known you were into him. I was just waiting for you to face it.”

  “Hold on now, not so fast. I’m not saying I’m ready to do anything. And at this point it doesn’t matter anyway since Ryan and Laila seem to be a thing.”

  Gabby smacked her lips and waved Devon off. “Girl, bye. Laila James is always out in the street with a new man on her arm. I can’t even take her seriously. I mean, she’s cool and all, but she’s always snuggling up to the latest guest on her show. Right now that just so happens to be Ryan. She’ll be on to the next one before you know it.”

  “Yeah, well, that wasn’t what it looked like when she picked him up.”

  “Looks can be deceiving,” she said just as her cell phone buzzed. Gabby checked it, then burst out laughing and slid the phone across the table.

  “What the…” Devon said, squinting as she stared at a terrible headshot of Jason that had been posted on Instagram. He was wearing bifocals, and a corny, used-car-salesman grin was plastered across his face.

  “Read the caption,” Gabby told her.

  “Berman High School would like to congratulate our very own alumnus Jason Williamson on his promotion with Kenelli Pharma. Best of luck on your new position as senior sales consultant!”

  Devon looked up at Gabby through wide eyes, then back down at the post. “Wait, I thought he was being promoted to regional manager.”

  “Yeah, me too!”

  “So you mean to tell me that after all that talk he did about me moving back to Berman to support him since he
was about to be big man on Kenelli’s campus, he’s still a sales consultant?”

  “No. He’s a senior sales consultant,” Gabby snorted. “See, that’s that karma, girl. She’ll get you every time!”

  Devon and Gabby both quieted down when Madison appeared in the doorway.

  “Hey, girls, sorry to interrupt. Devon? Lena wants to see us in her office as soon as you’re done with the scripts.”

  “Oh, okay. I’m actually done now, so I’ll be there in a sec.”

  “Cool. I’ll let her know.”

  “Thanks.” Devon jumped up and gathered the scripts. “I hope I didn’t mess up on the edits I submitted.”

  “I’m sure your edits were perfect,” Gabby told her as they exited the room.

  “Thank you for the reassurance. I’ll text you afterward!” Devon said right before she jetted down the stairs toward Lena’s office.

  *

  Devon and Madison sat across from Lena, both fidgeting impatiently as she folded her hands on the desk.

  “So listen,” Lena began. “What I’m about to share with you two is supposed to be top secret. But because I have such a big mouth, I’m sharing it, knowing this won’t leave my office. Right?”

  “Right,” Devon and Madison replied in unison.

  Devon resisted the urge to reach over and squeeze Madison’s hand. The sheer suspense had her feet wiggling wildly underneath her chair and her armpits sweating profusely through her blouse.

  “At the end of the season,” Lena continued, “it’s going to be announced that you two are being promoted to staff writers.”

  Devon gasped and leaned forward, gripping the edge of Lena’s desk while Madison let out a screeching howl.

  “Wait. Lena,” Madison said. “I’m sorry, but could you please repeat that?”

  Lena’s lips curled into a sly grin. “I said…at the end of the season, you two are going to be promoted to staff writers. And, Dev, you’re technically skipping a step considering you’d normally transition from a PA to a writing assistant. But since you’ve displayed such skill and leadership throughout this season, I think you can handle it.”

  “Thank you so much,” Devon gushed. “I’m definitely up for the challenge.”

  “I know you are. And I’d rather mold and mentor you than do an outside search for someone with more experience. You’ve proven that you’re dedicated to the show and have what it takes to succeed.”

  “I…I don’t even know what to say,” she uttered while Madison jumped up, ran around the desk and hugged Lena tightly.

  “This is the best news ever!” Madison exclaimed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  “You’re welcome,” Lena said, laughing while embracing her. “It’s well deserved. For the both of you.”

  Devon stood up and walked over to the women, wrapping her arms around them both.

  “You have no idea what this means to me,” she said, feeling herself choking up. “And I just…I can’t even express how grateful I am.”

  Lena patted Devon’s back. “Just keep coming up with those great ideas and putting in the hard work. You’ll both have a lot to prove as the new kids in the writers room. So make sure you show up and show out, and prove to everyone that you earned those seats.”

  “We will. We promise,” Madison said.

  “Good. Why don’t you two finish up whatever you’re working on, then head home.”

  “Thank you again, Lena!” Devon said as she floated out of the office.

  “Yes, thank you!” Madison chimed in. She closed the door behind them and threw her arms around Devon, crushing her until she could barely breathe.

  “Can you believe this?” Madison shrieked. “We’re actually going to be staff writers on the show!”

  “No,” Devon breathed, staring straight ahead in a daze. “I really can’t…”

  “Hey, what are you two so happy about?” she heard.

  Devon spun around and saw Ryan standing behind her.

  “Oh, uh…nothing!” Madison told him.

  Ryan turned to Devon, who didn’t say a word. She just stood there staring at him while he stared back. Through the corner of her eye, Devon could see Madison’s head swiveling back and forth, curiously watching them both.

  The awkward moment of silence was interrupted when Jade, the studio page, rushed past them.

  “Ryan!” she panted. “Did you see the note I left in your dressing room?”

  “No, I haven’t been back there all afternoon. What’d it say?”

  “Laila James called the receptionist because she said she couldn’t get ahold of you. She’ll be here to pick you up at five-thirty.”

  Devon’s breath caught in her throat. She dug her fingernails into her thighs, forcing herself to keep a straight face.

  “Oh, um…” Ryan mumbled, glancing over at her, then quickly diverting his attention back to Jade. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”

  “No prob!” she said before scurrying off.

  Devon watched as Madison continued to eye her and Ryan, then turn to him.

  “Hey,” Madison said, “there’s something I need to run by you. Is it okay if I walk back with you?”

  “Sure,” Ryan told her.

  Please don’t tell him about our promotion, Devon thought to herself as she slowly backed away.

  “Wait, Dev,” he said. “We never got a chance to schedule that lun—”

  Before he could finish, Jade rushed past them again.

  “Ryan! Laila just called again. She got here early and is outside waiting for you.”

  “All right,” he replied, his tone laced with a hint of irritation. When he turned back to Devon, she was already down the hall.

  “Hey!” he called out. “When do you think we can get that—”

  “Let’s talk later,” she interrupted, her breathing quickening as she increased her pace. “I’ve got some things to get done, and I’m on a tight deadline.”

  Devon didn’t give him a chance to respond. She hurried back to her desk, anxious to bury herself in work rather than her feelings.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Devon opened the door to Gabby and Vince’s suite at the W Hotel. It was the night of their engagement party, and she was dressed to kill in a silk emerald tank dress and matching stiletto pumps.

  She’d spent more time than usual perfecting her bone-straight bob and shimmery nude makeup in an effort to look her best considering she was Gabby’s maid-of-honor, not to mention showing up dateless amidst a sea of couples.

  “Hey, Dev!” Simone called out.

  Devon waved and walked over toward the bar, where Simone was holding court with Malcolm and Madison. She discreetly scanned the room on the way there in search of Ryan and Laila. They were nowhere in sight.

  “Wooow, Dee!” Malcolm breathed, taking a step back while eyeing her from head to toe. “You look AH-mazing!”

  “Thank you,” Devon said, smiling brightly while turning from side to side. “Just a lil’ sumthin’ sumthin’ I picked up last week.”

  “Good choice, cuz you’re killing it, girl,” Simone chimed in. “Looking like a whole entire snack and whatnot.”

  “More like a whole entire meal,” Madison added. “When was the last time you all saw a production assistant dress like that?” she asked before Malcolm nudged her.

  “Word on the street is that Dev won’t be a PA much longer,” he said. “And neither will you, as a matter of fact. Is it true you all are being promoted to staff writers next season?”

  Madison and Devon turned to one another, their wide eyes filled with accusatory shock.

  “Wait, what?” Simone asked, grabbing Malcolm’s arm. “Two of my faves are about to be staff writers? Yesss!” she squealed, snapping her fingers in the air. “Next season is gonna be lit!” When she began jumping up and down, Devon reached over and grabbed her arm.

  “Okay, come on, now. Calm down.”

  “Ooh, here comes the happy couple!” Madison blurted out
.

  Devon let out a sigh when Gabby and Vince approached the group. She hadn’t seen Gabby since that morning and almost teared up at the sight of her tiny baby bump poking through her cream strapless gown.

  “Gab,” she breathed. “You look absolutely beautiful. You’re literally glowing!”

  Gabby threw her arms around Devon. “Thank you! So do you.”

  “Thanks, girl.” Devon glanced around the room once again.

  “He’s not here yet,” Gabby said, sipping her cranberry juice.

  “Who’s not here yet?”

  “You know who I’m talking about. Ryan.”

  “Hey, what’s up?” Devon heard behind her. She swiveled around and saw Ryan approaching them.

  Her heart thumped at the sight of him dressed in a charcoal gray suit that fit his buffed frame perfectly. Ryan’s hair was freshly cut and beard neatly trimmed. When he stepped toward her, the scent of his woodsy cologne buckled her knees.

  “Hey,” she said softly, leaning ever-so-slightly to the side in search of Laila.

  Ryan threw her a side-eye and glanced over his shoulder. “Looking for someone?”

  “I uh…I was just…” Devon stuttered just as Gabby grabbed her arm.

  “Vince and I are gonna go mingle with our guests. You okay?”

  “Yep, I’m good.”

  “We’ll catch up in a bit. Oh, and make sure you try the filet mignon sliders. They’re delicious.”

  Gabby and Vince walked off. Madison, Simone and Malcolm eventually followed suit, leaving Ryan and Devon alone.

  After several seconds of silence, he turned to her.

  “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Yes. A glass of champagne would be nice.”

  “I’ll be right back with that.”

  Ryan headed over toward a server carrying a tray of drinks. Devon scanned the suite yet again and realized that Laila wasn’t there.

  “Here you go,” Ryan said, handing her a glass.

  “Thank you.”

  Devon took a long, deliberate sip, her toes curling inside her shoes underneath the scrutiny of Ryan’s close watch. After several seconds of awkward silence, he spoke up.