—
They spent the eveningon the porch, catching up and gorging themselves on some of Avery’s cupcakes before sundown, when Passover officially started. Ezra and Danielle, the twins, chased fireflies through the yard. No one stopped teasing Emma about Jo.
“You know the internet said she looked sad because you weren’t at those awards with her,” her mom said.
Emma remembered her drunken conversation with Jo and tried not to blush. “The internet says a lot of things, Mom.”
Really, she and Jo had expected the GLAADs would calm the rumors down. Jo went by herself. People were supposed to realize Emma joining her was a fluke. Instead, everyone decided Jo was depressed either that Emma didn’t join her or because they’d broken up.
Jo did look sad, though; no one had been wrong about that. Emma didn’t like it. Jo’s smile was strained and made Emma think about why Jo had taken her to the SAGs, as a buffer of sorts. It would’ve been worth the rumors, Emma thought, to go to the GLAADs with Jo for the same purpose. The rumors felt like a part of life now, neither bad nor good, just there. Even the photographers who had found her apartment weren’t terrible. She hadn’t told Jo about them, didn’t think Jo needed to be bothered. They weren’t usually there, but they were the morning after the GLAADs. Emma had held her head high and pretended she didn’t see them.
“I like seeing my daughter in the news for dating a woman,” her mom continued. “There are much worse reasons to be famous.”
“I’m notfamous,” Emma said.
“It was my turn to host book club last month,” her dad said. “They all wanted to talk about you instead of aboutStation Eleven.”
Her dad’s book club was all men over sixty. Emma didn’t realize that so many people cared about the rumors.
“Did you tell them we aren’t really dating?”
“Well,” her father started, and already she rolled her eyes. “I told them you claim not to be interested in her?”
“Dad!”
“She’s beautiful and famous, honey,” he said. “All the guys agreed you should go for it.”
“There’s nothing togo for!”
Emma looked to Avery and Dylan for backup here, but they smirked at her.
“No one in this family loves me at all,” Emma whined and the others laughed.
—
The rest of hertime at home went much the same. They had a seder with two other couples from their hometown temple, and even then, there was too much talk about Emma and Jo.
After the meal, alone in her childhood bedroom, Emma unlocked her phone. She opened her text thread with Jo. She wanted to tell her how ridiculous this all had been. She wanted to tell her about a group of sixtysomething guys deciding she and Jo were a cute couple. Jo would laugh, Emma thought.
But she’d never texted her boss about anything not work related. Not as the start of a conversation. Sometimes their texts ended up about something other than work, but they always began about it. Even though the rumors seemed work related, a little, Emma didn’t type a message. She wasn’t about to change the way their relationship worked after they had accidentally kissed. She couldn’t do anything that would make Jo think she’d meant to do it. Plus, Jo was her boss, not her friend. And she wasn’t even going to be her boss for long. Jo was pushing her out of the nest. Emma locked her phone and stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling.
6
EMMA
Upfronts were when networks tried to woo advertisers. They were basically a dog and pony show—networks did anything they could to promote their shows for a week in New York. Last year, upfronts had been terrifying. Emma had just started as Jo’s assistant and had no idea what she was doing. But now, rather than bumbling around trying to stay afloat, she’d be able to learn about the production side of things from Jo, learn what it took to win advertisers over. Outside of work, Emma planned to sneak away when she could, walk the city, eat delicious food, go to a museum or two. It would be an exhausting trip, but she couldn’t wait.
This year, their network was parading Jo and the stars—Tate, Gina, and Holly—around. The main event forInnocentswas a panel with Jo and the other three where they would discuss what they could of the next season without giving away spoilers. Emma knew Jo hadn’t written much of the next season yet. She’d been focusing on Agent Silver instead, taking a break fromInnocentsafter the finale.
Emma and Jo worked seamlessly together, prepping for the panel. It was quiet, calmer with everyone else on break for summer hiatus. Emma quizzed Jo on the prepared answers to panel questions that the network sent. Jo peppered her answers with sarcasm and curse words the network definitely wasn’t going to approve. Emma tried to be stern but always ended up laughing.
Jo dressed more casually, flowing maxi skirts and sometimes even a graphic tee. The atmosphere between them felt more casual, too. More than once when other people were still around, Emma had noticed Jo go to do something—put a hand on her shoulder or lead her by an elbow or something—before freezing. Jo always followed through with the motion, but it was obvious—at least to Emma—that Jo was considering how other people might see their interactions. It was nice to be away from that, to just be the two of them, grinning in Jo’s office.
—
Emma’s asthma started actingup on the flight. It was nothing severe, but she could tell. She couldn’t breathe as deeply as usual. She’d keep an eye on it, up her meds if she needed to. She wasn’t worried—her asthma was mild, and she’d dealt with it long enough to figure out how to work with it. Her lungs would be more sensitive than usual, but it shouldn’t be a problem. She didn’t mention it to Jo.
“Don’t hesitate to ask me anything throughout the week,” Jo said on the plane. “What questions do you have?”