Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Parker

We got a hero’s reception outside Market Corner, where the rain had let up and the sun broke through the clouds in places, making glossy little rainbows on the puddles over Empress Square. That felt like symbolism.

Cass’s girl squad swarmed us the second we got out the door, tackling her first with crushing hugs, and then—against my will, I may add—me next.

“I’m so proud of you, Cassie,” Ellie said—I think her name was Ellie—

“You were badass in there,” Rashmi said, crowding in with everyone else. “Oh em gee. Give me lessons.”

“Parker, you were brutal,” one of them laughed. Krystal, I think. I was learning. “I spat out my drink at that your mom joke.”

Cass went through hugging each one in turn, laughing and crying and gushing on everyone, and when she finished giving Krystal a tight squeeze, she pulled me into an embrace next—a soft, tender one, burying her face against my hair and just holding me. The Parker of a few months ago would have hissed and run away flicking water at her. Apparently the Parker of today was different, because I pressed my face against her collar and held her tight, just breathing in the sweet smell of apple.

“You did good,” I said.

“We’re going to be okay now, right?” she murmured.

“Well, Gary ran off looking like he was going to throw up, so I think just that counts as a win.” I squeezed her. “It looks like people are already walking out from the company. I had a quick chat with Tat the Rat after the meeting and apparently she’s already put out the Rat Signal to tell all her friends inside Morning Magic to walk out.”

“You’re still calling her a rat while talking about how she’s helping stop Morning Magic.”

“Once a rat, always a rat.” I stepped back from the embrace, looking up at Cass’s shining blue eyes. Infuriatingly pretty, honestly. “With the boycott movement, the sponsors leaving, and the employee walkout, I think he’s done for. The contract from Tat will keep us afloat long enough for the exclusivity agreements to break down, and we can get better supplier contracts. Especially since someone had us sign with eight new cafés recently. And then we’re in the clear.”

Kate, the brunette with the big shoulder tattoo showing under her off-the-shoulder burgundy top from the Svelte spring collection—fuck me, I hated that I knew these things now—clapped Cass on the shoulder. “Gary’s not coming back,” she said. “We’ll make sure of that. No matter what happens, we’ve always got your back, okay, Cassie?”

“Hear, hear,” Rashmi said.

“It’s a promise,” Pinky’s voice said, and it was only then that I noticed she was here—lurking at the corner of the group, hands in the pockets of her sleek black jacket with red accents. Saving Grace, I think was the brand behind that one. Ugh. “I’m just sorry we let things go so far without realizing it already.”

Cass looked down. “It’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault but… well, but Gary’s. And I’m really, really, really grateful to have your support. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so… well, supported, I guess.”

I squeezed her arm. “You’ve always had people just lining up to tell you they adore you, Unicorn. I’m glad you’ve finally realized it.”

She slipped her hand into mine, eyes sparkling as she met my gaze. “Thanks, Parker. Thank you for everything. I really… I really love you.”

“Oh my god, you’re so cute,” Rashmi squealed like a dog toy. “I knew it. Didn’t I tell you all they were a thing? I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.”

Ellie smiled patiently. “Maybe we should give the happy couple some cover and not gawk at them?”

“It’s fine,” Cass laughed. “We’re happy in the spotlight.”

“Uh, speak for yourself,” I said, but when Cass pulled me into a quick kiss, I couldn’t even find it in me to mind. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her back, burning with the knowledge that everybody was watching, but I didn’t really… mind. I wanted everyone to know she was my Unicorn.

“So,” Rashmi said, checking her fingernails, “I am invited to your wedding, right?”

Cass cleared her throat. “That’s jumping the gun a bit, Rashmi. Maybe slow down?”

“I don’t want to interrupt the happy moment,” Pinky said, holding a hand up. “So don’t pay it too much heed, but after watching everything with Cassie, I’ve been inspired to let you all know that I’m, uh—that I’m gay too. Just wanted to get that out there. Anyway—”

“You’re what?” Rashmi whirled on her, a hand to her mouth.

“Oh my god, I knew it,” Kate said, clapping her hands together.

“No way,” Rashmi said. “Oh my god. Are you serious?”

“Sash,” Cass laughed, eyes sparkling.

“Ugh, this is too much sentiment,” I groaned, a hand to my head.

“It’s not a big deal,” Pinky said, looking away. “I’m saying it now specifically so it’s not a big deal. Do not—”

“We’re throwing a huge party,” Priscilla said, the one with copper-brown hair and a green dress that showed plenty of cleavage. “For Cassie’s coming out, for Sasha’s coming out, for Express—”

“For Parker and Cassie’s relationship,” Rashmi said. “Ugh. Yes. I’m already planning it. Caton Hall. We can hire Lemon Lavender for catering. I’ll bet you anything if we tie it to the whole Express event going on, they’ll cut us a big discount.”

“So?” Kate said, muscling through the group towards Pinky. “Do you have a girlfriend? If you’ve both been keeping secret girlfriends from us—”

“Um, we weren’t girlfriends before I came out,” Cass said.

“Oh, shush,” Rashmi said, waving us off. “You were girlfriends basically since day one.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, no,” Pinky said, rubbing her forehead. “Ugh. I wanted this to just be a small thing and not take away from Parker’s and Cassie’s—”

“Please do take away from it,” I said. “I’m getting itchy with all the attention.”

Priscilla pulled Pinky into a hug. “I’m so proud of you,” she said.

“Me too,” Ellie said. “Proud of you, Parker, Cassie—”

“So proud,” Sophie chimed in.

“I’m so happy for you all,” Ellie said.

“I’m already booking the event space,” Rashmi said.

“Hold on,” Krystal said. “Maybe we should plan first?”

“God, you lot are loud,” I groaned. “I can’t keep up. I’m going to go get coffee.”

“Sweetie, you just finished your third coffee in four hours,” Cass said, a hand on my shoulder.

“I know. And now I’m going to go start my fourth.”

“Uh-oh,” Ellie said, glancing at her phone. “If you want to avoid noise, Parker, you’d probably better move fast.”

My blood ran cold. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me there’s a party happening now.”

“Oh, I let it slip all this was happening at Market Corner,” Rashmi said. “People would have figured it out from the stream, anyway.”

“Looks like a gaggle of them are coming this way,” Ellie said.

“Ugh. Unicorn, let’s go.” I took Cass’s hand, but she shook her head.

“No way. Are you kidding? I’m going to make a post and invite people here. Let’s celebrate with a meet-and-greet. Autographs for everyone. It’s an Express party!”

“Oh, I’ve got my armband!” Sophie said, fumbling in her bag.

“Oh, dear sweet baby Jesus,” I said. “Fine. Just start without me while I grab a coffee.”

Pinky laughed. “What Express event could start without the lead couple there? I’ll run and grab you a coffee. I could do without people asking if I have a girl I like.”

“Excuse me, I’m going with you,” Priscilla said. “We are finding you a girl, Sash. No wonder you never actually went out with any of the boys you talked about.”

“Well, so much for that,” Pinky sighed, hanging her head.

Sure enough, we had a meet-and-greet, a party right there on Empress Market Square. We were flooded with a million late teen or twenty-something girls all swarming into the plaza, and Cass and I took selfies with people, signed autographs. Thankfully, Pinky brought me a white mocha with caramel drizzle, so I wasn’t too bad off.

“You two are so cute,” one girl said after getting a selfie with me and Cass, a teenager with blonde curls. “I’m so happy you’re together.”

“Ugh, same,” Cass said, leaning into my side and pressing a kiss against the side of my head. “I love her. She’s the best.”

The girl picked at her shirt. “I think you two are really inspirational. I’m, uh… after seeing your post, I’ve decided I’m telling my friends I’m bisexual.”

I was kind of expecting Cass to light up like oh my god that’s amazing, yas, but instead, she went wide-eyed before her expression melted into the softest thing. “That’s amazing,” she said. “I’m so happy for you. It’s going to go great. Let’s take a picture on my phone, and if it’s okay with you, I can post it on my page to celebrate your coming-out, too?”

“Oh, what?” The girl looked like she’d just been offered the world on a silver platter. For a Cass fangirl, I’m sure that was basically it. “Are you—seriously? Oh my god, yes. I’d love that.”

Once we’d gotten the picture with her—Violet, she said her name was—Cass turned to me with an emotional smile, not looking too far from tears. “I’m proud of her,” she said.

Ugh, there were so many people around. I didn’t even want to be mushy in front of one person. But I took her hand and squeezed it, and I said, “Hey, be proud of you, dude. You’re the one who inspired her.”

“I never thought…”

“That owning up to who you authentically are could actually inspire other people?”

She shrugged. “I guess so. I just… it’s amazing. And I’d never have gotten here without you, Parker. I love you. Really, really love you.”

I sighed, leaning in and rising to my tiptoes to kiss her. “I love you, too,” I said. “Now maybe you can let yourself be happy. Just a little bit? Just the tiniest fraction.”

She kissed my forehead, lingering there. “I’m so happy, Parker. I’m so happy.”

And I was, too. At least until I heard Sutton’s voice shouting, “Parker!” and the whole moment was ruined.

I turned to come face-to-face with the worst possible situation: Sutton and my mother, pushing Sutton’s wheelchair, coming up through the crowd and stopping in front of the two of us. Cass beamed, but I realized then with a pang of worry that she didn’t know this was my mother.

“Hey, dude,” Sutton said. “I bugged Mom to take me out here so I could catch some Parkassie content face-to-face. And maybe get another autograph? I, uh… misplaced the other two.”

“You scalped them,” I said flatly. “Hi, Sutton. Hi, Mom.”

“Oh… Mrs. Ferris,” Cass said. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Not really,” I said. “She’s nothing special.”

“Hi, Amy,” my mom said, plastering on a smile that looked like a wax figure. “I wanted to congratulate you. It sounds like you’ve figured out your business issues. And I was hoping to come meet your girlfriend, too.”

Cass stepped forward. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, her voice a careful diplomatic tone. “Parker is wonderful. And I’m really lucky to be with her.”

“Ew, gag,” Sutton said, rolling her eyes. “Get all mushy somewhere else. More importantly, I can get a selfie with you, right, Cassie?”

“Of course,” Unicorn said, beaming. “As much as you like. We’re practically family now, right?”

“Holy shit, that’s so fucking cool,” Sutton said, grinning ear to ear.

“Dude, language,” I said. “Mom, do you seriously just let her spout curses all day?”

“It’s just a few words, Amy,” Mom said, and I glowered, but Cass cut in before I could say anything.

“She prefers going by Parker, you know.”

And just like that, Cass was no longer a Mom-approved girlfriend choice. Mom glowered at her, before turning back to me. “Well, I think as her mother—as the one who gave her that name, it’s reasonable for me to call her by that name. Either way—”

“I think it’s reasonable to call her what she wants to be called,” Cass said, and that threw me, because nobody brought the subject up a second time. Mom shot her a look, but after a second, relaxed into an uncomfortable smile.

“So, you work at a café right now, right? What sort of career plans do you have?”

Oh, this woman was asking for it. I finished my coffee, tipping back the last of it before I flung it in the trash can and turned back to her. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she’s actually an influencer and an online content creator. The café is kind of just a side thing. I can understand how you’d miss that, if you were born yesterday and paid no attention to anything in your life.”

She glowered at me. Sutton laughed, though, backing me up. “Yeah, Mom. Have you seen her page? She’s pretty much the top ‘Drean lifestyle influencer right now. Her career must be solid.”

Mom gave her the most patronizing smile she’d ever given, and that was saying something. “Oh, so you post things on the internet for a living?”

And it was funny, because apparently, I could deal with twenty-five years of her shit directed at me, but five minutes of it directed at my Sparkle Unicorn was crossing the line. I stepped forward, cutting in between her and Cass, and I said, “Look, Mom, all due respect and all, but fuck off.”

She paled, taking a half-step back. “What?”

“It’s obvious what you’re here for. You’ve figured I’m making money after all, so you’re here to check in and make sure I can keep sending you money by the truckload. Checking in with my girlfriend too, to vet her income potential, so that you can mooch off her too if it comes to it. Well, go fuck yourself, because I’m not paying you another cent.”

The declaration felt like the thin ice I’d been walking for the past nine years finally shattered. Mom cycled through emotions before settling on a soul-withering glare, and then maybe thinking better of how to manipulate me, snapped back into a self-pitying look with eyes down. Coldly, I felt like it was almost funny now, being able to see the precise way she navigated her emotional manipulation.

“Your father and I had a lot of rough years,” she said, finally. “I can understand if you need to take a break from payments. Sutton, your father and I will find a way to make it work while—”

“Mrs. Ferris, I think you misheard her,” Cass said, stepping in closer to my side, snaking an arm around my waist. “She didn’t say a break. She said she’s not paying you anymore.”

Huh. You know, maybe falling in love wasn’t too bad after all. If it was someone who stood up for you like this? Someone who worked to keep you from losing your whole life to debts, instead of trying to cash in on them? Maybe it wasn’t the worst thing.

My mom pursed her lips, a glare shooting over her features before she broke out the oh-poor-me look again. “So that’s it?” she said. “Now that you have somebody else, you don’t care about your family anymore?”

“Quit the bullshit,” I said. “It’s not family. It’s a business arrangement, and I’m getting nothing from it, so I’m leaving. And try your emotional manipulation bullshit on somebody else, because Gary—you have no idea how annoying and smarmy and ugly he is, so he actually used up my last fuck just a bit ago. I’ve got none left to give. Sorry, Mom. Wish Road is pretty steep. Maybe go fall down it?”

“Dude, I need someone to get me back home,” Sutton said.

Mom took a shaky breath, looking near tears now, but I didn’t care. That was the biggest surprise. I didn’t care. I was just getting annoyed that she was taking up my time, and feeling a surge in my chest realizing my debt was just gone now after all. That I didn’t have to do shit with Gary for it, I didn’t have to give up Cass for it, I didn’t have to slave away for years for it.

“You’ve always been so kind and caring, Amy,” Mom said. “And then the moment you meet this girl—"

“Pretty sure you always told me I was hostile and unfriendly,” I said. “But now we had the image of a perfect family, for the sake of your little sob story narrative? Fuck, and I cannot emphasize this enough, off. I’ve got a meet-and-greet to attend, and then I need to get home and eat a massive fucking hamburger.”

“I just don’t know what changed, Amy,” Mom said, wiping at one eye.

“What changed,” Cass said, slipping her hand into mine, “is that she’s learned to value herself. It’s been really nice to meet you, Mrs. Ferris. Do you want an autograph? Selfie? We really do need to get back to this event. There’s people waiting for us.”

Mom snorted, shaking her head as she turned away, wheeling Sutton with her. “Forget it, then,” she said. “We’ll take care of things our own way, whether you abandon us or not, Amy.”

“Hey, Mom!” Sutton cried. “Hold on! I didn’t get an autograph!”

“I’ll have Parker send you one!” Cass called after her, and only once the two of them disappeared around one of the market stalls did she relax, looking over at me with eyes sparkling. “Parker.”

I let out a long breath. “I still owed her forty-nine thousand. That was a ten-minute conversation. I just saved forty-nine thousand dollars in ten minutes. I’m never getting a higher effective wage than that.”

She laughed, brushing my hair back from my face. “You never owed her a dime, sweetie. I’m so proud of you.”

I pursed my lips. “What am I supposed to feel right now?”

She shrugged. “What do you feel right now?”

“Relieved. Kind of satisfied. And… really, really, really tired.” I rubbed my forehead. “So damn tired. I can’t believe that all these years…”

“It’s okay, Scruffy,” she said, planting a gentle kiss against my forehead. “We’re here now.”

I rested my head against her collar. “It’s over now, right?”

“Morning Magic, Gary, your debt…” She wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight. “It’s done. I promise. You can rest now, sweetheart.”

“Rest.” I laughed, a hoarse sound coming from a place deep inside me I didn’t even know existed. “That sounds nice.”

“I’m going to wrap this event up right now, and we’re going to get you that massive hamburger you want to go, and we’re going to get back to the apartment and put on Anyone’s Guess so you can watch Valentina Jacobs. Okay?”

“I like you better,” I mumbled against her. “You’re hotter.”

She laughed. “That’s it. I’ve basically won, then.”

“I just… love you, Cass. It’s weird.”

“What’s weird? Being in love?”

“Just…” I shifted. “What happens now?”

She laughed, pressing a soft kiss against my forehead again. “Well,” she said, “now we live the rest of our lives.”

Living life, huh?

Didn’t sound all that bad.