Chapter 24 Liana

"EEEEEE!!!!" Tori screamed with delight on Liana's living room couch the next night. "I cannot believe you had sex with James!"

"Ssshh!" Liana snapped. "My mom is in the next room!"

"Sorry," Tori whisper-hissed. "It's just… James! THE James! I can't believe it. James! Oh my God, I thought since we were kids that he was going to be my future brother-in-law!"

"Tori!" Liana groaned. "Please, don't remind me of how long he was with your sister!"

"Sorry." Tori had the nerve to look sheepish. "Hey," she brightened and grabbed Liana's hand. "If you guys get married, I'll still call him my brother-in-law! I always said you and I are like sisters."

"Thanks, Tor," Liana said, "although I'm still kind of weirded out. Ugh, now I can't stop thinking about how you probably heard from Mary Grace about how James is in bed… and the things he did with your sister. Shoot me now." She collapsed dramatically onto the couch, clutching a pillow over her face.

"Girl, no," Tori hastened to reassure her, delicately removing the pillow from Liana's grasp. "I don't know anything about Mary Grace's sex life with James. Trust me, my sister and I definitely do not have that kind of relationship. Although… I guess I kind of did see firsthand one time, when I walked in on them in the —"

"No!" Liana cried, covering her ears. "For the love of God, please stop."

"Sorry, sorry," Tori said quickly, but then leaned in. "But wait. He was really good, right?"

"Amazing," Liana confirmed.

"I knew it!" Tori cried, punching the air. "He definitely seems like the ‘she-comes-first' kind of guy. Probably the ‘she-comes-twice-before-I-come' kind of guy. Am I right?" She waggled her eyebrows conspiratorially.

Liana's cheeks flushed as she nodded, and Tori screamed. "Yes, girl! Get it! I KNEW he would be amazing!" Then, seeming to remember her loudness, she repeated in a whisper, "I knew it!"

Too late. Liana's mom poked her head into the room and asked, "Is everything all right, girls? I heard yelling."

"Sorry, Ms. Green," said Tori. Deb had been Tori's history teacher. On the day of their high school graduation — and just about every week since — Deb had assured Tori they were old enough to call each other by their first names, but Tori, with her typical theatrical flair, said she "simply could not."

"What are you two up to?" Deb asked, too casually, in a way that made Liana certain her mom had heard some of the conversation, or at least guessed the topic. Her ears blazed red.

"We were just talking about work," Tori lied. "We have an open position in my office for a senior product manager. I was just telling Liana to send me her resume, so I can officially refer her for the position and get that sweet, sweet referral bonus when they hire her."

"Is that right?" Deb raised her brows hopefully and looked to her daughter for confirmation.

"Yep," Liana nodded vigorously. In fact, Tori had texted Liana about the position a couple of days before and asked if Liana wanted to apply. Liana had asked to think it over; she hadn't wanted Tori to expend political capital on referring her unless Liana was going to be serious about taking the position.

In reality, Liana still hadn't made up her mind as to whether to apply; it seemed like a big leap from movie production to tech product management, though the idea of working with Tori every day was highly appealing. Tori seemed to like her company, and if Liana were honest with herself, the idea of a fresh start in a new industry didn't sound so bad.

Deb still looked skeptical of Tori's explanation. "I thought I heard you two screaming. You were screaming about this job application?"

"Oh, that," Tori said. "Well, first of all, you know I'm just kind of a dramatic person." Deb snorted and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like " That's an understatement."

Tori narrowed her eyes but continued. "I found out that Liana already submitted her application to my company online, on the generic careers webpage. You can't tell that I'm the one recommending her, which means there's no record that they'll owe me a referral bonus when she gets hired. Now I'll have to email the hiring manager and tell her I was the one who referred her to the position. I can just see the company saying, ‘We don't owe you a referral bonus; there's no record of you referring Liana.' I was annoyed at Liana for complicating my life after I clearly told her to let me submit her resume."

Deb looked delighted. "Well, I'm sorry for the extra trouble, Tori, but I think this whole thing is wonderful. I always thought Liana would do well in a startup environment, and I know how highly you speak about your company."

"Yes," Tori agreed. "Liana would be the perfect fit for this job. Actually, now that I think about it, my manager is a Pine Heights alumnus too. He's a little older than me, but maybe you taught him? Paul Belen?"

"Paul!" Deb exclaimed. "Oh, he was such a smart boy. What a small world. This seems like kismet, Liana!"

"Yeah, Liana." Tori elbowed Liana in the ribs, and Liana gave her a death glare in return. "It's kismet."